Health staff are coming to Teesside from across the country to learn more about a special procedure to treat bile duct problems – with the latest national course a success.
The bi-annual course run by North Tees and Hartlepool NHS Foundation Trust trains health professionals in an endoscopic procedure known as endoscopic retrograde cholangio pancreatography (ERCP).
It involves using an endoscopic (camera test) device inserted via the mouth to treat conditions in the liver, gall bladder, bile ducts and pancreas.
The Trust held the 10th basic skills ERCP course attended by speciality trainees and consultants from across the UK.
Landmark course
Dr Vikram Mitra, pancreatico-biliary clinical lead and course director, said: “This is a landmark course – we are only the second trust in the country to have hosted it ten times.
“The journey started back in 2016. We have been very fortunate to receive the support from our local, regional and national faculties over the years to run this course. This has helped with our vision of shared learning”.
“We have always taken everyone’s feedback constructively and tried to address things accordingly moving forward.
“I am very proud of our local team – I would like to thank our gastroenterology, radiology, anaesthetic, surgery and endoscopy department colleagues for their unwavering support with this course.”
“Exceptional” service
Members from the executive team at University Hospitals Tees visited the course venue at the University Hospital of North Tees over the three days of training to welcome the delegates and faculty.
Dr Mitra added: “We are very grateful to the executive team members for visiting the unit and supporting the course.
“We are proud to be sharing learning and good practice and leading the way in this area of endoscopy training.”
The course is affiliated with the Joint Advisory Group on Gastrointestinal Endoscopy who last year recognised the Trust’s service as “exceptional” in an independent inspection.
Professor Derek Bell, chair of University Hospitals Tees, told delegates: “I want to thank everyone involved in running this fantastic course.
“As a group we want to help empower everyone involved to scale up the course even further.”