Innovations in practice: the inpatient liaison nurse role in endoscopy

It is quite challenging for an endoscopy department to deal with an increase in the number of outpatient endoscopies. Often, the inpatient service is carried out on an ad hoc basis and the patient lists are adjusted according to outpatient capacity. This article reviews the effect of increasing outpatient endoscopy numbers on the endoscopy unit at the Royal Liverpool Broadgreen University Hospital, and the appointment of a gastroenterology nurse specialist inpatient liaison as a method to improve the unit's efficiency. The article analyses the need for the role, the advantages its introduction has brought about, and how it has led to enhanced productivity in the respective endoscopy unit.