16 October 2024

York and Scarborough Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust’s endoscopy service has received a prestigious accreditation from the Royal College of Physicians’ Joint Advisory Group (JAG) on gastrointestinal endoscopy, following a rigorous assessment.

This is the first time the Trust’s service, which performs more than 20,000 diagnostic and complex therapeutic procedures per year, has been assessed jointly.  The announcement has been heralded as a landmark achievement, as Trust sites in Bridlington, Scarborough, and York were assessed. 

Achieving JAG accreditation signifies the Trust meets the highest standards of best practice in endoscopy.  The assessment team praised the service for demonstrating "high-quality clinical leadership and strong team collaboration".

The assessors also commended the leadership and governance of the service and were particularly impressed by the Trust’s commitment to international recruitment, acknowledging the valuable contributions our diverse workforce makes to both the team and patient care.

The accreditation is valid for five years, contingent on successful annual reviews. Achieving this recognition has been a tremendous team effort, with support from staff across the organisation.

The newly built endoscopy unit at York Hospital opened in 2019. It provides a welcoming and high-quality environment for patients and has been built around their needs and feedback.

Operational Lead Will Jolly said the team across the region had pulled together to make improvements for the “entire patient journey”.

“The feedback we have received from patients have been incredible, I’d like to express my thanks to all the team at every site as this has taken years of hard work.”

Karen Priestman, Associate Chief Operating Officer for Cancer, Specialist and Clinical Support Services, agreed.

She added: “What makes this special is how many staff has been involved; from the reception desk, administrators and the clinical staff who see patients, it’s involved everyone.  We couldn’t have done it without a team effort and the JAG accreditation is a validation of their efforts.

“The Trust has invested in environmental changes, improving the patient pathway experience especially at Bridlington. Harmonising of the excellent practices between sites will provide a high quality of care to all patients.”