New Endoscopy Unit for York Hospital

Work to build a brand new endoscopy unit at York Hospital is now underway, which will be one of the most modern and largest endoscopy units in England.

The £10 million project will take around a year to complete and will increase capacity from three treatment rooms to seven, reflecting the growing need for endoscopic investigations nationally.

The building has been designed to increase capacity to meet growing demand, improve the efficiency of patient flow and enhance the patient experience.  The new unit will deliver improvements to diagnostic and therapeutic endoscopy waiting times and increase the range of procedures offered, meaning fewer patients will have to travel to Leeds or Hull.

The current unit provides around 13,000 treatments each year and has outgrown its current location within the main hospital.  Mr Stevan Stojkovic, Clinical Director, General Surgery and Urology said:  “We’ve known for a while that demand for endoscopic services was beginning to outstrip our capacity, so the decision was taken to future proof the unit.

“We are seeing 7% growth in demand for endoscopy services year on year.  The three endoscopy rooms we currently have available are in constant use.  The new unit will provide the space that we need to provide a timely, patient-focused service.”

The new unit is being built above the hospital’s existing physiotherapy department.  It will be connected into the hospital at First Floor level.

Patrick Crowley, Chief Executive, York Teaching Hospital NHS Foundation Trust said:  “This is the biggest capital investment for many years and will allow the Trust to provide clinical services to a growing number of patients needing endoscopy.

“This is an exciting development for the Trust and it will transform our service into a centre of excellence for endoscopy, providing an enhanced high quality care to our patients.”

An endoscopy is a procedure where the inside of your body is examined internally using an endoscope.  An endoscope is a thin, long, flexible tube that has a light source and a video camera at one end.  Images of the inside of your body are relayed to a television screen.  An endoscopy can take 15-60 minutes to carry out, depending on the type of procedure, and is usually performed on an outpatient basis, which means patients do not have to stay in hospital overnight.

The new unit will be operational in early 2019.

02 January 2018