Leila Chandler, Registered Nurse

Professional Experience

I am a fully qualified experienced bidirectional endoscopist, capsule endoscopy reporter and non-medical prescriber working at an advanced level within an acute hospital and regional trauma centre. My main responsibility is to deliver consistently high standards of patient centred care, ensuring all interventions are safe and appropriate and delivered to the standards set out by our regulating body, the Nursing and Midwifery Council and our endoscopy specific regulating body, the Joint Advisory Group on GI Endoscopy (JAG).

As an Endoscopist I am responsible for triaging and vetting the referrals into the endoscopy service and streaming them into the correct test, whether this is an endoscopic procedure or a minimally invasive alternative, such as the capsule endoscopy or capsule sponge. I also lead on the management of a large caseload of patients requiring long term surveillance due to previous pre-cancerous findings on endoscopy. The referrals include acutely unwell inpatients, those with chronic/high risk conditions and those with symptoms which could be due to cancer or GI specific diseases.

In addition to my primary role, I support the regional training academy with teaching on the practical skills courses as well as train those new to endoscopy, including nurses, clinical endoscopists and registrars in gastroenterology and general surgery. I follow the best available evidence to ensure the technical and non-technical skills are taught to a standard which meets the certification level dictated to by JAG, as well as assess and provide certification to those who have completed training.

Professional Development

I maintain my professional development and NMC standards by attending relevant training, including trust and profession specific mandatory training. My initial post graduate development led to me completing the Masters in Advanced Practice.
Once specialising in endoscopy and gastroenterology I tailored my professional development and qualifications to meet the needs of the service. This initially centred around the endoscopic procedures to enable me to become a competent independent endoscopic practitioner and trainer. After that I expanded my knowledge and skills to include the minimally invasive service, which is an emerging area in gastrointestinal diagnostics.
My special interest is in using the capsule sponge where I have developed a minimally invasive nurse led surveillance service for patients with Barrett’s Oesophagus. My work in this area has rewarded me a fully funded PhD fellowship.