AN EXPANSION to the Endoscopy Department at the John Radcliffe Hospital has finally been completed after a £1m investment.

Staff and visitors joined Dame Fiona Caldicott, chairwoman of Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, on Level 2 of the hospital to open the new space, which will help in the fight against bowel cancer.

Over the past eight months an extra procedure room has been added to the existing five to make sure no patient has to wait more than six weeks for an endoscopy.

At the formal opening ceremony on Friday Dame Fiona cut the ribbon before being taken on a tour of the new area.

She said: "I am delighted to be officially opening the new rooms in the Endoscopy Department.

"The trust wanted to improve the service it offers, and these modern rooms will greatly improve the experience for patients."

Endoscopy procedures involve medical staff using a long, thin, flexible tube with a camera at one end to examine the inside of a patient's body.

Some 18,000 people a year have procedures at the department including gastroscopy, sigmoidoscopy, colonoscopy and endoscopic ultrasound.

The number of people needing to use the service, which employs 65 nurses and 15 clerical staff, is currently increasing by 10 per cent a year.

The Endoscopy Unit remained open throughout the expansion and there was no impact on the existing service.

As well as the new room, two private discussion rooms have been created as well as an extra space which can be converted into a seventh procedure room.

Julia Wood, matron for endoscopy at the JR, said: "This demonstrates the trust’s ongoing commitment to maintaining standards of patient care and waiting times.

"The expansion will enable further roll out of the bowel cancer screening programme, which aims to promote the early diagnosis and treatment of bowel cancer."

In November last year the endoscopy unit at the Horton General Hospital reopened following a £2.7m refit.

Accreditation had been removed from the Banbury unit after an inspection by the Joint Advisory Group on GI Endoscopy.

Used by about 5,000 patients a year, it now features separate areas for men and women and state-of-the-art decontamination technology.