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Refurbished £12.4 million QMC Endoscopy Unit set to cut waits and expand complex care for patients across the East Midlands
- Expanded Endoscopy Unit at Queen’s Medical Centre prepares to open to patients
- Faster access for more patients across the East Midlands each year
- Improved facilities for this regional endoscopy service
Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust (NUH) is preparing to open its newly refurbished and expanded Endoscopy Unit at Queen’s Medical Centre (QMC), following a £12.4million investment from NUH and NHS England.
The development has transformed this important diagnostics unit into a significantly larger and more modern facility for patients and staff, which will increase capacity for the most complex therapeutic procedures by 50% - around an additional 1,200 patients each year – as well as reducing waiting times for urgent inpatient endoscopy patients waiting to be discharged.
The current waiting list for therapeutic endoscopy is up to 12 months for certain planned procedures, and this will be shortened significantly by the additional capacity provided by this expansion.
As part of our People First Transformation Programme, along with digitisation and smarter ways of working, this will improve the patient-experience and give taxpayers a service that is better value for money.
The refurbished unit provides patients with a more modern environment with improved privacy, dignity and safety, and includes an admissions area, preparation rooms, three endoscopy treatment rooms, two recovery bays, a discharge room and dedicated staff facilities.
Endoscopy is a vital diagnostic and therapeutic service that uses a flexible camera to examine the inside of the body and help diagnose and treat a wide range of gastrointestinal and other conditions.
In the last 12 months, NUH has performed over 23,000 endoscopy procedures across the 3 sites (City Hospital, Treatment Centre and QMC units) - this includes upper and lower "diagnostic" procedures to investigate symptoms or to screen for gastrointestinal (GI) cancer.
Now the works have been completed, the intention is to seek Joint Advisory Group (JAG) accreditation. JAG assessments are carried out to ensure that the UK’s endoscopy units are safe for patients and staff, and that they provided the right levels of privacy, dignity and infection control.
Rod Petman was one of the last patient’s to be treated in the old QMC endoscopy unit and recently reflected on his experience of the old unit.
He said: “It was functional but felt cramped. Some rooms were located on the opposite side of a corridor, and patients sometimes had to cross that corridor to the treatment rooms. The new unit is now all located in one much bigger space, and it is amazing.
“It improves the patient experience by providing a flow right from when patients arrive at reception through to discharge, ensuring a calm welcoming atmosphere, along with added privacy and dignity.”
As well as serving NUH patients, the QMC unit also supports complex procedures for people referred from surrounding hospitals, strengthening specialist regional endoscopy provision. In addition, the upgraded facility includes improved training space, supporting QMC’s continuing role in endoscopy education, innovation and service delivery.
Dr Andrew Baxter, Deputy Head of Service for Endoscopy, said: “This new unit will make a real difference for our patients.
“It gives us more space, better facilities and greater capacity, which means we can provide care in a more modern environment and improve the experience for people using our services. It will also help us carry out more complex procedures and reduce waits for patients who need endoscopy most urgently.”
Simon Evans, Regional Chief Operating Officer at NHS England – Midlands, said: “The new Endoscopy Unit at QMC is a major milestone for patients, staff and the wider Midlands region. This investment will support high-quality care and increased capacity, meaning more patients will benefit from faster access to care.”
Duncan Hanslow, NUH’s Director of Reconfiguration, said: "The new unit represents a significant investment in the future of patient care at NUH and across the East Midlands.
“It has been a complex redevelopment delivered while maintaining endoscopy services throughout the construction period, and I would like to thank our partners, clinical teams and estates colleagues whose expertise and commitment have made this achievement possible."
Ian Taylor, MD of Henry Brothers Construction, said: "We are proud to have delivered this endoscopy unit, which is now set to become a vital regional asset and to strengthen health outcomes across the area.
“Henry Brothers makes it a priority to support the communities in which we work. We're based in Beeston, not far from the Queen’s Medical Centre, and we consider it a privilege to provide new cutting-edge capacity for our local hospital.”
