A NEW £180,000 gastroenterology unit has opened at Leigh Infirmary.

It consists of two fully-equipped endoscopy rooms, situated next to the Day Surgery unit, and improves the standard of accommodation and equipment for patients - and the scope for increasing the volume of work when funding allows.

Consultant, Dr Venk Mani, who will be one of the main users of the new facility, said: "I am delighted to see the new unit up and running. We already provided an excellent service here, but now have the high quality facilities we need for our large caseload, and for our research and training work.

"Both patients and staff will appreciate the benefits.

"We've come a long way since the early days when I used to scope patients in a plaster room."

Wigan and Leigh Health Services has two consultant gastroenterologists, Dr Mani and Dr Colin Bate, and endoscopic procedures are also carried out by other specialist doctors including surgeons.

There is also a gastroenterology facility at Wigan Royal Infirmary. Between the sites around 6,000 endoscopic procedures are carried out each year, but there are still long waiting lists for routine investigations.

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