The endoscopy service at Roscommon Hospital has been developing year on year with a corresponding increase in activity resulting in almost 3900 procedures conducted in 2018.
One of the latest developments has been the appointment of Amy Forde as a Registered Advanced Nurse Practitioner (RANP ) in Gastroenterology at the hospital, joining the growing group of nurse endoscopists nationally. Since her registration in September 2017, Amy has completed over 1000 procedures, including gastroscopies, colonoscopies, sigmoidoscopies and proctoscopies at Roscommon University Hospital and she has attained the quality indicators to become a registered endoscopist with BowelScreen – the National Bowel Screen Programme.
Amy completed her general nursing training in Galway University Hospitals in 2007 and has since gained experience working with patients with colorectal conditions in both Oxford in the UK and in St. Vincent’s Private Hospital in Dublin. In 2012, Amy completed a Graduate Diploma in Cancer Nursing (Colorectal ) in UCD to advance her knowledge and skills in caring for this cohort of patients. She started working at Roscommon University Hospital in 2014 when it became one of the fourteen bowel screening colonoscopy units in Ireland. Since the commencement of BowelScreen in Roscommon, Amy has co-ordinated the care of all patients referred for colonoscopy to the hospital from the programme.
In 2014, Amy commenced her training in endoscopy, and under the mentorship and guidance of surgeons Mr. Liam McMullin, Mr. Mohammed Eldin and Mr. Tapas Chatterjee, undertook her Clinical Practicums in endoscopy in Roscommon University Hospital. In 2017, Amy completed a Master of Science Nursing Advanced Practice (Gastroenterology ).
Commenting on the appointment, Mary Garvey, General Manager, RUH said, “the Endoscopy Service at the hospital plays a key role in the diagnosis of bowel cancer which is highly preventable and treatable if diagnosed early through screening. Amy’s role as a registered endoscopist with BowelScreen will support this essential service which serves a large catchment area covering most of the west of Ireland.”
