Dr Sampath De Silva is a Consultant Gastroenterologist and Hepatologist at Ashford and St Peter’s NHS trust. He manages patients with a wide range of gastrointestinal conditions (with a special interest in liver disease), and performs regular upper and lower gastrointestinal endoscopy procedures.

Training and Appointment 

His undergraduate training was at St George’s, University of London (where he was the recipient of several prizes for performance in undergraduate examinations and undertook an intercalated Batchelor of Science degree). He subsequently completed his post graduate training in London and the South East of England. As part of his advanced gastroenterology training, he worked at the Gastroenterology Units at the Royal London Hospital and King’s College Hospital, London. For his subspecialist hepatology training he worked in the Liver Unit at the Royal London Hospital and the Liver Transplant Unit at the Royal Free Hospital. He was awarded a PhD in 2019 (from Queen Mary, University of London) for research on viral liver disease which he undertook whilst working at the Royal London Hospital. He has authored medical journal articles on a range of topics and has presented his work at local and national meetings. 

Current Practice

Dr De Silva manages patients with a wide range of symptoms and conditions in his general gastroenterology clinics, including investigation of patients with abnormal liver function tests/biochemistry, chronic liver disease, viral hepatitis, acid reflux/indigestion, coeliac disease, altered bowel habits, anaemia, inflammatory bowel disease and weight loss.

He is the Endoscopy Training Lead in both upper GI (gastroscopy) and lower GI endoscopy (colonoscopy and flexible sigmoidoscopy) at Ashford and St Peter’s NHS trust in Chertsey. He undertakes regular endoscopy lists, and provides emergency upper gastrointestinal endoscopy for patients at Ashford and St Peter’s NHS trust. He has key performance indicators (including colorectal polyp detection) well above the expected standards of the Joint Advisory Group on GI Endoscopy.

He has developed and leads the hepatology service at St Peter’s Hospital, particularly the management of advanced liver disease and viral hepatitis. His peers selected him as Clinical Team Member of the year at Ashford and St Peter’s NHS trust in 2021, in recognition of this work. He chairs regular multidisciplinary meetings reviewing the management of patients with liver disease (including auto-immune hepatitis, primary biliary cholangitis and primary sclerosing cholangitis), hepatitis B, alcohol-related chronic liver disease and non-alcohol related fatty liver disease.

Dr De Silva has worked in collaboration with regional partners to ensure that patients at Ashford and St Peter’s NHS trust have access to the most up-to date treatment for liver disease. He oversees the provision of non-invasive assessment of liver fibrosis (Fibroscan) at Ashford and St Peter’s NHS trust. 

Teaching and Education

He supervises the training of junior doctors rotating through the gastroenterology department at Ashford and St Peter’s NHS trust. He also provides regular teaching sessions on gastroenterology, endoscopy and liver disease to junior doctors, and presents at educational meetings at Ashford and St Peter’s NHS trust to update consultant colleagues on developments in gastroenterology and hepatology. He is an honorary lecturer in the department of Biological Sciences at the Royal Holloway, University of London.

Liver disease: Abnormal liver function tests, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, liver cirrhosis, viral liver disease, autoimmune liver disease (including autoimmune hepatitis, primary biliary cholangitis and primary sclerosing cholangitis).
Endoscopy: Upper gastrointestinal endoscopy (gastroscopy), Lower gastrointestinal endoscopy (flexible sigmoidoscopy/colonoscopy, including polypectomy).
Gastroenterology: Gastro-oesophageal reflux, Indigestion, heartburn, bloating, coeliac disease, abnormal imaging of the gastrointestinal tract or liver.

Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians, British Society of Gastroenterology, British Association for the Study of the Liver, British Medical Association