Colorectal
Our Trust offers comprehensive care for patients with colorectal cancer. Our surgical team, led by Mr. Pissas, performs procedures at York Hospital and Scarborough Hospital.
Before or after your surgery, you may receive oncology treatment at York, Scarborough, Malton, or one of our partner hospitals (Hull or Leeds). Some patients may receive oncological treatment instead of surgery.
Our clinical Nurse Specialist (CNS) team manages your long-term care, ensuring ongoing support at every stage of your treatment.
Colorectal Cancer Nurse Specialists
Our Colorectal CNS Team is a small but dedicated team of specialist nurses working across our hospitals and in the community.
By working closely with our medical and surgical teams, the Colorectal CNS Team aims to provide you and your family with ongoing emotional and physical support for your bowel needs at every stage of the journey.
The team aims to instigate contact at first suspicions of diagnosis (for example, following a colonoscopy).
Contacting our Colorectal CNS Team
As a specialist team of nurses, our team understands that experiencing symptoms of an altered bowel function or receiving a diagnosis of bowel cancer can be a very emotional and confusing time for you and your family. You may have different concerns, questions, and needs at different times during your care.
For support, call us on 01904 724126 or 01723 236258. We are available 8am to 4pm, Monday to Friday.
You may need to leave a message on the answer phone if we are not in the office, but we will aim to contact you back within 24 hours.
As part of your care, you may be required to go for some investigative tests. This may include a colonoscopy, which is a way of looking at the inside of your colon (large bowel). See our patient information leaflet on colonoscopy for more information on this procedure.
You may additionally be asked to have one or more of the following procedures:
- Flexible sigmoidoscopy - very similar to a colonoscopy but offers a more limited view of the bowel. This is usually performed to assess left-sided bowel symptoms.
- CT scan - uses the same technique as an ordinary X-ray but takes more images to build a more detailed image of the body.
- MRI scan - unlike X-rays, this technique uses a magnetic field and radiowaves to take images of the body in finer detail.
- PET scan - this helps to locate disease in the body by the use of a tracer (substance given at the time of the scan). It is mainly used for cancer diagnosis and treatment.
- Ultrasound scan - uses sound waves to generate images on a screen of the relevant body parts.
What happens next depends on the results of your investigative tests. It could be that you may not need to see us again, or, you may be called to a clinic to discuss your diagnosis and/or treatment options, where you will either see a Colorectal CNS or a doctor.
We may need more information on your condition before offering any treatment and will explain the need for any additional tests.
We may also refer you to meet one of our oncologists.
Surgery may be recommended and, depending on your age and condition, you may be directed to a perioperative clinic to assess your fitness for surgery. At this appointment, you will be seen by an anaesthetist, who will advise you and us on the steps that need to be taken to make your surgery as safe as possible.
