Accredited residents perform colonoscopy to the same high standards as consultants

Background Endoscopy remains a critical component of General Surgery and Gastroenterology training. Whilst residents need to gain experience, the quality of endoscopy which patients receive cannot be compromised. We conducted this study to compare quality indicators between consultants and residents with regards to colonoscopy. Methods A review of colonoscopies from a prospectively collected database was performed from September 2011 to February 2016. Quality indicators such as caecum intubation rate, adenoma detection rate, adherence to a 6-min withdrawal rule, mean number of polyps detected per colonoscope, and complications were collected and compared between the two groups. Results In total, out of 25,749 colonoscopies that were performed, 14,168 (55.0%) were performed by Consultants. Consultants achieved a better caecum intubation rate compared with residents (96.0% vs 94.9%, p