Official opening of Horton Endoscopy Unit
25/11/2016
This article is more than seven years old.
On Friday 25 November 2016 Dame Fiona Caldicott, Chairman of Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, will officially re-open the newly refurbished Endoscopy Unit at the Horton General Hospital.
She will be joined by Trust Chief Executive, Dr Bruno Holthof, and staff from the Unit.
Dame Fiona will cut a ribbon to mark the official opening of the Unit, and then she and Dr Bruno Holthof will be taken round the Unit by staff and shown the newly refurbished facilities, which represent major investment in maintaining local services at the Horton.
The Trust has invested nearly £2.7 million to improve the Endoscopy Unit at the Horton to meet current and future nationally set standards. About 5,000 patients a year from Banbury and the surrounding areas use endoscopy services at the Horton. While the Unit was being refurbished, these patients were travelling to Oxford to use services there.
Dame Fiona said: "I am delighted to be officially re-opening the Endoscopy Unit at the Horton today. The Trust Board wanted to make sure that we improved the services we offered to patients in Banbury. The new Unit will greatly improve the experience for patients with much better privacy and more modern facilities."
Julia Wood, Matron for Endoscopy, said: "Staff working in the Unit are really pleased with the new space. This investment shows the Trust is really committed to maintaining high quality endoscopy services at the Horton."
Sue Kershaw, Sister in charge of Endoscopy at the Horton, said: "I think this is a really good facility for the Horton and for local people. We now have an up-to-date department - it is an immense improvement. Staff are happier, patients are happier - it's a very nice place to come and work."
About 5,000 patients a year from Banbury and the surrounding area have procedures at the Horton Endoscopy Unit. The vast majority of patients (90-95 percent) only have to come once for a one-off test. Procedures carried out in the Unit include gastroscopy, sigmoidoscopy, colonoscopy, cystoscopy and bronchoscopy.
About 20 staff are based in the unit - a mixture of nursing and clerical staff. A team of 15 endoscopists (nurses and doctors) work across the John Radcliffe and Horton General Hospital sites.
The work has been carried out to improve patient experience, including privacy and dignity, ensuring separate areas for male and female patients. The work also includes state-of-the-art decontamination technology to bring the Unit up to and beyond current standards.
Watch our video about the new Unit via this link to YouTube.