About
The KSS Gastroenterology Training programme is broad based, delivered over a period of five years, and is led by Nik Patel, Head of School, and Dr Fergus Chedgy and Dr Matthew Cowan, Training Programme Directors. To find out more about their roles visit the Meet the Team webpage.
Gastroenterology, which includes the specialty of Hepatology, is one of the main receiving medical specialties. The emphasis is on developing clinicians who are not only skilled in the management of outpatient and in-patient gastrointestinal conditions, but who also provide a safe and competent endoscopic practice. The interface with General Internal Medicine remains strong and the dual accreditation programme with G(I)M provides a sound base for practice either at district general hospitals or academic centres.
The basic Gastroenterology curriculum developed by the JRCPTB in association with the Specialty Advisory Committee is delivered at all the training hospitals in HEE KSS. In addition, The Royal Surrey County Hospital and Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals not only provide Hepatology and Nutrition training but also exposure to Academic Gastroenterology at the University sites to which these hospitals are affiliated. Darent Valley Hospital, Dartford, is also an accredited Nutrition training centre.
Where do trainees train?
Of the five training years, four are based at district general hospitals (DGH) in KSS and one at a tertiary centre in KSS or London. During the one year at a tertiary centre, trainees gain a subspecialty experience tailored to their training needs. This will normally be undertaken in the ST6 year, but for trainees with rapid achievement of basic GI competences at ARCP this may be during the ST5 year.
The geographic spread of the KSS rotation is one of the largest in the UK and to minimise travel, trainees are allocated to East and West rotations across KSS. The expectation is that most of the training will be delivered within the East or West rotation locations in KSS.
The DGH allocation for the first two years of the training programme (ST3 and ST4) is usually predefined (and will be known at the recruitment stage). To maintain equity of access to specific training opportunities, some movement of trainees between sectors may be required.
KSS East rotation
Kent
- William Harvey Hospital, Ashford – East Kent Hospitals University Foundation Trust
- Queen Elizabeth and Queen Mother Hospital, Margate – East Kent Hospitals University Foundation Trust
- Maidstone Hospital, Maidstone – Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust
- Tunbridge Wells Hospital, Pembury – Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust
- Medway Maritime Hospital, Medway – Medway NHS Foundation Trust
- Darent Valley Hospital, Dartford – Dartford and Gravesham NHS Trust
Surrey
- Royal Surrey County Hospital, Guildford – Royal Surrey NHS Foundation Trust (tertiary post for ST5-7)
Sussex
- Royal Sussex County Hospital, Brighton – Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust (tertiary post for ST5-7)
KSS West rotation
Surrey
- East Surrey Hospital, Redhill – Surrey and Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust
- St Peter’s Hospital, Chertsey – Ashford and St. Peter’s Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
- Frimley Park Hospital, Frimley – Frimley Health NHS Foundation Trust
- Royal Surrey County Hospital, Guildford – Royal Surrey NHS Foundation Trust (tertiary post for ST5-7)
Sussex
- Conquest Hospital, St. Leonards-on-Sea – East Sussex Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust
- Eastbourne District General Hospital, Eastbourne – East Sussex Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust
- Princess Royal Hospital, Haywards Heath – Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust (tertiary centre)
- Worthing Hospital, Worthing – Western Sussex Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
- Royal Sussex County Hospital, Brighton – Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust (tertiary post for ST5-7)
To find out more about each training location, please visit the Local Education Provider webpage.
London tertiary post rotations
Some tertiary experience will be hosted by one of the London Teaching Hospitals. For most trainees, depending on availability, this will be in one of the South London Hospitals:
- King’s College Hospital, Kings College NHS Foundation Trust
- St Georges Hospital, St George’s University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
- St Thomas’ Hospital, Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust
- Guy’s Hospital, Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust
Trainees may access other hospitals in North London, including the Liver Unit at either:
- Royal Free Hospital, Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust
- St Mark’s Hospital, London North West Healthcare
The Hepatology curriculum delivery is available via the Royal Surrey County and Royal Sussex County Hospital in KSS, as well as the following in London:
- Royal Free Hospital, Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust
- King’s College Hospital, Kings College NHS Foundation Trust
Specialty clinics
All HEE KSS hospitals offer specialty clinics in either inflammatory bowel disease or viral hepatitis, often both. In addition, most hospitals have specialist nurses that support the care of patients with these chronic illnesses. The training opportunities offered in such clinics, coupled with audit and research activity, is usually reflected in high numbers of research presentations at regional and national conferences.
Endoscopy training
All the training centres in the region offer JAG accredited endoscopy units for training. It is anticipated that all trainees will achieve certification for diagnostic endoscopy in the ST4 year and will have made progress towards certification for diagnostic colonoscopy. ERCP training is available at all training centres according to the stage of training and other individual circumstances. Opportunities for advanced endoscopy are available throughout the region with centres offering Endoscopic Ultrasound, Spyglass ERCP and Advanced Luminal Endoscopy training.
Structured training/teaching days
During a year, nine teaching days are conducted with a curriculum-mapped programme. These teaching days are delivered at a range of venues and some are shared with the South London Gastroenterology training programme. This includes teaching days at St George’s, St Thomas’ and King’s College Hospital. In addition the South Thames Regional BSG meeting provides postgraduate teaching with a strong national and international faculty. Attendance at the British Society of Gastroenterology Conference and the Postgraduate Day is also encouraged.
SOUTH THAMES AND KSS GASTRO-ENTEROLOGY REGIONAL TRAINING DAYS CALENDAR-2024-2026
| DATE | SUBJECT | HOST | CONTACT |
| Tues 16th Jan 2024 | IBD Emailed a reminder 8/9/23 | Medway | Irfan Khan irfan.khan3@nhs.net |
| Feb – 2024-TBC | Pan-London Liver Day Emailed for confirmation of date 19/10/23 | Kings | Debbie Shawcross debbie.shawcross@nhs.net |
| Fri 8th Mar 2024 | Regional BSG Emailed for confirmation of date 19/10/23 | RCP | David Reffitt David.reffitt@nhs.net |
| Fri 10th May 2024 | St Georges Teaching Day Deferred from April | St Georges | Sarah Clark Sarah.clark@stgeorges.nhs.uk |
| End of May – 2024-TBC | Pan-Thames Training Day | RSM | Robert Logan robert.logan@nhs.net |
| Thur 20th Jun 2024 | Hepatology – viral | Guildford | Charmiane Banks charmian.banks@nhs.net |
| Tues 16th Jul 2024 | IBD | GSST | Mark Samaan mark.samaan@gstt.nhs.uk |
| Aug 2024 | No meeting | _ | _ |
| Wed 18th Sept 2024 | Hepatobiliary/ pancreatic disorders | GSTT | Terry Wong Terry.Wong@gstt.nhs.uk |
| Oct – TBC* | Endoscopy/ GI Sciences (genomics) | Brighton | Fergus Chedgy ferguschedgy@nhs.net |
| October – TBC* | K.E.N.T. Advanced Endoscopy Course | Margate | Zach Tsiamoulos ztsiamoulos@nhs.net |
| 6th & 8th Nov – 2024 | Kings Live Endoscopy Register Here:- KingsLive (included is the price list via this boking link) | Gainsford Lecture Theatre, Weston Education Centre, Denmark Hill Campus, King’s College London | Shraddha Gulati shraddha.gulati@nhs.net Arwen McCarthy arwen@cmevents.co |
| Thur 12th Dec 2024 | Nutrition including PN/ GI physiology | St Georges | Sarah Clark Sarah.clark@stgeorges.nhs.uk |
| DATE | SUBJECT | HOST | CONTACT |
| Tues 15th Jan 2025 | GI emergencies/ functional bowel disorders | Woolwich | Amit Gera amit.gera@nhs.net |
| Feb – 2025-TBC | Pan-London Liver Day | Kings | Debbie Shawcross debbie.shawcross@nhs.net |
| Wed 19th Mar 2025 | Regional BSG | RCP London | David Reffitt david.reffitt@nhs.net |
| Apr – 2025-TBC | St Georges Teaching Day | St Georges | Sarah Clark Sarah.clark@stgeorges.nhs.uk |
| May – 2025-TBC | Pan-Thames Training Day | RSM | Robert Logan robert.logan@nhs.net |
| Thur 19th Jun 2025 | IBD | Frimley | Jian Wu jian.wu1@nhs.net |
| Tues 17th Jul 2025 | Hepatology – non-viral/ acute liver failure | Kingston | Ralph Greaves ralphgreaves@nhs.net |
| Aug | No meeting | _ | _ |
| Wed 17th Sept 2025 | IBD/ GI sciences (genomics) | GSTT | Mark Samaan mark.samaan@gstt.nhs.uk |
| Wed 15th Oct 2025 | GI bleeding/ malabsorption | East Sussex | Steven Fong steven.fong@nhs.net |
| Nov – 2025TBC | Kings Live Endoscopy | Kings | Shraddha Gulati shraddha.gulati@nhs.net |
| Thur 11th Dec 2025 | Nutrition, including PN | Dartford | Ben Warner b.warner@nhs.net |
| DATE | SUBJECT | HOST | CONTACT |
| Tues 20th Jan 2026 | IBD | Tunbridge Wells | Paul Blaker paul.blaker@nhs.net |
| Feb – 2026-TBC | Pan-London Liver Day | Kings | Debbie Shawcross debbie.shawcross@nhs.net |
| Wed 18th Mar 2026 | Regional BSG | RCP London | David Reffitt david.reffitt@nhs.net |
| Apr – 2026 -TBC | St Georges Teaching Day | St Georges | Sarah Clark Sarah.clark@stgeorges.nhs.uk |
| May – 2026 -TBC | Pan-Thames Training Day | RSM | Robert Logan robert.logan@nhs.net |
| Thur 18th Jun 2026 | GI cancer/ benign pancreatic disorders | Ashford & St Peter’s | Anton Gunasekera anton.gunasekera@nhs.net |
| Tues 21st Jul 2026 | Nutrition (focus on enteral)/ IBD | Epsom | Philippa Youd philippa.youd@nhs.net |
| Aug | No meeting Moved to October for Regional BSG | _ | _ |
| Wed 16th Sept 2026 | Hepatobiliary/ GI physiology | GSTT | Terry Wong Terry.Wong@gstt.nhs.uk |
| Wed 21st Oct 2026 | Hepatology – viral | Brighton | Fergus Chedgy ferguschedgy@nhs.net |
| Nov – 2026-TBC | Kings Live Endoscopy | Kings | Shraddha Gulati shraddha.gulati@nhs.net |
| Thurs 10th Dec 2026 | Gastro in DGH/ hospital management/ career progression | PRUH | Preeti Chopra preeti.chopra@nhs.net |
Out of Programme activity
Nationally, many Gastroenterology trainees take time out of programme (OOP) for either additional training (OOPT) that is not routinely available, or to spend a period of time in clinical or lab-based research (OOPR) that would lead to the award of a higher degree such as an MD or a PhD.
Most trainees who have taken up Gastroenterology training in HEE KSS have gone on to such programmes, both within the HEE KSS region and the London Academic centres. Our trainees have had high success rates at competitive interviews for research opportunities at a number of university hospitals.