ABSTRACT
Introduction@#Colonoscopy is the cornerstone in diagnosis and management of colorectal disease allowing direct optical diagnosis, tissue sampling for histological analysis and therapy of colonic lesions. It is a multi-step process and therefore assessment of all aspects of the procedure must be addressed. The main aim of the study is to assess the quality of colonoscopy services in the Colonial War Memorial Hospital from 1st January, 2012 to December 2016.@*Methodology@#A 5-year single-centre, retrospective study.@*Results@#A total of 341 colonoscopies were included in the study. Six Quality indicators of colonoscopy which are applicable to our setting were chosen for the study. The study showed a Cecal Intubation rate of 67% is well below the recommended rate of 90%. The bowel preparation quality is adequate in 53% of the cases compared to a recommended rate of 85%. The withdrawal time has not yet been introduced however, an average withdrawal time of above 6 minutes is recommended for a quality colonoscopy. Acquisition of biopsies in diarrhoea patients was 79% (100% tissue acquisition rate was recommended for quality of colonoscopy). @*Conclusion@#The quality of colonoscopy services carried out at the Colonial War Memorial Hospital has room for improvement in the parameters determining the quality of colonoscopies.