Private gastroenterology in Glasgow: endoscopy and digestive care

Nuffield Health Glasgow includes an endoscopy service in the list of areas it describes, next to orthopaedics, ophthalmology, spinal surgery and weight loss surgery. For a patient who needs a camera test of the stomach or bowel, that means the Beaconsfield Road site is a candidate for gastroscopy or colonoscopy without joining a long NHS list.

The hospital does not publish the detail of its gastroenterology clinic on the page used for this guide, so the first practical question is who the consultants are and how many procedures the unit performs. Ask whether the endoscopy is carried out with sedation, whether you may eat or drink beforehand, and how soon a report is sent to your GP.

Bowel preparation for colonoscopy involves drinking laxative solution the day before, so the hospital's location matters on the morning itself. Hyndland station is about a quarter of an hour on foot, and the 6 or 6A bus leaves a walk of around ten minutes from the Gartnavel stop. After sedation you must not drive, so arrange an escort; the hospital car park is free for self-paying and insured patients, with a vehicle registration step on arrival.

A hospital finder listing for Ross Hall Hospital, on Crookston Road, records an endoscopy unit and accredited bowel and breast cancer centres, and names general surgery among its specialties. The operator's own site could not be retrieved, so this is secondhand information to be checked.

An accredited bowel cancer centre suggests that colorectal diagnosis and surgery are organised as a service, with endoscopy, imaging and surgical teams working together. That is relevant to anyone who has noticed blood in the stool, a lasting change in bowel habit or unexplained weight loss, although those symptoms should first go to a GP, who can decide how urgently to refer.

The listing also mentions on-site CT and MRI scanners, so cross-sectional imaging of the abdomen could be arranged within the same building as the endoscopy, rather than on a different day at a different hospital.

Glasgow Royal Infirmary on Castle Street lists an endoscopy suite and houses the Walton Liver and GI Centre, which has a dedicated gastro day unit. The Queen Elizabeth University Hospital in Govan lists endoscopy on Level 2, and Gartnavel General Hospital lists diagnostic and therapeutic endoscopy as well.

Because three NHS sites do this work, a patient on an NHS list may be offered whichever suite has capacity. Private patients choose the building, but should still ask who deals with urgent problems, such as bleeding after a polyp is removed. The sensible answer is one that names the hospital and the route, for example a call to the ward and then attendance at an accident and emergency department if needed.

People with known inflammatory bowel disease, coeliac disease or chronic liver disease are usually followed in NHS clinics because long-term monitoring is part of those services. A private consultant can still give a second opinion, provided records are shared.

Reflux and indigestion are the commonest. A gastroscopy passes a thin camera through the mouth to look at the gullet, stomach and first part of the small bowel, and may include small biopsies. Persistent diarrhoea, abdominal pain or a family history of bowel cancer may lead to colonoscopy, where the whole large bowel is examined and polyps can be removed.

Blood tests can screen for coeliac disease, and a stool test can show inflammation or hidden blood. Liver blood tests and an ultrasound or elastography scan help check for fatty liver. A sensible private consultation explains why each test is chosen and what the result would change.

• Gastroscopy for reflux, ulcer symptoms or swallowing difficulty

• Colonoscopy for bowel change, bleeding or polyp surveillance

• Coeliac and inflammatory marker blood tests

• Liver tests and imaging for fatty liver or abnormal results

• Weight loss surgery assessments, which Nuffield Health Glasgow lists as a focus area

If you have been invited for NHS bowel screening, the invitation is separate from a private consultation, and a private test does not replace it unless a clinician advises so.

• Whether the consultation and endoscopy are quoted together or as separate charges.

• What sedation is offered and what time you can go home.

• Whether biopsies and the laboratory are included in the price.

• How the report is shared with your GP and how quickly.

• Who to contact if you feel unwell after the procedure.

• Whether the unit takes part in national bowel screening or whether that remains an NHS programme.

NHS inform gives Scotland a six-week standard for eight key diagnostic tests and a 12-week standard for a new outpatient appointment, as well as an 18-week referral-to-treatment standard. Which tests make up the eight should be checked on the NHS inform page rather than assumed.

Urgent suspicion of cancer is handled on a different, faster pathway. If your GP has made an urgent suspected cancer referral, waiting for a private slot should not delay NHS investigation unless your clinician agrees.