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About us

The Endoscopy unit is located on Level 7 in Zone D of Derriford Hospital (University Hospitals Plymouth).  There are 5 Endoscopy clinical rooms which run Monday to Saturday, 8am until 6.30pm providing both inpatient and outpatient services requiring diagnostic and therapeutic endoscopic procedures. 

For supporting accommodation, the unit has a waiting room, 4 consultation rooms, 2 changing rooms, 2 recovery areas for separate gender accommodation with 12 trolleys and small seated areas, storage areas and several administrative office spaces.

We are expanding our footprint in the very near future which will take us to 6 clinical rooms and a separate Physiology Suite with more space for check in and recovery.  The expansion will help us to deliver the best care to our patients, make the experience as comfortable for them as possible and help us to protect their dignity.

We have a multi-disciplinary team of Consultants in Gastroenterology, Hepatology, Colorectal and Upper GI surgery, Radiology, and a team of Nurse Endoscopists and Specialist Registrars.

Supporting the Endoscopists are a specialised team of Registered Nurses, Associate Practitioners, Healthcare Assistants and Porters as well as a dedicated Management and Admin Teams. 

Procedures we deliver

The list of procedures performed on the unit which come under the umbrella of endoscopy are as follows:

• OGD (Gastroscopy)
• Colonoscopy
• Flexi Sigmoidoscopy/Pouchoscopy
• ERCP (endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography)
• EUS (Endoscopic Ultrasound) 
• VCE (Video Capsule Endoscopy)
• PEG (Percutaneous Endoscopic Gastrostomy Insertion, Change or Removal)
• OM and OMPH (Oesophageal manometry and PH studies)
• BCSP (Bowel Cancer Screening Programme Colonoscopy)
• Oesophageal stent/Duodenal stent
• Cytosponge

Some of these procedures will involve therapeutic treatments (including banding, dilatation).

Our philosophy

Here in UHP, our priority is to ensure that your experience of having an endoscopy in our unit is as comfortable and reassuring as possible.

We want to make sure that you can access as much information as you need, so that you feel as aware and comfortable as you can be with your endoscopy procedure.

Our relationship with those who we treat and work with is based on empathy, respect and dignity.

We embrace and share ideas to improve one another’s practice and as a result enhance the patient's journey.

Communication between one another on this unit will be delivered in a respectful, calm, kind and encouraging manner.

These values are underpinned by the core values of UHP:

• To put patients first
• To take ownership
• To respect others
• To be positive
• Listening, learning and improving

In March 2019 the department was re-awarded full Joint Advisory Group (JAG) accreditation after going through rigorous external peer review process which means that the Trust is recognised as providing high levels of quality services for our patients.

Contact details

If you have any queries at all please feel free to phone us on 01752 438407 between 8am and 6:00pm, Monday to Friday.