New £12.5m endoscopy unit opens in Tiverton to drive down waiting lists

A brand new, purpose-built £12.5m endoscopy unit in Tiverton opened this week and is now seeing its first patients.

The new Tiverton Endoscopy Diagnostic Unit triples the capacity in Tiverton for endoscopies and is a state-of-the-art facility with the latest equipment. Once it is fully up and running, it will provide an extra 5,600 endoscopies per year.

The new unit will specialise in diagnostic endoscopies, and patients across East, Mid and North Devon will be offered to have their endoscopy at Tiverton.

This will allow endoscopy capacity at the RD&E to focus more on patients who need complex procedures and have complex health conditions, and those who cannot access Tiverton.

The Trust have significant challenges with waiting times for endoscopies. This new unit is a key part of their plans to recover endoscopy waiting lists and improve waiting times for this important diagnostic test.

Staff have worked hard to see as many patients as possible and carried out over 20,000 endoscopies over the past year. But there is increasing demand for endoscopies that we cannot meet within the existing facilities at the RD&E and NDDH. In the last year, demand has increased by 9%.

Chief Executive Officer Sam Higginson said: “We have built this unit because we want our patients as quickly as possible to get their diagnosis and start treatment if they need it. We know how important this is to our patients, and for things like cancer we’ve got to be quick.

“The Tiverton Endoscopy Diagnostic Unit will give us the extra capacity we need to improve waiting times. I’m grateful to the team for showing me just how fantastic it is, and how carefully it has been designed to deliver an exceptional patient experience.

“I would like to say a huge thank you to everyone who has played a part in delivering this project on time, on budget and to such a high standard – including the project team, all the many, many teams across the Trust who have supported them, and the contractors, who have been fantastic to work with.”

Dr John Rogers, Consultant Gastroenterologist and Clinical Lead for Endoscopy, said: “We are very privileged to be able to deliver this excellent new unit which will deliver improved care. It will allow us to reach diagnosis sooner and commence treatment in a more timely way for our patients across Devon. So many people have worked hard over many years to deliver this project. I am particularly proud of our staff who are incredibly enthusiastic and keen to get going.”

Tiverton was chosen due to its central location across the Trust’s geographical area. This also aligns with one of the shifts that will be part of the new 10-Year Health Plan for England – the shift from acute sites to more care delivered in our communities.

Over 100 people attended a public open day at the unit on Tuesday 13 May, receiving a tour of the unit before it opened.

Attendee Tony Dolphin said of the new unit: “Very impressive, first class facility. I would be happy to come here and avoid the business of the acute hospital. The new equipment is state of the art and makes me feel patients would receive the best treatment and care here.” 

The launch of the unit follows a year-long Diagnostic Recovery Programme of focused work to transform services. The Trust achieved a 5% improvement in diagnostic performance in 2024 by creating more capacity, enhancing skills of staff through training, making our clinics more efficient, and improving how we monitor and manage our waiting lists.

Endoscopies are just one of the diagnostic tests we are working to improve waiting times for and get patients a diagnosis more quickly. Through the continued work of the programme, we are also looking at MRI and CT scans, echo cardiograms, x-rays and more.