Dr Arjun Prakash

Specialises in

• Endoscopy including advanced endoscopy
• Liver and Hepatobiliary Diseases
• Functional bowel diseases and Breath Tests
• Inflammatory bowel disease

Consultations

• Face-to-face consultations
• Video and telephone consultations

About me

I am a Consultant Gastroenterologist,  Advanced Interventional Endoscopist and the current Lead in Hepatobiliary Endoscopy (Milton Keynes NHS) at Milton Keynes providing care for adults (16 years and above). 

My practice combines a tailored assessment with evidence-based treatment, with a focus on continuity from initial consultation to follow-up, and beyond.

Following my MBBS, I completed an MD in General and Internal Medicine, followed by a higher speciality training, DM, in Gastroenterology. I chose advanced therapeutic endoscopy as my area of interest and completed a fellowship training in ERCP, EUS, luminal stent placements for benign and malignant disease, and feeding-tube placements. My training gathers experience from around the world, notably the Herlev Hospital, University of Copenhagen, a leading European centre for Endoscopic Ultrasound.

Following this, in 2022, I established and currently lead the Endoscopic Ultrasound (EUS) service at Milton Keynes University Hospital (MKUH). This improved decision-making in suspected pancreatic and biliary disease. I introduced EUS-guided fine-needle biopsy at MKUH to aid early diagnosis of cancers and other disorders, allowing local access to these complex procedures but importantly, early cancer diagnosis.

My practice is kept up to date with current American (AGA, ASGE), British (BSG, NICE) and European (ESGE) guidance. My endoscopic outcomes are audited every six months against the BSG and Joint Advisory Group (JAG) standards.

I am UK JAG-accredited as an endoscopist and trainer in upper GI endoscopy, colonoscopy and ERCP. I am also an Educational Supervisor for Oxford Deanery registrars training them in Gastroenterology and Advanced Endoscopy. I also hold the position of Honorary Senior Clinical Lecturer at the University of Buckingham Medical School, where I also mentor medical students as an Educational Supervisor.

My research interests include early cancer diagnosis. Aside from multiple peer-reviewed publications, I am currently a Principal Investigator (PI) in the PANACEA trial and a co-PI from Milton Keynes in the VAPOR trial in using breath tests for early cancer detection, in partnership with Imperial College, London. I have also been the Trust lead for national audits, such as the National Upper GI Bleed Audits and the missed upper GI cancer audit.

My professional memberships include the Royal College of Physicians, the British Society of Gastroenterology and the UK & Ireland EUS Society, among others.

I see common gastrointestinal and liver conditions day to day, including:
- reflux and heartburn
- indigestion and dyspepsia
- bloating, IBS and abdominal pain
- rectal bleeding
- change in bowel habit, diarrhoea and constipation
- iron-deficiency anaemia
- swallowing difficulty (dysphagia)
- coeliac disease assessment and follow-up
- abnormal liver tests, NAFLD and viral hepatitis
- gallstones and biliary colic
- pancreatitis and jaundice
- chronic abdominal pain with unclear cause

My choice of Investigations and treatments are tailored to your clinical question, and also your personal and social situations.

Routinely, I offer gastroscopy, colonoscopy and flexible sigmoidoscopy when appropriate, and use EUS and/or ERCP when precise imaging or minimally invasive therapy will change management. Other advanced therapeutic work I undertake includes EMR, which is a procedure that avoids surgery, for larger, pre-cancerous polyps and luminal stent and feeding tube placements.

My NHS practice is at Milton Keynes University Hospital.
Private appointments are available at The Saxon Clinic and my own clinic in Central Milton Keynes called Harmony Digestive and Liver Wellness Centre, where I offer consultations and breath tests for SIBO and H Pylori.

Procedures under insurance cover are performed at The Saxon Clinic, and at Milton Keynes University Hospital.