Paediatric endoscopy
The new JAG paediatric standards
JAG is pleased to announce the launch of the new JAG paediatric standards (pGRS), developed in partnership with BSPGHAN and released on 1 July 2025. These standards provide a dedicated framework for paediatric endoscopy services, helping you assess and improve the quality of care you deliver.
As a paediatric service, you can now complete a self assessment against these standards. This assessment acts as a quality improvement tool to help you understand how well your service is meeting the requirements.
We recommend completing and submitting a self assessment every 6 months to monitor progress and support continuous improvement. Evidence upload is not required. Simply select either "Standard met" or "Standard not met" for each item.
Support and resources
The following resources have been developed to help your paediatric service get started in completing and submitting your self assessment against the JAG paediatric standards:
1. How to guide
2. Video walkthrough
3. pGRS training session recording
JAG and BSPGHAN have collated the following key documents for use by paediatric services. These documents should be used as examples of good practice and should be modified to be suitable for individual services:
4. Paediatric patient experience questionnaire
5. Paediatric patient experience questionnaire study
If your service has examples of good practice that could be added to this collection, please let us know. JAG would like to thank the services that have contributed the documents listed above.
Alternatively, you can contact our helpdesk for further support.
Certification of individuals
To support services to train a safe and highly skilled workforce, JAG have a set of standards and a uniform training pathway for all endoscopists to use in the UK. The criteria that each endoscopist must meet are set at a level which ensures each endoscopist demonstrates they are performing endoscopy at a level that is appropriate for them to work independently.
This process is managed via our website at www.jets.org.uk. For paediatrics there is certification in upper GI and colonoscopy, the criteria have been developed in collaboration with the BSPGHAN endoscopy committee. The updated paediatric diagnostic colonoscopy certification pathway launched in 2025. You can keep up to date with progress on these pathways via the JAG Endoscopy Training website.
Acknowledgements
Paediatric Endoscopy Working Group members, BSPGHAN contributing to position statement - Iaian Chalmers, Lucy Howarth, Dharamveer Basude, Krishna Soondrum, Subarinathan Loganathan, Shishu Sharma, Vinod Kolimarala & Naomi McMahon.
I would like to thank the JAG team for their time, feedback, and expertise in evolving this proposal. I would also like to extend my thanks to Keith Lindley, President of BSPGHAN, for all his advice and support, as well as the wider BSPGHAN membership.
Dr Nadeem Ahmad Afzal MD, MBBS, MRCP, MRCPCH
Associate Professor (Visiting), University of Portsmouth
Consultant in Paediatric Gastroenterology, Southampton Children’s Hospital
Chair Endoscopy Working Group,
British Society of Paediatric Gastroenterology Hepatology and Nutrition (BSPGHAN)