Dr. Stephen Feldman MB ChB DRCOG MRCGP Dip. Sports Medicine Dr. Stephen Feldman, a GP at this practice performs endoscopy sessions within the unit and in addition, he carries out direct access endoscopies for GPs in Leeds as a Hospital Practitioner in the Gastroenterology Unit at Seacroft and St. James’ Hospital. Dr. Feldman has 10 years experience of endoscopies.

Dr. Danny Hurwitz MB ChB MRCP MRCGP Dr. Daniel Hurwitz is another GP at this practice and is also a Hospital Practitioner at St. James Hospital carrying out direct access endoscopies. He is also currently training in sigmoidoscopy at Wharfedale Hospital under the guidance of Consultant Surgeon, Mr. Peter Sagar. This is with a view to sigmoidoscopies being carried out at this unit starting July 2006.

Dr. Atul Patel Dr. Atul Patel is a GP based in Pontefract and like Dr. Feldman, is a Hospital Practitioner at Seacroft and St. James Hospital. He has practised as an endoscopist since 1988.

Senior Sister Jan Hicks The nursing staff are led by our Senior Sister Jan Hicks, who prior to joining our practice in 1997 had practised for ten years as an endoscopy nurse, both at St. James’ and at Pinderfields Hospitals. During this time she researched and had published a paper ‘Sclerotherapy, a treatment for Oesophageal Varices’ in the Nursing Times. Since working at the Fountain Medical Centre she also worked at Barnsley District Hospital in order to maintain skills and keep abreast of changes in procedures and protocols recommended by the British Society for Gastroenterology (BSG). Sister Hicks is responsible for the day to day running of the clinical side of the unit.

Jo Denby Jo Denby joined the practice in 2000 having working in the Endoscopy Unit at St. James’ Hospital for 6 years including 2 years in bronchoscopy.

Mary Mitchell Mary Mitchell has over 10 years endoscopy experience. She worked at Seacroft Hospital for many years and has recently joined our team.

Christine Townend Christine Townend was a clinical support worker at the Leeds General Infirmary for 3 years prior to joining us. She has been part of the nursing team in the unit for 3 years and went to St. James’ Hospital to learn endoscopy skills.

Andrea Reilly BSc (hons) RGN Dip HE ENBA87 Joined in 2005 as a Nurse Endoscopist. Trained in Leeds and now works for Leeds Teaching Hospitals Trust and South Leeds PCT. Andrea is actively involved in the training of GP and nurses as endoscopists and carries out around 1000 procedures each year.

Patient satisfaction
The Fountain Medical Center Endoscopy unit is a member of the NHS Endoscopy Global Rating Scale, which is a sheme that monitors the performance of our unit based on quality of service to our patients. The scale covers a number of areas from safety and comfort to communication and aftercare. Our service is constantly improving and we score consistently higher in the majority of areas compared to local and national averages.

Each year we have conducted a patient survey of the service where 100 patients have been randomly selected for their views on the service they have received. The areas they were asked to comment on were:-

• Ease of finding the Fountain Medical Centre
• Parking available outside.
• Appearance of the waiting area.
• Welcome received.
• Promptness of treatment/examination.
• Helpfulness of the nurses and other staff.
• Adequate explanation of self-care.

In summary, responses from the questionnaire showed that respondents are experiencing high levels of satisfaction with the endoscopy service at the Fountain Medical Centre. Based on the information received any areas for improvement, as identified by patients in their comments, have been implemented if deemed appropriate.

Referral Guidelines
As a GP and locality based service, it is both necessary and appropriate that we issue referral guidelines to local GPs. Patients must be carefully selected and low-risk. Our endoscopy service will also soon be availble through the "Choose and Book" service.

Patients with known heart disease, severe respiratory disease, cerebral vascular disease and insulin dependent diabetes are excluded. Patients with any chest pains that may be anginal are required to undergo cardiological investigation prior to endoscopy. Elderly frail patients are also excluded from this service.

The unit also carries out C13 breath testing of appropriate patients.

Patients are usually seen within 4 weeks, although urgent referrals are seen within two weeks. Referral should be made using the Fountain Medical Centre endoscopy referral form which can either be accessed online via the Leeds Health Pathways or forms can be provided on request from the Fountain Endoscopy Unit.