A mixture of female colleagues of differing ages from NHS and Charities leaning over a desk participating in a process mapping exercise moving stick notes across a flipchart

About us

We are a partnership of charities, healthcare professional organisations and patients collaborating to make the pathway to diagnosis clearer.

We work together

Every day, people throughout the UK visit their GP to find out why they have gut problems.

Whether it’s coeliac disease, irritable bowel syndrome, Crohn’s disease, colitis or another condition, getting a diagnosis is not always easy.

All our partners work together to:

  • Provide support to GPs and other first contact healthcare professionals in the decisions that they make


  • Make the process of diagnosis easier to understand and less overwhelming for those with symptoms
An older black man in a GP office smiling looking at a black woman out of frame with her hand on his back, in the background a slightly blurred image of a caucasian female consultant who is also smiling

Who developed the diagnostic pathway?

Charities and organisations

  • The Association of Coloproctology of Great Britain & Ireland
  • British Society of Gastroenterology (BSG)
  • British Society of Paediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition (BSPGHAN)
  • Coeliac UK
  • Crohn's & Colitis UK
  • Crohn's in Childhood Research Association (CICRA)
  • Guts UK
  • IBS Network

Steering Group

  • Hilary Croft - CEO of Coeliac UK
  • Dr Keith Lindley - Consultant and Honorary Reader in Paediatric Gastroenterology
  • Dr Charles Maxwell-Armstrong - Consultant Colorectal and General Surgeon
  • Alison Reid - CEO of IBS Network
  • Sarah Sleet - Former CEO of Crohn's & Colitis UK
  • Julie Thompson - Information Manager for Guts UK
  • Heidi Urwin - Director of Evidence and Policy for Coeliac UK
  • Dr Andrew Veitch - President of British Society of Gastroenterology

Task and Finish Group

  • Dr Sarah Alderson - GP
  • Dr Ian Arnott - Consultant Gastroenterologist in Scotland
  • Debra Attwood (co-chair) - Lived experience of Ulcerative Colitis
  • Pearl Avery - IBD Nurse Specialist
  • Mr Sas Banerjee - Consultant Colorectal Surgeon
  • Grace Brownfield - Lived experience of Coeliac Disease
  • Dr Shahida Din (co-chair) - Consultant Gastroenterologist in Scotland
  • Dr Barney Hawthorne - IBD Lead in Wales
  • Tor Maxted - Lived experience of IBS
  • Dr Andrew Murdock - Consultant Gastroenterologist in Northern Ireland
  • Dr Astor Rodrigues - Paediatric Consultant Gastroenterolgist
  • Dr Christian Selinger - Consultant Gastroenterologist
  • Dr Leena Sinha - Chair of BSG small bowel and nutrition group
  • Dr Neal Tucker - GP
  • Prof James Turvill - Consultant Gastroenterologist, York and Scarborough Teaching Hospitals NHS FT
  • Dr Jeremy Woodward - Member of BSG small bowel and nutrition group.

Project Team

Healthcare Consultant

  • Cathy Picton – Policy and Healthcare Consultant

Crohn's & Colitis UK

  • Rachel Ainley – Head of Research & Evidence
  • Nathaniel Woo – Health Services Assistant
  • Jess Turner – Health Services Manager
  • Ruth Wakeman – Director of Services, Advocacy & Evidence
  • Nick Sutton – Knowledge & Information Editor

If you have any questions about this work, or would like to get involved with the project, get in touch at healthservices@crohnsandcolitis.org.uk

An overhead image of a woman with white nails hands using a laptop on their bed

Endorsements

The information on this website is endorsed by:

  • British Society of Gastroenterology Logo
  • BSPGHAN logo
  • Royal College of General Practitioners logo
  • Royal Pharmaceutical Society logo
  • Royal College of Nursing

This information was developed by leading UK charities in partnership with healthcare professional organisations and patients.