Endoscopists Kim Denton and Lesley Reed are celebrating after scooping their top JAG accreditation.

The JAG (Joint Advisory Group on Endoscopy) - the highest level of excellence at work - involves assessment in both practical and written work some by external assessors and some internally.

They both have accreditation in flexible sigmoidoscopy, bowel scoping and colonoscopy, and Kim has upper GI endoscopy as well. They thanked trainers Steve Hodge, Amanda Esmond and Cara Barnes, surgeon David Ilsley and gastroenterologist Susan Jones. Also a big thanks to all other endoscopists for their support and expert training.

Kim has achieved her JAG accreditation in 17 months. Formerly a sister in endoscopy, she always wanted to be a nurse endoscopist. "I had been waiting for the opportunity. It has been a lot of hard work for everyone, and a big thank you to everyone from the admin to all the nurse that have been really supportive throughout our training."

Lesley, at the Trust for 2.5 years, said they had to thank all their trainers and colleagues for their support. "Staff across both sites have had to be in with us during our training and how your trainers & room staff are with you makes such a difference. People really want you to do well and it is good for them that we have them supporting us."

Endoscopy Training Lead at CHFT, Steve Hodge, said: " Endoscopy training is tough. It requires dedication and determination to reach the high standards required for JAG accreditation, especially in the relatively short period of time that both Lesley and Kim have been in post.  Lesley and Kim have both worked extremely hard and have both overcome some difficult times to get to where they have got to. They will be both be real assets to CHFT endoscopy and I am really proud of them both."

He hailed Kim's achievment of pursuing training in OGD (oesophago-gastro-duodenoscopy / gastroscopy) and successfully achieved JAG accreditation in this modality last summer.

 He said: " She achieved this with no dedicated training list with all her exposure being purely on an ad-hoc basis. This was a fantastic and notable achievement."

Notes on how they did it

Lesley had a previous background in endoscopy at the York Teaching Hospitals, and joined CHFT as a trainee nurse endoscopist.  Prior to accepting her training post, Kim worked in endoscopy as a staff nurse at the Calderdale site and then as a sister in Huddersfield.  Both had different backgrounds and therefore had different challenges to face, but both overcame these and progressed really well during their training.

Endoscopy training is something that is very much in demand from both medical and non-medical clinicians, but training spaces are limited. Although Kim and Lesley were both given a dedicated training list, they were expected to seek out as many other training opportunities as they possibly could to maximise their endoscopy exposure, and both dealt with this admirably. Thanks to all the trainers that Kim and Lesley worked with and to all of the endoscopy nurses on each site for being so accommodating with their training requirements.

Lesley came into post a few months before Kim (as Kim went on maternity leave), and was already highly involved and busy within the flexible sigmoidoscopy ‘Bowelscope’ screening programme when Kim came into post. 

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Feedback from a patient received this week.

" I recently had an endoscopy and then a CT scan. I am not brave when it comes to hospital and therefore arrived for both in a real state. While I know that many people have these routine procedures, I could not sufficiently rationalise the procedures in my head and I acknowledge therefore that I was high maintenance on both occasions. Your teams in both parts of your hospital were brilliant...nurses, radiologists, anaesthetists and consultants all totally brilliant. They recognised my worries, dealt with them professionally and gave me options to get through it. Honestly, I was blown away by their kindness and friendliness. At 49 years old I can say that I have met many people, and you have the very best of mankind running your hospital and looking after your patients."