Dr Nathan Atkinson is an experienced gastroenterologist and endoscopist. He joined North Shore Hospital and Shakespeare Gastroenterology in 2018 from Oxford’s John Radcliffe Hospital.
Dr Atkinson grew up on the North Shore and brings a wealth of knowledge in IBD care and gut related conditions. He is a skilled endoscopist and combines his expertise with his caring and empathetic nature.
Nathan joins Shakespeare Gastroenterology to work with colleagues Dr Dominic Ray-Chaudhuri and Zoe Raos. Nathan provides private consultations for patients at Shakespeare Gastroenterology and carries out endoscopic procedures, including gastroscopy and colonoscopy, at Shore Surgery - both are located at 181 Shakespeare Rd, across the road from North Shore Hospital.
“ Having a procedure is always a little bit stressful for me, but made so much easier under Dr Atkinson’s positive, cheerful, empathetic care ” 6 Nov 2018
Tummy complaints can be a broad and varied area. The abdomen contains a number of “systems” and organs so to speak, so often it is a process to narrow down what is causing the complaint.
Typical conditions we manage:
- Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS)
- Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD)
- Crohn’s Disease
- Ulcerative Colitis
- Coeliac Disease
- Peptic Ulcers
- Chronic Diarrhoea
- Constipation
- Oesophagus Dysfunction
- Gut motility and dietary changes including the FODMAP diet.
Why see a Gastroenterologist?
Patients are often referred for generalised pain, pain eating or swallowing, problems with defecation (pooing) or unusual bowel habits, diarrhoea or constipation. The issue can be as equally broad with a specific diagnosable condition like coeliac disease or colitis or the more generalised Irritable Bowel Syndrome.
Diagnosis and treatments often involve blood or stool (faeces/poo) tests, dietary changes or tests such as gastroscopy (a camera through the mouth) or colonoscopy (a camera through the bottom). Whilst these might sound daunting and invasive the procedure is relatively quick and non invasive and often done without anaesthetics.
Specific warning signs that you should see your GP about are blood in your stool, or significant changes to bowel habits. The Bowel Cancer Screening Programme is designed to help pick up patients who might have early warning signs of a problem.
