Introduction
Endoscopy practice is carried out and supported by a multitude of staff. Apart from endoscopists staff include qualified nurses (EU Regulations), ancillary staff including e.g. nursing aids, technicians, etc, administrative staff such as e.g. medical secretaries, receptionists, etc., as well as domestic support from the institution.
The safety of the patient must be paramount and each patient has the right to be treated by staff that are appropriately trained and are competent to carry out procedures as clinically indicated (EU Convention on Human Rights and Biomedicine 1997). Endoscopy Departments therefore need to have adequately trained and sufficient numbers of staff to ensure that patients are not put at risk unnecessarily. (Ref: GRS Workforce Domain)
