Gastrointestinal haemorrhage may be associated with an underlying disease state or trauma, or it may arise as a rare complication of investigative procedures such as diagnostic endoscopy. Acute upper GI bleeding accounts for 8 per cent of emergency hospital admissions (Higham et al, 2002). In the UK, the incidence is between 47 and 116 per 100,000 of the population and is higher in areas where there is socioeconomic deprivation (Dallal and Palmer, 2002)