A new £850,000 unit for a high-tech treatment which allows detailed internal examinations to be carried out without the need for surgery is on the cards for York District Hospital.

The self-contained endoscopy unit is to be developed on the hospital's first floor in an area which is currently used for offices.

One of the hospital's general managers, Colin Watts, said the new development would bring health care benefits to patients being treated by local GPs as well as hospital consultants.

In endoscopy a miniature television camera - an endoscope - is inserted into a patient's body, usually down the throat, allowing doctors to check for ulcers and other internal problems on a television screen.

The equivalent "reverse" procedure using slightly different equipment, a colonoscopy, is used to check for colorectal cancers.

Removing the need for more invasive procedures to carry out internal examinations has greatly reduced the amount of time some patients have to stay in hospital.

At the moment those who require endoscopy are treated in the day surgery unit, but Mr Watts said demand for both day surgery and endoscopy sessions had grown "dramatically".

He added: "The trick here is to separate them so we can carry out more of both procedures."

The project is due to start in December and last six months. The new unit will have three endoscopy rooms instead of the current two, plus patient preparation and recovery areas, a reception area and staff changing facilities.

Once the endoscopy unit is finished early next summer work is likely to start on the space vacated in the day unit to convert the area from four to seven theatres.

That is part of a £7.5 million proposal to develop the hospital's first floor which has not yet been approved by the regional NHS Executive. But Mr Watts said the endoscopy development would be carried out whatever the decision.

He said endoscopy was a very good diagnostic tool which was used to help GPs and consultants treat their patients in the best possible way.

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