Difficulty swallowing is never normal — and long-term reflux medication can mask the symptom that would have raised the alarm.
Assessed and treated by a GMC-registered GP
Prescriptions, sick notes and referral letters included
A written treatment plan after every appointment
Your NHS records in the room, with your consent
Care led personally by Dr Khan
Attentive, unhurried care that listens properly
Five-star Google reviews from the people we have looked after
Registered with the Care Quality Commission
Oesophageal and stomach cancers are diagnosed late more often than they should be, and there is a specific and fixable reason for that: reflux medication works.
Proton pump inhibitors such as omeprazole are effective, cheap and widely used. They settle symptoms — which is exactly what makes them a problem when the underlying cause is not simple reflux.
Difficulty swallowing always needs urgent investigation. Food sticking, or a sensation of it catching, is never normal and is never a symptom to trial treatment on.
Reflux that persists despite proper treatment needs a camera, not a higher dose. If symptoms return every time medication stops, or never fully settle, that is a reason to look.
We do not diagnose or treat these cancers. Diagnosis needs endoscopy — a camera examination with biopsies.
What we can do is recognise when a symptom has been treated rather than investigated.
Difficulty swallowing — dysphagia. Food sticking, needing to wash things down, or a feeling that something catches on the way down.
It typically starts with solids and progresses to softer foods. It always warrants urgent endoscopy, at any age.
Iron deficiency with no obvious cause. In a man, or a woman past the menopause, that needs the gut investigated — both upper and lower.
Long-standing reflux that has simply been medicated for years. Symptom control is not the same as knowing what is causing it.
It is common, it is testable, and it is curable with a course of treatment. Eradicating it reduces stomach cancer risk as well as settling ulcers and indigestion.
Anyone with persistent indigestion should have H. pylori considered rather than simply being given acid suppression indefinitely.
A camera passed down through the mouth, looking directly at the oesophagus and stomach and taking biopsies. It is the only test that reliably makes or excludes this diagnosis.
It is usually done with throat spray, with sedation available if you prefer. It takes a few minutes, and it is far less unpleasant than most people expect.
A PPI settles symptoms without treating the cause. That is fine when the cause is simple reflux, and it is a problem when it is not.
Anyone whose reflux only stays controlled while on medication, or who has been on it for years without ever being scoped, is worth a conversation about endoscopy.
We do not diagnose or treat these cancers, and we cannot perform endoscopy.
If you have difficulty swallowing, do not book a routine consultation with us. Contact your NHS GP and ask for an urgent endoscopy referral.
That symptom needs a camera, not a conversation, and the NHS urgent pathway is both free and fast.
Ask specifically for an urgent endoscopy referral.
If you have been on a PPI for years and never had an endoscopy, ask whether you should.
Symptom control is not the same as a diagnosis, and this is the commonest way these cancers get missed.
Raising the head of the bed, not eating within three hours of lying down, and losing weight all reduce reflux more reliably than most people expect.
These matter because controlling reflux reduces the lining damage that leads to Barrett's oesophagus.
Attend your surveillance endoscopies. Barrett's only slightly raises risk, and monitoring is what keeps it that way.
They are effective and generally safe, and stopping is not the point.
The point is that anyone on one for years should have had the cause established at least once, rather than the symptom simply suppressed indefinitely.
The NHS urgent pathway for this is fast and free, and the symptom that triggers it is specific: difficulty swallowing. Dysphagia at any age warrants urgent direct-access endoscopy — no age threshold, no waiting to see whether it settles.
That is the message worth acting on, because food sticking is frequently explained away as a bad swallow or reflux for months, and the delay is where the harm is.
There is no screening programme for oesophageal or stomach cancer in the UK, so symptom recognition is the whole strategy.
What we can genuinely do is arrange the urgent referral the same day. That matters when the alternative is a wait for an appointment to raise it.
Where a consultation adds something beyond referral is the H. pylori question, since long-standing infection is a recognised risk factor for stomach cancer and is treatable — which is a further argument for testing rather than years of acid suppression.
The important caution about PPIs is that they work. Acid suppression relieves the symptoms of something that needs investigating, which is precisely why new upper gastrointestinal symptoms over 55, or any dysphagia or weight loss, should not simply be treated.
Private endoscopy can shorten a wait for non-urgent investigation, but the NHS urgent route is already the fastest available.
NICE NG12, Suspected cancer: recognition and referral, is the governing guideline. It recommends urgent direct-access upper gastrointestinal endoscopy for dysphagia at any age, and for people aged 55 and over with weight loss and upper abdominal pain, reflux or dyspepsia.
NG12 also recommends considering endoscopy for people with haematemesis, and for those over 55 with treatment-resistant dyspepsia or upper abdominal pain with low haemoglobin.
NICE CG184 covers the management of dyspepsia and is explicit that acid suppression should not be used to mask symptoms warranting investigation.
NICE NG83, Oesophago-gastric cancer, covers assessment and management within specialist services.
Barrett's oesophagus surveillance is covered by BSG guidance, and H. pylori eradication is recognised in NICE and international guidance as reducing gastric cancer risk.
It needs investigating urgently, yes — and this is the most important answer here.
Difficulty swallowing is never normal at any age. It should go straight to endoscopy rather than a trial of treatment.
Not worried — but it is worth asking whether you have ever been scoped.
PPIs control symptoms without treating the cause. That is fine for simple reflux and a problem when something else is behind it.
Years of repeat prescriptions with no endoscopy is a reasonable thing to question.
A common bacterial infection of the stomach, a significant cause of ulcers and stomach cancer, and curable with a short course of treatment.
Anyone with persistent indigestion should have it considered. Testing is a breath or stool test.
Crucially: stop your PPI for two weeks before the test, or it can come back falsely negative. This instruction is frequently omitted.
A change in the lining of the gullet caused by long-standing acid reflux. It is not cancer.
It slightly raises the risk of oesophageal cancer, which is why people diagnosed with it are offered periodic surveillance endoscopy. Attending those is what keeps the risk small.
Less than most people expect. It takes a few minutes, uses throat spray, and sedation is available if you would rather.
Ask for sedation if you are anxious — it is routinely offered and there is no reason to endure it if you would find it difficult.
Yes, and it is one of the more commonly missed clues.
Unexplained iron deficiency in a man, or in a woman past the menopause, warrants investigating both the upper and lower gut — not simply treating with iron tablets.
It is typical of reflux and is usually just that.
Practical measures genuinely help: raise the head of the bed, avoid eating within three hours of lying down, and lose weight if that applies.
What matters is whether it settles properly, not how it behaves.
Age lowers the odds, but difficulty swallowing needs investigating at any age.
Age is used to prioritise routine indigestion referrals — it is not a reason to leave dysphagia, weight loss or bleeding.
August 30, 2026
Ongoing
Time to be seen
Appointment length
Your NHS record in the room
Written treatment plan
Told when a test isn’t needed
Cost
Same day, usually
20 minutes
Yes, with your consent
Included
Yes, and told why
£40 for 20 minutes
Varies by practice
Typically 10 minutes
Yes, your full record
Not routinely
Usually
Free
Same day
Often 10 to 15 minutes
Usually not
Sometimes charged
Varies by provider
Often a subscription
Same-day access is usually available, from 6am to 10pm, seven days a week. You choose a time that suits you rather than waiting on hold at 8am.
Yes. Care is led personally by Dr Mohammad Khan, so you are not passed between clinicians. Continuity is the point of a small practice: someone who knows your history and is listening attentively rather than working through a checklist.
Yes, with your consent. We can access your Summary Care Record during the consultation, so your current medications, allergies and significant history are in the room. That means fewer questions you have already answered elsewhere, and safer prescribing.
No. We are not here to replace GPs, only to support them. Your NHS practice remains responsible for your ongoing care, and with your consent we write to them after the consultation. We are useful when you need to be seen sooner, or want more time than a standard appointment allows.
Twenty unhurried minutes and a comprehensive assessment. A written treatment plan is included, along with any prescription, sick note or referral letter arising from the consultation, at no extra charge.
£40 for 20 minutes, self-pay. Membership is optional and never required. Priced for fairness, because we are not here to charge extortionate amounts for access to a doctor.
It means the diagnosis can usually be made from your history and photographs, and that treatment can be arranged safely without examining you. Where a condition is not marked treatable online, it is because examination is the diagnosis — listening to a chest, feeling an abdomen, examining an ear or a joint — or because a procedure or device is needed.
Yes, where there is a genuine bacterial infection — cellulitis, impetigo, bacterial urine infections, confirmed strep throat. We will also frequently tell you that you do not need one. Most sore throats, coughs, colds and earaches are viral, and an antibiotic gives you the side effects with none of the benefit.
If your problem turns out to be genuinely outside what we can do remotely, the doctor will tell you straight away, point you to the right service, and refund your fee in full. We would rather do that than fill twenty minutes to justify the charge.
Call 999 or go to A&E — do not book an online appointment and do not wait for a reply to an email. For urgent problems that are not emergencies, NHS 111 is available 24 hours a day, online or by phone, and can direct you to the right service.
Patient reviews
