At a seminar held at Number 11 Downing Street, the British Society of Gastroenterology called for improvements in the delivery of 24- hour emergency endoscopy, at hospitals across the UK, to prevent unnecessary deaths from upper-gastrointestinal bleeding.
Attended by 80 MPs, peers, policymakers, civil servants, patients, nurses and medics, the event aimed to raise awareness of the results of an audit which showed that nearly half of UK hospitals do not provide an out of hours endoscopy service, despite the fact that around 60% of cases of acute upper GI bleeding occur during this period. BSG president, Professor Chris Hawkey pointed out that around 80,000 patients per year are admitted with this condition. While treatable with interventional endoscopy and radiology, upper GI bleeding carries a mortality rate of 8%. He said that more than 700 lives could be saved each year if a 24-hour service was provided in all hospitals. The BSG is currently working with the National Patient Safety Agency and the Royal College of Physicians on CROMES (Consultant Rota On-call Modelling of Endoscopy Services). While the long-term goal is a 24-hour service at 100% of hospitals, the BSG is currently looking to stimulate interim safety measures in the meantime. The BSG also highlighted the plight of patients suffering from Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) and outlined plans to promote the adoption of national IBD standards to improve the delivery of care. Prof. Hawkey said that he wanted to see full adoption by October 2010 and that the standards already had strong support from the Care Quality Commission, Ministers and the Department of Health. The BSG’s care aspirations are encapsulated in the document “Minimum Standards of Care for Patients with IBD” (www.ibdstandards.org.uk). Central to the BSG’s aims is the provision of high quality clinical care that is patient-centred and evidence based. Patients must be in charge of their care and there should be multi-disciplinary team working and effective collaboration across NHS “boundaries”. The BSG is also calling for better access to patient education and psychological support; care should be delivered as locally as possible; more needs to done to improve patient dignity through the provision of designated specialist ward areas and adequate toilet facilities; and there needs to be effective data collection and audit of the standards. “Making the standards part of the care quality agenda should be central to what we do. IBD is one of the most serious, acute conditions that we deal with,” Prof. Hawkey commented. IBD (Crohn’s disease or colitis) develops in young people and continues lifelong with embarrassing and debilitating symptoms. The singer Carrie Grant, who suffers from Crohn’s disease, illustrated how young people can become stronger if helped to meet the challenge. She gave an insight into a patient’s experience of dealing with the psychological impact of the disease and highlighted the importance of having 24/7 access to specialist IBD nurses throughout the UK, to offer support and advice. Currently, 38% of sites do not have an IBD nurse.
