Hospital investment means improvements for Fylde cancer patients

10:16am Monday 4th August 2008

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Fylde coast patients suffering from some forms of cancer will no longer have to travel to Liverpool for important treatment, after a £240,000 investment at Blackpool Victoria Hospital.

The development of the endoscopic ultrasound service will allow the Vic to carry out tests to discover what stages oesophageal cancer, gastric cancer and pancreatic cancer are at, while also allowing imaging of the common bile duct for stone and fine needle aspiration.

The expanded facilities have also given the local NHS Trust the capacity to carry out the work to deliver the bowel cancer screening programme, for which Blackpool Victoria Hospital is the administrative centre. It coordinates the screening service to the 1.3million catchment population of Blackpool, Fylde, Wyre, Preston, Blackburn and Burnley.

Dr Suhail Ahmed, consultant gastroenterologist at the Vic, said: “This is an essential diagnostic tool, which will really help to improve patient care.

“Previously patients would have had to travel to Liverpool for an endoscopic ultrasound so this will be a big benefit to the local population.

“There is also a reduced waiting time for patients needing this specialist service, with waiting times down to within one to two weeks of referral.”

Endoscopic ultrasound is a combination of a procedure which sees a probe inserted internally to visualise the digestive system and ultrasound which uses high-frequency sound waves to produce images of the organs and structures inside the body.

There is a designated endoscopic ultrasound room for carrying out the procedure, which houses the new state-of-the-art £85,000 endoscopic ultrasound machine and two scopes.

The development of this service follows on from the opening of the £1.5m Endoscopy Unit in April.

The unit has enabled the hospital to increase the work it carries out and provide a much improved environment for staff and patients.