A PROUD of Barnsley nomination from a patient has boosted morale at a busy hospital unit.

Councillor Charlie Wraith submitted a nomination for the Endoscopy Unit at Barnsley Hospital after an appointment there.

He said: “What truly wonderful, brilliant staff we are lucky to have in the unit, from the receptionist to the consultant.

“God bless them all – I cannot explain just how kind they are and they’re absolutely deserving of an award.

“They put you immediately at ease and go above and beyond when you’re there.”

Endoscopy lead nurse Bethan Potter said that the nomination meant a lot to staff on the unit as they continue to catch up on waiting lists following the pandemic.

“The staff have really pulled together, waiting lists are long and the team are working so efficiently and working extra shifts including weekends and evenings to cut waiting times.

“They really are a brilliant team and I’m proud to be lead nurse to such an efficient team who go above and beyond to provide the service.

“The team are really proud of what Charlie has said it’s really raised morale that the service has been recognised for the hard work that they put in.

Bethan, who has been in post for just a year, said that as well as working as efficiently as possible as a team, the unit has also introduced new procedures over the last few months to improve the patient experience.

“There has been a lot of change within the unit recently I came into post, the senior team changed and the new procedures were introduced but the team have been really excited by the new services and have coped brilliantly with all the changes.”

One of the improved procedures which reduces patients’ anxiety about dreaded ‘camera tests’ is the ‘trans-nasal endoscopy’ (TNE) making upper gastrointestinal examinations quicker and more comfortable, and potentially cutting waiting times.

The test is similar to a traditional gastroscopy, where an endoscope (a small camera) is passed into the mouth then down the throat and into the stomach. In TNE, a much smaller camera is introduced through the nose down to the back of the throat and into the oesophagus (food pipe) and then into the stomach.

Barnsley is one of only a few hospitals in the region currently offering this procedure on dedicated regular lists and the hospital envisages that TNE will improve access to diagnostic gastroscopy.

Bethan said: “All the patients who have had the new procedure so far have said that it is more comfortable and they much prefer it.”

The unit was also the first district hospital in South Yorkshire to introduce another procedure the Endoscopic Ultrasound (EUS) which is is a minimally invasive procedure to assess diseases of the digestive tract and other nearby organs and tissues.