Surgical Division
There are so many great reasons to come and work for us, and on this page, you will find out more about some of the individual surgical specialties across NHS Dumfries & Galloway. Each division within our Health Board has a dedicated Manager which allows for excellent lines of communication for our different teams.
Why work for NHS Dumfries & Galloway?
- Smaller teams providing a real sense of community within the workplace
- Positive culture throughout the organisation
- Visible and approachable senior managers
- Free parking across all of our sites
- Regular social events in and out of work hours
- State of the art facilities including clinical training spaces and simulation suite
Please select from the specialties below for more information
General Surgery
The Department of Surgery provides a comprehensive elective and emergency general surgical service at Dumfries and Galloway Royal Infirmary. Day case / endoscopy / outpatient services are also provided at the Galloway Community Hospital, Stranraer.
The combined Gastro-intestinal Services are largely provided by Surgeons with an Upper GI interest and Colorectal interest, and deals with 130 new cases of colorectal cancers and 40-50 oesophagogastric cancers per annum. Our ERCP service is Surgeon-led. The service is supported by experienced Nurse Endoscopists, Clinical Nurse Specialists, ERAS and Stoma Nurses. We have a fully established and successful colorectal ERAS program and are currently further developing a pre-habilitation service. A colorectal screening programme is operational and is largely provided for by the department. The Gastroscopy service for upper GI bleeding is surgeon-led. Weekly colorectal MDT meetings are held with a visiting Specialist Oncologist from Edinburgh. The Upper GI & HPB MDT is held via tele-link with Edinburgh.
"Lovely atmosphere to work in, friendly and encouraging within the multidisciplinary team, great place to work and develop as a trainee." ST5 in General Surgery
Meet the team & take a tour of the department
Key Features of the team
- State of the art technology in our theatres, endoscopy and ERCP suites
- Surgical Assessment Unit and single bedded rooms at DGRI allow us to provide safe, effective, efficient high quality care to our patients
- Uncluttered, ergonomic operating environments
- Purpose-built Education Centre including clinical simulation lab with two way communication and high-fidelity mannequin; also has seminar and debrief rooms
- Multi-disciplinary team with strong links to tertiary centre in Edinburgh
- Fantastic professional working relationship between nursing, consultant and MDT staff
- Well designed workspaces - touch-down work areas throughout wards, Consultant offices are shared between two
- Surgical-run Endoscopy Unit – covers Upper GI, Lower GI, Bronchoscopy and Cystoscopies
- Offer ERCP services for obstructive jaundice to malignancy
- Teaching and training – voted best place in Southwest Scotland for the surgical teaching of Medical Students
Ophthalmology
The Department provides Out-patient and Theatre Day Case activities which are provided at Mountainhall Treatment Centre (MTC), Theatre and Acute Care is provided in the new Dumfries and Galloway Royal Infirmary (DGRI) and the Galloway Community Hospital (GCH) in Stranraer.
The Ophthalmology Service provides general ophthalmology clinics specialising in Medical Retina/Diabetes, Glaucoma, Oculoplastics and Lacrimal Surgery and Paediatric Ophthalmology/Motility.
Why work here?
- State of the art equipment including Alcon Centurian at Mountainhall and Alcon Infinity at DGRI and Galloway Community Hospital
- Small unit with well developed Cataract, Macular Disease and Glaucoma services - resident Ocular Plastics specialist on site
- Support for nursing colleagues to do Ophthalmic Nursing qualification
- Good relationship with teams across the health board including A&E with access to imaging with emergency CT scans
- Nurse-led services including trained Nurse injectors
- Efficient links with Ocular Oncology referrals to Vitreo retinal service in Glasgow, visiting screen surgery
- In-house teaching of trainees including GP trainees
“My favourite thing about NHS D&G
is the view from the office window and happy colleagues”
Ophthalmology Team Secretary
Orthodontics
Orthopaedics
The Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, based at Dumfries and Galloway Royal Infirmary (DGRI), provides a comprehensive elective and trauma service to the Dumfries and Galloway region. Outpatient and day case services are also provided at the Galloway Community Hospital in Stranraer with remote Trauma clinics via DGRI. A 24-hour trauma service is provided a DGRI where in-patient facilities are provided for elective and trauma cases.
The team is made up of Consultants, an Associate Specialist, Specialty Doctors, specialised Nursing team and Allied Health Professionals.
At DGRI, the Department makes use of ward beds, Day Surgery Unit and surgical beds in the Paediatric ward. A Combined Critical Care Unit is available for major trauma and post-operative cases.
The main provision of in-patient services covers the day to day treatment of elective admissions and those admitted with significant musculo-skeletal trauma. The majority of the major the elective surgery is lower limb joint replacement, but we also provide soft tissues knee surgery, upper limb surgery, foot and ankle, as well as paediatric surgery (excluding spinal surgery). Most orthopaedic elective surgery is carried out at the Dumfries and Galloway Royal Infirmary; some daycase elective Surgery is carried out at the Galloway Community Hospital.
Other services run by the department are fracture clinics, speciality clinics, peripheral clinics, consenting clinics and joint school as well as orthotic clinics. There is also a fully equipped plaster room and orthotic workshop.
Why work here?
- State of the art technology in our theatres - three laminar flow theatres (two for electives & one for trauma)
- As a small health board the team have built great working relationships and have amazing links and support from the larger multidisciplinary teams.
- Dedicated orthopaedic outpatients, with plaster room sited adjacent to A&E
- Offer a full range of surgery (with the exception of spine) with close links to tertiary centres in Edinburgh and Glasgow
- Due to the size of DGRI where the department is based, you will know colleagues in other specialties making this a very efficient service with support from other teams
- All consultants are general Orthopaedic surgeons, however specialist interests are supported and welcomed
- Specific orthopaedic trained nursing staff
- Student nurses who have trained on the department often wish to return to work as a staff nurse
- Training department – trainees from Glasgow. We have one consultant who sits on the West of Scotland Training Board
- We have representation on the SCOT committee (Scottish committee for orthopaedics and trauma)
- Actively involved in the national MSK audits, this has allowed us to change practice, including appointing a Care of the Elderly doctor for Orthopaedic ward
See the department
Otolaryngology and Head & Neck Surgery
We have both a Ear, Nose & Throat and Oral & Maxillofacial department that work closely together and make up our Head & Neck service at NHS Dumfries and Galloway.
Our ENT department provide Out-patient, elective and emergency ENT services and Specialist Clinics : Head, Neck, One stop neck lump clinic, Voice, Paediatrics and Audio. This is a district general service but subspecialty interests in Rhinology, Paediatrics, otology and head and neck surgery have been and are constantly developing.
Within the ENT team there are consultants, a specialty doctor, rotating GPST doctors and specialist head and neck nurses.
Information on our Oral and Maxillofacial department is coming soon…
There are weekly MDT meetings for Head and Neck cancers. These take place via video link to Glasgow (Oral and Maxillofacial) and Edinburgh (Ear, Nose and Throat).
Key Features of the Department
- Brand new, state of the art theatres
- Small team - collegiate department
- General service, not highly specialised
- Great office space – 2 consultants to an office
- Health Board has Research department with support for colleagues wishing to complete research
- Numbers of surgical sets are very good
- Laser procedures
- Endoscopic ear surgery
- Friendly department with good relationship amongst other specialities across the Health Board
Take a tour of our ENT department
Urology
The Urology team is made up of Consultants, a Nurse Consultant, trainees and highly qualified Specialist Nurses. The Department provides core elective and emergency Urology services. Out-patient and cystoscopy services are provided at Dumfries and Galloway Royal Infirmary (DGRI) and the Galloway Community Hospital (GCH) in Stranraer. Elective surgery is performed at DGRI.
Diagnostic services are supported by flow studies, transrectal ultrasound and prostate biopsy. The team carry out stone surgery and there is a nurse-led Erectile Dysfunction Clinic in both Dumfries and Stranraer supported by the team’s Nurse Consultant.
The Department is part of the “managed clinical network” for cancer services for the South East of Scotland. The team engages virtually with multi-disciplinary meetings in Edinburgh. The team are supported by NHS Ayrshire and Arran Urology department who provide support for Out of Hours emergency cases.
Key Features of the Department
- Cancer Nurse specialists liaise with Cancer Services in Edinburgh
- Small Health Board - close links with all other departments including Radiology, Surgery, Medicine, Renal - helpful colleagues across the different teams
- Diagnosis takes place in Dumfries, close links with tertiary centre in Edinburgh
- As part of a small team, there are opportunities for colleagues to represent their profession at a national level
- Excellent facilities including state-of-the-art equipment - MRI and CT Scanners
Vascular
