OPEN ACCESS GASTROSCOPY - 3 YEAR EXPERIENCE OF A NEW SERVICE

We have audited the first 3 yr of a new open access gastroscopy servic e in the Royal Victoria Hospital, Belfast to assess service demands, p atient demography and diagnostic trends. Over 3 yr there were 1872 ref errals (800 from fundholding general practitioners), 8,8 per cent were non attenders and 5.4 per cent cancelled appointments, Endoscopic dia gnostic categories showed no significant change over the 3 yr, 39 per cent non ulcer dyspepsia, 35 per cent gastro-oesophageal reflux diseas e (GORD), 17 per cent peptic ulcer disease (PUD), 6 per cent CORD and PUD, 1 per cent gastric erosions and 0.8 per cent carcinoma.