27 October 2010
The endoscopy team (who examine patients' digestive and respiratory systems using miniscule cameras) at St Helier Hospital are celebrating a £1.4 million cash boost. The new investment means that more patients will be able to get the treatment they need, faster than ever before.
The team has been by bolstered with a new doctor and four new nurses, as well as additional support from non-clinical staff, such as porters, to help the smooth running of the unit. It comes as increasing numbers of people are being referred to have potentially life saving tests which could detect illnesses such as lung and bowel cancer, and tuberculosis (TB).
Samantha Jones, Trust Chief Executive, said: "This investment is vitally important - it means patients can get the tests they need quicker than ever before, and those who do require treatment, for instance someone with a life-threatening cancer, can start it sooner which, in turn, could help save their life."
Dr Ashraf Raja is the Trust's lead doctor for endoscopy and has worked for the Trust for more than 10 years. Dr Raja said: "In 1990, we were seeing between 1,500 and 2,000 patients who needed endoscopic procedures a year. This year we will see over 8,000.
"Medical scopes are getting smaller and smaller, and you can do so much with them these days that very often they are the first test a patient has, apart from maybe a blood test. Modern techniques enable doctors to quickly take biopsies (tissue samples for further testing) from inside the patient and remove polyps (abnormal tissue growths) without the need for surgery."
"With the rise in numbers of patients, it is vital that we continue to treat them as fast as possible. The investment is also great news for patients who require regular tests, such as those with illnesses like colitis (inflammation of the colon) or Crohn's disease (inflammatory bowel disease)."
The massive cash injection doesn't stop there. The unit itself has been completely overhauled to include a brand new, state-of-the-art treatment room, the third at the hospital, and a cutting edge decontamination room for cleaning, processing and storing the endoscopes which are used by the team, which cost £600,000 alone.
Dr Raja added: "The new decontamination unit is absolutely state-of-the-art. It means that our equipment is fantastically clean, and it also electronically tracks our medical instruments all over our hospitals - so we know exactly where each one is at any given time. Its means our patients are as safe as they can possibly be."
The investment has also funded a larger, brighter recovery area, costing £80,000 and a brand new waiting room for patients, costing £150,000 (which was funded by the St Helier League of Friends). All the areas contain brand new bed trolleys for patients, brand new clinical trolleys for equipment, brand new chairs for visitors, brand new lights, brand new windows and brand new curtains.
Tom Brake, MP for Carshalton and Wallington, said: "Recognising the financial challenge we face in the UK, it's great to see the Trust investing so much money into improving the care they provide. This is obviously fantastic news for local people, and those further afield, who use the service at St Helier."
