We are unable to book appointments more than six weeks ahead. When your appointment has been scheduled your will be informed by telephone.

If you take drugs such as aspirin, clopidogrel, warfarin, apixaban, dabigatran, rivaroxaban, edoxaban or other medicines that thin the blood you do NOT need to stop these for a routine endoscopy procedure such as a gastroscopy, flexible sigmoidoscopy or colonoscopy. However, if you are having a more specialist procedure such as having a feeding tube inserted (PEG or PEJ), a dilatation of a stricture, polyp or potential polyp removal or HALO then you will need to stop the medications that thin the blood.  In this instance or if you are uncertain please contact the endoscopy department. The booking team when contacting you to schedule your procedure will advise.

The time that you are given is the time that you will be admitted into the department, it is not the procedure time. It does take time to admit you prior to your procedure. This time is when your notes are made ready and the nurses undertake their pre-endoscopy checks. 

Whilst we endeavour to start your procedure in a timely fashion there are a few factors that mean that you might have to wait longer than expected. For example a patient scheduled after you, could be sicker and need to be brought to the front of the queue. Also, because everybody is different, their procedures can take a different amount of time. A patient with a longer large bowel will take some more time. It should also be noted that we have multiple rooms running at the same time, therefore you may see other patients go in before you.

You need to allow between 2- 4 hours for your visit to the endoscopy department. 

The appointment time is measured from the time you register at Endoscopy reception to your departure from the department. It includes pre procedure checks, the time you spend waiting for the examination, the time the actual examination takes, the time you need to recover from it and the time taken getting yourself ready to go home.

The actual time spent on an examination varies between patients and examinations. In general, an examination of the stomach (gastroscopy) will take 5-15 minutes, a flexible sigmoidoscopy can take around 10 minutes and a colonoscopy can take around 20-40 minutes. 

You don't need to bring a change of clothes. You might like to bring the instructions sent to you with your appointment details and something to read whilst you wait. If you are having a colonoscopy you will be asked to change, therefore if you may like to bring a spare bag for your clothes. Please do not bring anything valuable.

The instructions sent to you with your appointment details explain what you will need to do to prepare for the endoscopy.

In order for your bowels to be examined you will need to take a bowel preparation. This is a drink that helps you to empty your bowels.

It is not uncommon for your first bowel movement to occur several hours after you begin your prep.

Take thirty minutes to one hour break from your preparation, then restart your preparation at the same pace as originally instructed. Drink plenty of other clear liquids. Do the best you can.

For many of the procedures performed in our department you do not necessarily need to have sedation. For example, a gastroscopy can be performed with just a local anaesthetic spray and a colonoscopy can be performed only with ‘gas and air’ or Entonox. For some procedures such as ERCP, therapeutic endoscopies and HALO, we would advise that you do have sedation. You will have the opportunity to discuss your sedation with the team on the day of the procedure. Please note the FAQs below regarding sedation.

No, you must have someone with you that is able to drive you home due to the effects of the deep sedation you received during your procedure. You may not drive the rest of the day.

Most procedures in the endoscopy department are performed using ‘moderate sedation’. The sedative we use most often is Midazolam (a type of Valium) which makes you feel sleepy and more comfortable but does not actually send you to sleep.  Some people do not remember anything about the examination afterwards. These sedatives start to work very quickly but take up to 24 hours to wear off. Occasionally some procedures require a deeper sedation or propofol.  

Everyone’s response to pain is different. Some people may feel some discomfort during the procedure but you are constantly being monitored by the endoscopist and nurses in the procedure room. Please speak to a member of the team if you are concerned about your sedation. If necessary more sedative can be given. Other people are amazed to awake in the recovery room with little or no recollection of the procedure. 

If you have had no sedation then recovery is very quick. You can walk through to the step down area and wait a short while for a copy of the procedure report. If you have sedation you will be moved to the recovery area, and you will be allowed time to sleep off the effects of the sedation. When you are awake you will be offered a drink and something small to eat before walking to the step down area were you wait for a copy of the procedure report.

Whether you need to bring someone with you as an escort depends on whether you will have a sedative for the endoscopy. If you have a sedative, it is important that you have someone to help you home afterwards, including being driven home and staying with you overnight. For some examinations, you can opt not to have a sedative and, therefore, do not need to bring an escort with you .

If you are having an examination of your stomach (gastroscopy), it is possible to do this while you are awake (see above) using a throat spray and no sedative. If you are having a colonoscopy, it is possible to give you 'gas and air' or Entonox. If you can't bring an escort with you, this is what we will suggest to you. For other examinations, do discuss the options with your GP or with someone in endoscopy. It is very rare that we need to arrange for an overnight stay for a patient when no escort is available. In this event, and whilst we try our best to accommodate your needs, we cannot guarantee that a bed will be available on the day. You should be aware that there is the possibility that your procedure is cancelled on the day. If this is the case, we will re-arrange this as soon as possible.

If you need to arrange transport, please use the following contact numbers based on location:

Berkshire: 0300 123 3235 
North Hampshire: 0300 100 0015  
Surrey: 0300 200 1067

You can also use this link to the SCAS website.

The endoscopist will speak with you afterwards whilst you are still in the procedure room. However, any sedation that you may have been given can cloud your memory of this conversation. Once you have recovered from the procedure, a nurse will sit down with you and explain the findings of the report and answer any questions that you may have. It is not always possible for the doctor who did the procedure to come out and speak with you at this stage as they will be doing another procedure. If however it is important for you to speak with the endoscopist then let one of the nurses know and they will try to accommodate your wishes.

You will be given a copy of the procedure report after the test. If a biopsy (a tissue sample) was collected during the procedure, it will be sent to the lab for further analysis. The endoscopist will indicate on the report how you will find out the results of the biopsies. Either your GP will be written to with the results or you will be given an outpatient appointment.

The nurses will discuss your discharge instructions before you leave however if you are concerned please ask someone in the department for confirmation.

This procedure is not performed in our department. Please contact the radiology department.

The booking team will confirm this with you when you are being booked, however if you are already booked and require an interpreter please contact the team as soon as possible.