Wolfson Unit for Endoscopy

Contact for general queries regarding appointments:

Tel: 020 8235 4130
Tel: 020 8235 4131 (24 hour answer phone service)

Fax: 020 8235 4149

Description of Service

The Wolfson Unit for Endoscopy at St Mark’s is world renowned, being the only unit in the UK to achieve international recognition as a centre of excellence for endoscopy research and training. It was also the first unit in London to be accredited as a Bowel Cancer Screening centre in 2006 and is currently one of only six pilot sites in the UK for the Bowel Scope Screening programme, delivering the national bowel cancer screening programmes to the local population. The Wolfson Unit has also developed regional and national referral services for polypectomy, video capsule endoscopy and double-balloon enteroscopy, and provides nationally accredited courses for the teaching and training of endoscopists.

The Wolfson unit has six procedure rooms with state-of-the-art equipment and provides endoscopy services for both St Mark’s and Northwick Park Hospital. Together with a smaller, two-room unit at Central Middlesex hospital around 18,000 endoscopies are performed per year. A full range of therapeutic procedures are performed in the unit, and cutting edge instruments and accessories combined with specialist endoscopy doctors and nurses allow us to ‘reach the parts other doctors cannot reach’ – comfortably and safely. We pride ourselves in making things easy for our patients, whether unwell or visiting for ‘well patient’ screening.

If you are preparing to visit us, or just wish to learn more about endoscopy, please browse and use all the information provided here:

What is Endoscopy?

An endoscopic procedure allows the doctor or nurse to visually inspect your gastrointestinal tract using a video camera attached to the end of a long thin flexible tube. Upper Gastrointestinal Endoscopy (also known as OGD or Gastroscopy) includes examination of the oesophagus (food pipe or gullet), stomach and duodenum (the first part of the small bowel). Lower Gastrointestinal Endoscopy (colonoscopy or flexible sigmoidoscopy) is an examination of the colon (large bowel). We are also able to visualise the entire small bowel using either an easily swallowed pill-sized camera (video capsule endoscopy) or specialist endoscopic equipment designed to navigate the small bowel (double-balloon enteroscopy).

Click on the links below to learn more about the different types of endoscopic procedures:

The Wolfson Unit has provided information sheets on the dietary changes and bowel preparation you will need to take in the days before your procedure; view them here.

The National Bowel Cancer Screening Programme:

Bowel cancer (also known as colorectal cancer) is the second most common cause of cancer deaths in the UK, with 41,581 new cases diagnosed in 2011 accounting for 13% of all new cancers. The lifetime risk of developing bowel cancer in the UK is 1 in 14 for men and 1 in 19 for women. To read more about bowel cancer and its treatment, please visit the Cancer Research UK website by clicking here.

Colorectal cancer can be prevented via polypectomy, which is the removal of pre-cancerous growths (polyps) within the bowel at either colonoscopy or flexible sigmoidoscopy. This is a safe, mostly painless procedure with highly effective results.

For further information on our bowel cancer screening programmes click here.

Location Within St Mark’s

The Wolfson Unit for Endoscopy is located on Level 3 of St Mark’s Hospital, accessible through the link corridor between Northwick Park and St Mark’s.

Questions or problems after your procedure

In the case of an emergency you are advised to attend your nearest A&E department, taking a copy of your endoscopy report with you.

For other queries you can contact a member of the medical staff in the endoscopy department on 0208 235 4141 / 4142 (outside of 9:00pm–5:00pm Monday to Friday call 0208 864 3232 and ask to speak to the gastroenterologist on call for St Mark’s) or speak to your GP.

Referral Guidelines

Meet the Team

Between 30 to 40 physicians, surgeons and nurses deliver endoscopy cross-site at St Mark’s and Central Middlesex Hospitals. The Wolfson unit, however, has a core team of clinicians and nurses who specialise in endoscopy and deliver services to local and tertiary patients. They are supported by a large team of specialist nurses, endoscopy assistants and technical staff.

Professor Brian Saunders
Director of the Wolfson Unit and of the Bowel Cancer Screening service
Consultant Gastroenterologist & Endoscopist

Professor Siwan Thomas-Gibson
Consultant Gastroenterologist & Endoscopist

Chair of the Joint Advisory Group on GI Endoscopy

Dr Adam Haycock
Endoscopy Training Lead
Consultant Gastroenterologist & Endoscopist

Dr Adam Humphries
Clinical Lead for Endoscopy
Consultant Gastroenterologist & Endoscopist

Dr Andrew Latchford
Deputy Director Polyposis Registry
Consultant Gastroenterologist & Endoscopist

Dr Ana Wilson
Consultant Gastroenterologist & Endoscopist

Dr Noriko Suzuki
Honorary Consultant Endoscopist

Mrs Margaret Vance
Deputy Director Bowel Cancer Screening Hub
Nurse Consultant Endoscopist

Miss Ripple Mann
Nurse Endoscopist

Miss Jayne Butcher
Nurse Endoscopist & Capsule Endoscopy Nurse Specialist

Miss Belma Motes
Nurse Endoscopist

Miss Aine O’Rourke
Capsule Endoscopy Nurse Specialist