The Dudley Group NHS Foundation Trust has become one of the first NHS Trusts in the country to have been awarded training status from the International Bowel Ultrasound Group (IBUS).
IBUS is a non-profit organisation which aims to advance intestinal ultrasound (IUS) research and education in the area of Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD). This is to ultimately improve patient care, so it is more personalised, and help contribute to better patient outcomes. The procedure exists in several other countries including Canada, the USA, Australia, China and India but has only come to the UK recently.
Dr Shanika De Silva, consultant gastroenterologist, established the Bowel Ultrasound Service at The Dudley Group earlier this year following her successful completion of a training programme, thus gaining accreditation. Since the service’s inception, Dudley has become one of the first active training centres for bowel ultrasound treatments within the UK.
The bowel ultrasound is a non-invasive procedure for managing patients who have inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), offering an alternative to a colonoscopy, which is traditionally invasive, and MRI scans with no need for bowel preparation.
Patients attend the service for a ‘one-stop shop’ where they can have their outpatient appointment and bowel ultrasound in one visit. This is both more convenient to patients and helps to quickly expedite IBD patient pathways. There is also the potential to undertake the ultrasound procedure as a hospital inpatient.
At present Dr De Silva has treated approximately 90 patients at the Bowel Ultrasound Service in Dudley with that number set to exponentially increase in the coming months and years as the service grows.
Lucy Ford, directorate manager for Gastroenterology and Endoscopy services at The Dudley Group said “This is a fantastic new service that we are offering to our IBD patients here in Dudley. These patients will receive a consultation, their bowel ultrasound scan and the results of that scan in a single outpatient appointment”
“We are very proud of what Dr De Silva has achieved with the service so far and look forward to see it grow from strength to strength.”
If this service wasn’t available patients would have to have one clinic appointment, followed by another for an endoscopy/MRI scan, and then wait weeks for the outcome of those results to make any further treatment decisions. By not carrying out as many endoscopy or MRI scans, it increases capacity for the Trust meaning more patients can be seen, therefore reducing waiting times.
Diane Wake, chief executive at the Dudley Group NHS Foundation Trust said: “We are delighted to be one of the first Trusts in the country to be awarded this prestigious training status from IBUS. It demonstrates how we are paving the way for new and innovative treatments here in Dudley to ensure our patients get the highest possible standard of care”.
Training to become accredited in Bowel Ultrasound scanning is organised through the International Bowel Ultrasound Group (IBUS) for anyone interested in applying and becoming a trainee.
Dr De Silva is hoping to get a cohort of external trainees from other parts of the UK who are wanting to become accredited to start their training course in 2025.
