Year-long wait for a routine gastroenterology procedure
SPECIALIST gastroenterology appointments now have a year-long waiting list.
Jon Buckland, chief executive of the Medical Specialist Group, admitted that the situation was not acceptable.
‘Unfortunately, the waiting time for a routine appointment or procedure is currently around a year,’ he said.
‘I apologise to all patients who are waiting longer than they should to see a gastroenterologist. We understand that this can be a very stressful time for them.’
Mr Buckland said that recruiting had proved difficult due to a shortage of gastroenterologists in the UK.
‘Until earlier this year we had two consultant gastroenterologists, Dr Hamish Duncan and Dr Manoj Kuttapan, who combined gastroenterology with general medicine and on-call responsibilities.
‘Since their resignations, which were for different and unconnected reasons, we have been working very hard to recruit a full-time gastroenterologist to replace them.
‘We have employed several locums to cover gastroenterology over the past six months.
‘We were unfortunately without a locum for most of October after a candidate let us down at the last minute, but we have now managed to secure two new full-time locums – Dr Abobakr Shadad, who joined us on 1 November and will stay until Christmas, and Dr Bernd Kaskas, who arrives on 28 November and is expected to stay for at least six months.
‘Our hope is that with two full-time locums during December we will be able to see more patients and reduce waiting times.
‘But we would ask patients not to call the MSG to ask about their appointment – we will contact them as soon as one becomes available.’
Mr Buckland said that several factors have contributed to waiting times, including increased demand, staff and bed shortages at the hospital, and the impact of Covid. He said that demand has significantly increased for gastroenterology in recent years, because endoscopy allows doctors to inspect internal organs and the digestive tract without patients having to go through major surgery.
Endoscopy waiting lists were particularly affected by Covid as the procedure generates aerosols, and at the height of the pandemic was restricted to only urgent cases.
