The
Global Rating Scale (GRS) was created in 2004 as a quality improvement
and assessment tool for the gastrointestinal endoscopy service.
Gastrointestinal endoscopy is the direct visualisation of the
gastrointestinal tract. Gastrointestinal endoscopy is used for
diagnosis and treatment of gastroenterology disorders. It plays a major
role detecting and treating gastrointestinal cancers and pre-cancers,
particularly bowel cancer. The GRS assesses 12 key aspects of the experience of patients
having an endoscopy. Each aspect (or item) is scored on a scale of D to
A where D is a basic level and A is a very high level of achievement.
The twelfth item: ‘ability to provide feedback to the service’ ensures
that nothing important is missed by the scale and that a service
constantly monitors (and responds to) patient feedback. For a more
detailed explanation of the GRS and how it works please click on ‘what is the GRS?’
Each endoscopy unit in Northern Ireland is required to complete the scale
every 6 months. The GRS is a self report tool; however in England, the majority of
hospital based endoscopy units have been visited by teams with
extensive knowledge of the GRS and the self scoring is found to be
mostly very accurate. Endoscopy teams are as likely to underestimate
their achievements as to overestimate them.