Background

He has been a consultant orthopaedic surgeon since 2007 and was the first consultant in Scotland to be appointed primarily as a foot and ankle surgeon. He is the clinical lead for foot and ankle services in Edinburgh and has been heavily involved in developing foot and ankle services in Scotland.

He is regularly involved in educating surgeons and allied health professionals and helped set up a national multidisciplinary foot and ankle group. He set up the ChM in trauma and orthopaedic surgery – a surgical distance learning program – resulting from the collaboration between the University of Edinburgh and the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh, and is the program director.

He deals with all aspects of foot and ankle pathology from bunion surgery to complex hindfoot deformities. He performs ankle replacements regularly and was one of the first surgeons in Scotland to perform minimally invasive bunion surgery. He has a special interest in treating sporting injuries and regularly treats players from the Scottish Rugby Union, Scottish Premiership Football clubs and from the Scottish Institute of Sport.

Training

Originally from Northern Ireland, he went to the University of Dundee where he did his medical training and completed an intercalated BMSc. He then moved to Edinburgh where he undertook his post-graduate surgical and orthopaedic training. He spent a Fellowship year in Melbourne, with one of Australia’s most experienced Foot and Ankle Surgeons. When he returned he was appointed as a Consultant Orthopaedic Surgeon, primarily as a foot and ankle surgeon.

Clinical interests and areas of expertise

He treats all aspects of foot and ankle pathology including sporting injuries, arthritis and deformities.

Research interests

He has published multiple articles in peer- reviewed journals and has presented nationally and internationally. He has published on hemiarthroplasty for hallux rigidus, morton’s neuroma, calcaneal fractures and hindfoot fusions. He is part of a multi-centred ankle replacment trial and is currently running two randomised trials.