Gastrointestinal Surgery

Consultants – Upper GI Surgery

Mr Paul Peyser
Mr Ian Finlay
Mr Allwyn Cota
Mr Michael Clarke

Consultants – Lower GI (colorectal)

COLO 1 Team

• Mr Adam Widdison
• Mr Ponnandai Arumugam
• Mr Denzil May

COLO 2 Team

• Mr Will Faux
• Mrs Melanie Feldman
• Mr Paul Lidder
• Mr Ian MacKay

Mr Faux is also a general paediatric surgeon.

Consultant – General GI

Mr Siva Gopalswamy

Specialist Nurses – Colorectal Surgery

Debbie Evans
Rebecca Collins
Karen Cock
Claire Ferris
Candy Coombe

Specialist Nurses – Upper GI Surgery

Lou Maitland
Jeremy Gilbert

Divisional General Manager

Duncan Bliss

Service Lead

Lisa Duckham

Matron for Surgery

Sara Lear

Divisional Director

Mr Adam Widdison

HR Business Partner

Gillian Stratton

Clinical Admin Leads

Sue Parkyn
Katherine Weatheral

Surgical Divisional Coordinator – Medical Staffing

Deborah Cotterell

Emergency GI Rota

Twelve of the consultants in the Gastrointestinal Surgery department participate in a 1 in 12 emergency general surgery on-call rota and have an area of specialist expertise so that the department manages the care of patients with a full range of surgical problems including oesophago-gastric, bariatric, biliary, colorectal, endocrine, general abdominal and hernia surgery. Emergencies are managed in a dedicated surgical receiving unit which is not only one of the busiest in the country, seeing 5250 emergency admissions to surgery each year, but also one of the most efficient.

Undergraduate Teaching

Teaching of 3rd to 5th-year medical students from the Peninsula College of Medicine is integrated within the work of the department. Students are present for their pathway weeks, placements and Specific Study Units. Read more about undergraduate training here.

Postgraduate Training

Surgical trainees at all levels from newly qualified doctors (F1) to senior registrars are trained within the department. There are weekly foundation and core trainee training programmes. Read more about postgraduate training here.

All surgeons undertake laparoscopic and open biliary surgery. All types of open and laparoscopic hernia surgery are performed including the treatment of complex incisional herniae.

Paediatric surgery performed includes appendicectomies (laparoscopic and open), pyloromyotomies, herniotomies, and orchidopexies.

Specialist Upper Gastrointestinal surgery includes:

The Royal Cornwall Hospital is also a specialist colorectal cancer centre, and our specialist surgeons perform laparoscopic and open colorectal resections for both malignant and benign disease including functional bowel disease. Operations performed include:

• Colectomies,
• Anterior resections,
• Stapled haemorrhoidectomy,
• Extralevator APR (ELAPE with VRAM flap)
• Rectopexies.

Find out more about Cancer Services at Royal Cornwall Hospitals and the support and information we offer for people affected by cancer.

The Royal Cornwall Hospitals Trust works with the Plymouth Hospitals NHS Trust Specialist Centre at Derriford Hospital to care for patients with upper gastrointestinal cancers across Devon and Cornwall.

We have a local, multidisciplinary team, with consultants that specialise in gastroenterology, surgery, oncology, radiology, and histopathology, as well as cancer nurse specialists and dietitians. We work extremely closely with our colleagues at the specialist centre at Derriford.

Patients who have suspected gastrointestinal cancer will come to us for investigation and diagnosis. If you receive a positive diagnosis, your case will be discussed by both the local and specialist team so that we can recommend the best course of action for you.

You may need chemotherapy and/or radiotherapy prior to surgery. This is provided here at the Royal Cornwall Hospital.

If surgery is an option for you, your operation will take place in the specialist cancer centre at Derriford Hospital in Plymouth.

After your operation, we aim for you to have all follow up appointments, and any further necessary treatment, such as radiotherapy and chemotherapy, back at the Royal Cornwall Hospital.

From diagnosis and throughout your treatment, you will be supported by the Upper GI cancer nurse specialists. They will aim to answer all your questions, explain what to expect and refer to other organisations as required. We’ll give you their contact details when you are referred to the service.

Further information

Find out more about Cancer Services at Royal Cornwall Hospitals and the support and information we offer for people affected by cancer.

You can read more about the team at Derriford Hospital on their website, and download their patient information leaflets about Upper GI Cancer surgery here.

General surgeons see 6,000 new and 9,000 follow up patients in outpatient clinics across the county, at West Cornwall, St Michael’s, Royal Cornwall, Falmouth, Newquay, East Cornwall and Penrice Hospitals. The surgical consultants and their teams of doctors work closely with radiologists, oncologists, pathologists, nurse specialists, and others within multi-disciplinary teams.