Cath Berry, formerly a staff nurse in endoscopy at HRI, has successfully completed Health Education England’s ‘Non-Medical Endoscopist  (NME) Fast Track Training’ programme.

The programme, which was developed in close collaboration with JAG (Joint Advisory Group on Gastrointestinal Endoscopy), was a pilot, ran not only to help meet the ever increasing demand for gastrointestinal endoscopy, but also to form the basis of a wider national programme to meet the Secretary of State for Health’s commitment to train 200 NMEs by 2018.

Demand to participate in the programme was huge, and Cath was required to undergo a rigorous selection process. She was one of only 40 nurse and allied health professionals selected to participate in the programme from across the UK.

The programme comprised of formal academic training, JAG basic skills training, on line training, completion of the new NME competence portfolio, and performing 200 clinical procedures at the employing trust under the supervision of an experienced endoscopist. 

Cath trained in upper GI endoscopy, successfully completed all elements of the training programme, and performed far more than the required 200 procedures within the 6 month period. She has now received JAG accreditation in Gastroscopy and is enjoying working independently cross site. The programme was certainly intense and Cath deserves every credit for working so hard to meet the demands of the programme.

During Cath’s training, the trust as a whole was in the spotlight, especially as the programme was a pilot. Cath’s participation needed to be supported by the trust across the board up to executive level, and individual clinicians were required to make a commitment to support Cath through the process. Mr Will Ainslie, Upper GI consultant and Cath’s clinical supervisor for the duration of the programme, said “This was a really exciting national pilot. The Trust, all the way from the Exec team who supported this ground-breaking scheme, through to the endoscopy staff who made it happen, have to be congratulated. Cath was a perfect choice for this training initiative with the combination of her hard work and natural ability which shone through during her training.”

All of the nursing staff within the CRH and HRI endoscopy units must be thanked for the immense support they gave Cath during her period of training. The intensity of the programme took some adapting to, but the nursing teams couldn’t have done enough to make sure Cath got the training exposure that she required.  Although Cath was provided with dedicated training lists with both Mr Ainslie and consultant gastroenterologist Dr Susan Jones, all of the endoscopists Cath worked with also deserve a lot of praise for allowing Cath to seek out additional training opportunities with them.

Cath will now join the thriving team of JAG accredited nurse endoscopists at CHFT and is looking forward to training in lower GI endoscopy, although this is likely to be at a less intense pace!