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Greenslopes Private Hospital patients benefit from 20 years of leading gastroenterology services

Mar 27, 2023

Greenslopes Private Hospital is celebrating 20 years of offering patients access to leading Gastroenterology services through Queensland Gastroenterology.

Performing more than 250 procedures per week, clinicians at Queensland Gastroenterology see more than 11,000 patient per year for consultations and procedures including colonoscopies and gastroscopy to identify or treat conditions including colon cancer and liver disease. 

After beginning with a team of four in 2003, Queensland Gastroenterology has grown to 15 specialists, including co-founder and chair Dr Darrell Crawford. 

As well as seeing patients, Dr Crawford is currently serving as the Director of Research at Gallipoli Medical Research Institute and previously being e Head of the UQ Clinical Unit at Greenslopes Private Hospital. 

Dr Crawford has been involved in health and medical research for more than 30 years and made significant contributions to research on liver disease.  

Recent research from Professor Crawford’s team has discovered salivary biomarkers of liver cirrhosis – raising the prospect of a very simple, non-invasive test for liver scarring. 

“The development of a simple saliva test could revolutionise the way cirrhosis is currently detected, especially in rural and Indigenous communities,” said Professor Crawford.

“Early identification of cirrhosis is critical to identify the at-risk individuals who will benefit from further investigations to detect early liver cancer when curative therapies are more likely to be successful.”

Greenslopes Private Hospital CEO, Chris Went, said the partnership with Queensland Gastro offered patients leading clinical care, on site at one of the State’s foremost private hospitals. 

“Greenslopes Private Hospital is proud to continue our 20-year long partnership with Queensland Gastroenterology, whose vision, values and commitment to teaching and research fit perfectly with our own,” Ms Went said.  

Chief Operating Officer at Queensland Gastroenterology, Courtney Purse, said: “We have been very grateful to have a longstanding relationship with Ramsay that has allowed us to grow at Greenslopes and continue to foster our own clinical development which has seen the appointment of three Professorships and four PHD’s.”

“It is a true testament to our practice directors who have seen vision in fostering the new generation of gastroenterology and hepatology consultants to ensure that our community has ongoing access to highly trained and world recognised specialists.