Capsule Endoscopy - Much More Preferred

The introduction of Pill Cams or Capsule Endoscopy by Pacific Specialists Healthcare last week has resulted in the hospital placing orders for more to avoid any disruption in services delivered.

PSH’s director and chief executive officer Parvish Kumar said the pill cam supply the hospital have is a high demand service after it was made public.

“We have already placed orders for more which we should be receiving within a week,” Mr Kumar said to avoid any service disruption.

“We always ensure stocks for minimum 3 months plus at any given time at hospital so that we don’t run out of supplies.

“We are always very mindful of the supply chain logistics and take steps to have minimal disruptions and currently working on some ideas to avoid this issue altogether.

“We knew that this new technology of diagnosing the digestive tract would be highly preferred but didnt realise the demand was this high....our expectations was around 4 to 5 percent over conventional methods as per what literature has shown in neighboring countries” said Mr. Kumar.

“I believe this should be supported by many as this is a good way to detect bowel cancer and individuals above age of 65 years old should also get this done once every two years.

“We were surprised with the amount of people that had come in to have this procedure done.”

Patient (front) with Clinical Director Dr. Sanson Fousaga (sitting) and PSH Research and Development Team Head Solomone Suguta. Photo: Pacific Specialists Healthcare

The capsule endoscopy system is an ingestible tiny capsule that lets your doctor visualize your entire small bowel, the small intestine that connects the stomach to the large intestine and aids in digestion and other metabolic processes.

Capsule endoscopy can be used to diagnose and monitor various conditions in your digestive tract.

The procedure involves swallowing a small capsule, which is the same size as a large vitamin capsule.

“Capsule Endoscopy is a non-invasive way for Pacific Specialist Healthcare Hospital doctors to visualize specifically the small bowel, which is unreachable during other types of endoscopy procedures, “Mr Kumar said.

“The capsule contains a tiny camera and light source that takes pictures of your small intestine as it travels naturally through your digestive tract.”

Meanwhile PSH Nadi has seen a rise in the number of tourists and locals who have come for checks and treatments of various medical conditions.

“In fact, we have had some tourists who have called in very sick and we have had to stabilise them before they being taken back to their countries through Medivac arrangements.

“The influx has also been attributed to the fact that we are now 24-hour operational where we have expert medical practitioners available.”

Mr Kumar said PSH was also on the verge on introducing many more new technologies which would greatly benefit healthcare in Fiji.

“My outlook is to provide world class health procedures and treatments for both Fiji and the Pacific Islands.

“We are ready for open heart surgery and many more such intensive healthcare procedures would be introduced.

“I want to provide affordable medical procedures, which are expensive for many of our local and Pacific Islanders available here at low costs and payment arrangements.

“I am a local, born and bred in Fiji and know our patients and the healthcare landscape very well hence constantly evaluating ways of how we can further make healthcare financing be more affordable as well as promoting universal health coverage”.

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