Gastroenterology

St George’s University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust’s Gastroenterology and Hepatology Department specialises in the diagnosis and treatment of conditions of the gastrointestinal (GI) tract (the digestive tract from mouth through to anus, including the stomach and bowel), liver, pancreas and biliary tract.

The department has a very strong multidisciplinary ethos,  with consultants, nurse specialists and allied health professional colleagues from Gastroenterology and GI Surgery, Dietetics, Radiology and Pathology working in partnership to ensure that patients and families receive the best care for their condition.

Our consultants have a wide range of specialty expertise and the department offers a comprehensive range of diagnostic procedures, such as endoscopy, and specialist clinics, including inflammatory bowel disease, oesophageal, viral hepatitis, and complex nutrition.

St. George’s provides a regional Intestinal Failure Service, managing patients with complex nutritional conditions and those requiring home parenteral nutrition.

St George’s is a regional liver centre and manages the full spectrum of hepatology with the exception of liver transplantation and hepatobiliary cancer surgery. The department has excellent links with King’s Liver Unit, working together to provide treatment for hepatitis C, while communication with our local hospitals is optimised through a local network.

Outpatient Clinics

• General Gastroenterology – Oesophageal, stomach, small, large bowel disorders and cancers
• General Hepatology – Liver, gall bladder, pancreatic disorders and cancers
• Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) – Crohn’s Disease and Ulcerative Colitis
• Viral Hepatitis – Hepatitis B, C, D, E and HIV co-infection

In addition the department provides:

• Liver and GI Diseases in Pregnancy – joint care for such complex conditions is provided with the obstetrics department.
• Rapid Access Jaundice Service – A quick access clinic for patients with jaundice.
• Adolescent IBD Transitional Clinic – The department also holds transitional IBD clinics with the paediatrics department for adolescent patients who will soon be transferring to our adult service.
• Clinical Assessment Service (CAS) – A consultant-led service where GP referrals along with baseline tests are reviewed by a consultant gastroenterologist.

Day Cases

A full range of endoscopic procedures (procedures using fibre-optic cameras to examine the gastrointestinal tract) are provided in our modern state of the art endoscopy unit:

• Upper gastrointestinal (GI) endoscopy (examination and treatment of disorders of the gullet and stomach)
• Colonoscopy (examination of the large bowel)
• Flexible sigmoidoscopy (limited examination of the large bowel)
• Endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP), (examination and treatment of the bile duct leading to the liver, gall bladder and pancreas)
• Endoscopic Ultrasound (EUS) (ultrasound examination from within the bowel)

In addition the department provides:

• National Bowel Screening Programme – the Endoscopy department at St George’s University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust is the National Centre for Bowel Cancer Screening for the southwest London region.
• Oesophageal Manometry Service – a specialist investigation of the gullet.
• National Endoscopy Training Centre – the department provides endoscopy training courses for doctors and nurses.
• For our patients, we offer breath tests; fibroscans; venesections; liver biopsies and paracentesis.

Inpatients

The department’s consultants and junior doctors undertake the care of inpatients who have been admitted with gastroenterology or hepatology diagnoses, including patients with gastrointestinal bleeding.

Gastroenterology Trust Pathways

Pathway for the Management of Dyspepsia OGD

Pathway for the Management of Dyspepsia

Pathway for the Management of Gallstones

Pathway for the Management of IBS

A Quick Guide to Liver Function Testing Pathology

Pathway for the Management of Constipation in Adult Patients

Pathway for the Management of IBD in Merton

Pathway for the Management of Rectal Bleeding

Location and facilities

St George’s Hospital

Outpatients

Clinics A & D, Ground floor, St James’ Wing, St George’s Hospital

Clinic A, Ground floor, Lanesborough Wing, St George’s Hospital

Endoscopy unit

1st floor, St James’ Wing, St George’s Hospital

Inpatients

Allingham Ward, 3rd floor, St James’ Wing, St George’s Hospital

Queen Mary’s Hospital