Endoscopy

Who we are

We are a team of Consultant Endoscopists, Gastroenterologists, Surgeons, Nurse Endoscopists, Staff nurses and team assistants. We are supported by a team of secretaries and booking staff. We also work closely with other specialist nurses including upper and lower GI nurse specialists and IBD (Inflammatory Bowel Disease) nurses.

What we do

We provide a specialist endoscopy service for direct access patients in County Durham and other local areas.

We also provide a comprehensive endoscopy service for elective, surveillance and emergency inpatients.

We have three Endoscopy Units and they are based at University Hospital of North Durham, Darlington Memorial Hospital and Bishop Auckland Hospital. See below a list of the procedures we currently provide:

Gastroscopy, Colonoscopy (including Bowel Cancer Screening at Bishop Auckland Hospital), Flexible Sigmoidoscopy, Bronchoscopy, Cystoscopy, Endoscopy Retrograde Cholangiopancreatography (ERCP), Percutaneous Endoscopic Gastrostomy (PEG), Capsule Endoscopy (Including Colon Capsule Endoscopy as part of national trial), Cytosponge for Barrett's surveillance, Radio Frequency Ablation (RFA) for treatment of Barrett's oesophagus. Please note- some procedures are currently only available at certain sites.

Please follow the links below to see short videos explaining some of our procedures:

• Bowel Cancer Screening
• Colonoscopy
• Gastroscopy

The Bowel Cancer Screening Programme is supported by the Endoscopy Unit at Bishop Auckland Hospital.

Some people feel anxious or worried when they are told they need to have a colonoscopy procedure, but it is important to have this test if you are referred. The following is a link to the 'colonocopy confidence' campaign   Going for a colonoscopy | Bowel Cancer UK

At County Durham & Darlington NHS Foundation Trust we have a very active research team and as a trust we are often involved in numerous studies, this includes endoscopy. As such you may be contacted by a member of our research team to see if you would be interested in being involved in a reasearch study. Any involvement in research would only ever be with you prior knowledge and consent.