Clinical service achievements

QHB Endoscopy's JAG accreditation shows that highest standards are being met across Team UHDB

Endoscopy team at QHB

Queen’s Hospital Burton’s Endoscopy service has been awarded a prestigious national accreditation.

Joint Advisory Group (JAG) accreditation is only awarded to the top performing endoscopy units in the country and provides confirmation that the highest standards of patient care are being adhered to.

The Burton Endoscopy unit has now had its JAG accreditation renewed, with the achievement being even more significant, due to the team obtaining this recognition during a very turbulent period.

Colleagues have worked tirelessly over the last few months to ensure standards of care never dropped, despite the Covid-19 pandemic requiring some staff to be redeployed to other areas and the ones that remained having to adapt the way that they worked.  

The unit also underwent major renovations for several months at the end of last year – as a third endoscopy room was created – but the team ensured that patients undergoing procedures were never affected by the changes and continued to receive quality care.

Diane Aldridge, Burton Endoscopy Manager, said: “The pandemic has brought, and continues to bring, challenges to us all, but our staff have constantly put the needs of our patients first. It has been a long journey but I am absolutely delighted that we have been able to achieve this accreditation, which is a credit to everyone in the team.

“Last month, we gave our patients the opportunity to rate their experience whilst in our care and every single response was positive and complimented our team, which was fantastic to see. We have had to adapt our working practices in the face of this pandemic, often at short notice, so I’m extremely grateful to everyone in the team for making sure that none of these changes ever impacted the level of care that we were able to provide.”

Dr Stephen Hearing, Clinical Lead for Endoscopy at UHDB, said: "Meeting the required standards has required hard work and the commitment of all the endoscopy staff, including nurses, doctors, administration and management colleagues. To have implemented the required changes whilst dealing with challenges of the Covid pandemic is a tremendous achievement."

This award means that UHDB is JAG accredited at all three of our units – at Queen’s Hospital Burton, Royal Derby Hospital and Sir Robert Peel Community Hospital.

The Joint Advisory Group carried out their assessment in Burton last month after Covid restrictions limited them to a virtual tour of the unit, with the accrediting body said to be “astounded” by the levels of patient-focused care on show, with patient feedback also being overwhelmingly positive.

Staff on the unit have worked tirelessly to keep the service running throughout the pandemic and have had to make huge changes to the way they work, with one example seeing the team start completing pre-assessments with patients over the phone, so as to ensure that they were able to receive the standard of care they expected.

Dr Magnus Harrison, Executive Medical Director, said: “We are absolutely committed to providing our communities with the best care possible, so to be able to say that all of our Endoscopy units are now JAG accredited is a fantastic achievement and is something that we are exceptionally proud of. Our Endoscopy unit at Queen’s Hospital Burton has undergone some major changes over the last year or so but the team have continued to provide outstanding, patient-focused care throughout, which is a credit to them and this recognition is no more than they deserve.”

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