This season of good will, please help to bring care closer to home for patients like Chris

Chris is a patient at Leicester’s Hospitals who has recently found himself in the unexpected position of needing specialised medical care, and will be spending this Christmas in a state of uncertainty on what his future may hold.

By giving a gift of £60, or whatever amount you are able to afford, you will help to bring care closer to home for patients like him.

Despite multiple tests and wonderful efforts of doctors and nurses at Leicester’s Hospitals, the cause of the condition he has developed within his small bowel is currently unknown.

A piece of medical equipment known as an enteroscope would allow doctors to give Chris the diagnosis and answers he desperately needs by carrying out a procedure called an enteroscopy.

Because this is a highly specialised piece of equipment, it is not yet available in Leicester or even the wider Midlands area. Currently, patients in Chris’ position must be referred to partnering NHS Trusts as far afield as Sheffield, where the nearest enteroscope is available.

Patients like Chris could be dealing with conditions as serious as small bowel cancer. This makes early diagnosis using an enteroscope all the more important.

This season of good will, you can help to raise funds to bring an enteroscope to Leicester’s Hospitals, making it possible for trained staff to carry out the procedure right here in our own city.

It would make a world of difference to patients like Chris, by reducing unhelpful delays and the need for a long, stressful 70-mile journey to Sheffield Hospital to get the answers he so desperately needs.

Wouldn’t it be wonderful to go into the new year knowing that you’ve helped bring care closer to home?

Ask the expert: Dr Sudarshan Kadri – Consultant Gastroenterologist

We sat down with Consultant Gastroenterologist Dr. Sudarshan Kadri (aka Sunny) to find out more about the enteroscope and the difference it will make for patients like Chris.