We're Celebrating: The Endoscopy Centre achieves JAG accreditation
The Endoscopy Centre opened in its present location of the Central building in 1998, as a
standalone service. Refurbishment plans started in November 2011, during which the unit
relocated to South Building theatres to enable construction work to start. The unit was
completely re-designed over two floors in line with JAG recommendations. After a period of
six months the Centre reopened on July 4, 2011.
Following the opening of the refurbished Endoscopy Centre, the service has gone from
strength to strength. As a result of the hard work from consultants, nursing staff,
management and support staff; the unit has been awarded JAG accreditation, making The
Wellington the first private hospital in central London to receive such an accolade.
What is JAG accreditation?
JAG is the Joint Advisory Group on GI Endoscopy and in order to attain accreditation, the
Centre must complete the JAG pathway. The process to gaining accreditation includes
completion of the GRS census, an online assessment tool that enables endoscopy units to
assess how well they provide a patient centred service. This is completed in both April and
October, of which the unit must attain two consecutive scores of all Bs and As in order to
apply for a JAG visit.
The JAG visit to the Endoscopy Centre
Prior to the one day inspection, the Centre had to provide evidence against the answers
given in the census. The process commenced 18 months before the inspection date
and involved the Senior Sister of Endoscopy, Carol Robb and Modern Matron, Michael
Lendrum working hard to produce the information required to achieve accreditation.
Following a rather intense assessment day consisting of a presentation on the Centre, a
walkthrough of “the patient journey”, following an Endoscope through the decontamination
process and one-to-one interviews with staff, the visiting consultant and nurse assessor
went away to make a decision and write up their report.
The report was then passed to the JAG Quality Assessment review panel, who approved
their findings before the Centre was formally notified of the accreditation status. The
Endoscopy Centre were delighted to discover that the full criteria had been met on the day
and accreditation without any recommendations!
What does this mean for The Endoscopy Centre?
The JAG accreditation not only represents the high standard of the service we provide for
patients but also the hard work of our multi-disciplinary team. However, the hard work does
not stop now! In order to maintain annual accreditation the centre must continue to
complete the GRS Census every six months and have another inspection in five years’ time.
What does JAG accreditation mean for our Patients?
The JAG Accreditation Scheme is a patient centred and workforce focused scheme based on
the principle of independent assessment against recognised standards. The scheme was
developed for all endoscopy services and providers across the UK in the NHS and
Independent Sector.
Regulation of a clinical service is an important aspect to maintain to ensure the highest
standards of quality are met. JAG accreditation means The Wellington can offer its patients
a quality endoscopy service at a consistent level. Our JAG accreditation inspectors
congratulated The Endoscopy Centre on the following aspects:
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Well designed, bright and welcoming environment, which is a pleasure for both
patients and staff.
The service has introduced 'mood lighting' within the room to ease patient (and
endoscopist) anxiety levels.
The recovery area consists of a series of individual pods each with en-suite toilet and
showering facilities, which is excellent for patients.
All decontamination processes are carried out to a very high standard.
All patients are given a follow up appointment within 5 working days of their
endoscopy to discuss their results.
There is well documented and evidenced training programme, which encompasses
both mandatory and specialist training to a very high standard.
The Wellington Hospital are very proud of this achievement by the Endoscopy Team, being
the first independent hospital in Central London to achieve JAG accreditation.
If you have any further questions the team will be happy to talk about any aspects of JAG
accreditation just contact our Enquiry Helpline on 0207 483 5148 and they will connect you
to the centre.