Areas of Expertise

He specialises in a range of diagnostic techniques, including:

• Endoscopy
• Colonoscopy
• HALO radiofrequency ablation
• Endoscopic mucosal resection (EMR)
• Endoscopic submucosal dissection (ESD)
• Laser
• Endoscopic ultrasound (EUS)
• Per-Oral Endoscopic Myotomy (POEM)

The conditions he regularly treats are:

• Acid reflux
• Barrett’s oesophagus
• Bowel screening
• Irritable bowel syndrome
• Colonic polyps
• Abnormal liver function
• Achalasia
• Constipation and diarrhoea
• Gastrointestinal cancer

About Dr Matthew Banks

Dr Matthew Banks is a Consultant Gastroenterologist and Partner at OneWelbeck Digestive Health, specialising in acid reflux, Barrett's oesophagus, colonoscopy, early cancer detection and endoscopic ultrasound. He is an honorary senior lecturer at University College London and consultant at University College London Hospital (UCLH).

Dr Banks has been practising since 1992 and performs more than 700 endoscopic procedures each year. During his career, he has twice been appointed as director of endoscopy at two major London teaching hospitals. He is the director and clinical lead of 18 Weeks Support Gastroenterology LLP – an organisation that carries out up to 50,000 endoscopic procedures every year.

Dr Banks led a world-renowned unit & the largest Barrett’s oesophagus centre in the UK, helps host one of the largest live endoscopy conferences in the UK, and frequently runs endoscopy courses for consultants to refine their own skills. He is just one of a few national endoscopy trainers with exemplary performance standards, particularly in colonoscopy.

He is a founding member of the OneWelbeck Digestive Health Centre and member of our board. His technical accomplishments and experience are integral to the OneWelbeck team.

“I joined the OneWelbeck team because I wanted the opportunity to create a truly patient-centred experience. I wanted to ensure that my patients felt fully informed about their symptoms and illness and reassured that they were receiving the best possible care, delivered in an efficient and thoughtful environment.”

Dr Matthew Banks, BSc, MBBS, PhD, FRCP, trained at University College London, qualifying in 1992. He secured a post as a specialist registrar in gastroenterology at North East Thames from 1996 – 2004, and research registrar at St Bartholomew’s and the Royal London Hospital from 1998 – 2002.

After his appointment to consultant in 2005, he was promoted to the director of endoscopy at Chelsea and Westminster, from 2005 to 2007, and again at the University College London Hospital, from 2008 to 2014. Both hospitals achieved JAG accreditation – the gold standard in endoscopy care.

During this time he was also appointed as National endoscopy trainer faculty (St Georges Hospital), in 2005, and Endoscopy training lead UCLH, in 2007 – posts he still holds today. His dedication to training led him to set up a ‘pig-model laboratory’ for endotherapy training at UCLH Education Centre.

He was able to refine his own techniques during an endoscopic fellowship in Sydney in 2004, followed by a sabbatical in Tokyo’s prestigious National Cancer Centre in 2007, training in ESD. He is now one of a select few National Endoscopy trainers with exemplary performance standards, particularly in colonoscopy.

Dr Matthew Banks partnered with OneWelbeck in 2017 to collaboratively develop the OneWelbeck Digestive Health Centre. He has applied his extensive experience to improve the patient experience.

Consulting fees:

Initial consultation from: £280
Follow up consultation from: £200

Research Highlights

Dr Banks’s research interests include GORD, obesity and cancer progression, colorectal polyp detection and the pre-malignant stomach. He is part of a ground-breaking research group at UCL studying Barrett’s oesophagus, as well as the detection of early cancers in the oesophagus, stomach and colon. Much of his research involves therapeutic platforms, such as robotics.

He has also written numerous chapters and reviews on endoscopy and is the editor of the textbook, Endoscopy in the Cancer Patient. He has also written many original papers and general reviews.