Our Services A - Z - Mersey Regional Burns, Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery Centre
About the service
The Mersey Regional Burns, Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery Unit provides world class care to patients from Merseyside, Cheshire, North Wales, Isle of Man and from other areas across the UK.
Our Consultant Plastic & Reconstructive Surgeons are all members of BAPRAS (British Association of Plastic and Reconstructive Aesthetic Surgeons) and BAAPS (British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons) and are at the forefront of performing new surgical procedures and often share their expertise with surgeons from around the world.
The Burns and Plastic Directorate team are proud to set the highest standards when it comes to quality indicators and all members of the multi-disciplinary team who work closely together at all times to ensure all our patients receive safe and high quality treatment whilst under our care.
- The B&P Directorate teams provide the following services
- Mersey Regional Burns Centre
- Mersey Regional Specialist Plastic, Reconstructive & Trauma Surgery Unit
- General Plastic Surgery
- Specialist Skin Cancer Service
- Mohs Service
- Breast Cancer Reconstruction Service
- Hand Surgery
- Lower Limb Reconstruction
- Abdominal Wall Reconstruction
- Facial Palsy Service
- Prosthetic Service
- Laser service
- Paediatric Surgery
- Specialist Skin Cancer Service
We are a Supra Regional Centre for skin cancer management, working closely with Dermatology and Pathology colleagues across the North West & North Wales region running a weekly specialist skin MDT service. This service includes sentinel lymph node biopsy for patients with melanomas.
Also in keeping with the UK melanoma guidelines, we provide ileo-inguinal dissections for patients with more aggressive disease. To further improve the skin cancer service offered to our patients we have developed a Mohs service for difficult BCC’s thus reducing hospital stay and the number of surgical procedures patients need to have. The Mohs surgery service began in December 2012, this sited on the first floor of St Helens Hospital, establishing the trust as the Regional Centre for Mohs surgery. The service has gained great interest nationwide, and has encouraged Plastic Surgeons around the UK to attempt to follow the example set by our Trust.
In addition, we have an electro-chemotherapy service for treating advance skin cancers to improve the quality of life for palliative patients.
- Breast Cancer Reconstruction Service
We are the only hospital in Merseyside that can offer a full spectrum of breast reconstruction procedures. The Plastic Surgery Breast Team continues to see an increase in referrals for free DIEP flap breast reconstruction for both immediate reconstruction and delayed reconstruction post mastectomy from across all areas of the UK. Due to the efficiency of our surgeons and the advanced techniques used can continue developing this service to allow us to increase our capacity.
Nationally and internationally renowned for their expertise in supporting patients with breast cancer, our breast reconstruction team's high level of expertise is such that they work at satellite clinics throughout the North West and North Wales with breast cancer surgeons from other hospitals.
We were one of the first Trusts in the country to train a breast reconstruction care nurse. Our Breast Reconstruction Nurse Specialists are an integral part of the unit's multi-disciplinary team (MDT), who care for patients throughout their treatment, pre-operatively and post-operatively.
- Mersey Regional Burn Centre
The Mersey Burn Centre has a catchment area of 5.5 million people. The service is housed within the Mersey Regional Burns and Plastic Surgery Unit, with its inpatient facility being on Ward 4D at Whiston Hospital, one of the largest units in the UK. The unit's reputation continues to grow, and research and development are moving ahead exponentially.
The Mersey Burns Smartphone App was the first MHRA approved medical APP in the UK, and is rapidly spreading as the standard tool for the calculation of fluid resuscitation for burns patients (merseyburns.com).
- Hand Surgery
The hand surgery service combines a highly skilled multidisciplinary team of Specialist Surgeons, Nurses and Therapists who provide clinical care from the point of referral through to surgery and follow-up following discharge. The unit accepts patients for investigation and treatment of all types of elective and trauma hand problems.
- Lower Limb Reconstruction
Our lower limb reconstruction work has seen an increase and our unit continues to provide free flap lower limb reconstruction for severe trauma thus preventing amputations. Our well established the Merseyside Orthoplastic group meets on a regular basis which assists us in improving the management of lower limb trauma in line with national standards.
- Burns & Plastic Surgery Laser Service
Our state of the art laser facility at Whiston Hospital is one of the best NHS facilities in the UK. Our laser unit houses four top of the range machines, services offered include scar treatment which are undertaken routinely both for burns patients and those patients with a variety of other problems from acne to post-traumatic or post-surgical scarring. Vascular anomalies and hirsutism are also treated with these lasers. Referrals for the treatment of scars are received from across the UK.
These lasers also give us the vehicle to expand our research, provide us with development opportunities and give us the ability to offer training in laser treatments.
- Prosthetic Service
The work carried out within the Prosthetic department is non-prescriptive, requiring open minded planning and manufacturing processes to provide our patients with unique solutions to each individual’s condition. Further innovations are developed beyond the area of direct patient care. The Prosthetic Team have constantly delivered a range of bespoke models and interventions providing NHS staff with tangible methods to deliver or teach the specialised care needed for our patients.
The Prosthetic Team are committed to sharing these innovations by developing partnerships throughout the NHS. The team also manage the Maxillofacial Laboratory based on the Aintree University Hospital site. This work involves all aspects of maxillofacial and craniofacial surgery planning and complex facial prosthetics.
- Senior Team Members and their special interests
Mr D Bell (Clinical Director)
- Trauma, Hand, General Plastic and Lower Limb & Orthoplastic Reconstruction Surgery
Mr A Benson (Assistant Medical Director)
- Skin Cancer, Facial Palsy, Abdominal Wall Reconstruction, General Plastic Surgery & Paediatric Surgery
Mr J Barnes
- Breast Reconstruction, Microsurgery, Skin & General Plastics Surgery
Mr S Bennett
- Breast Reconstruction, Microsurgery, Skin & General Plastic Surgery
Mr P Brackley
- Skin Cancer Surgery
Miss C Defty
- Skin Cancer, Cryotherapy, Mohs & Laser Surgery
Mr A El-Gawad
- Lower Limb & Orthoplastic Trauma Surgery
Mrs A Harper Machin
- Skin Cancer, Head, Neck, Facial Palsy & General Plastic Surgery
Mr Z Hassan (Training Programme Director)
- Skin Cancer, Trauma, Hand & Paediatric Surgery
Mr A Iqbal
Hand, Breast Reconstruction & General Plastic SurgeryMr I Khan
- Trauma, Hand & General Plastic Surgery
Mr O Koshy
- Breast Reconstruction, Microsurgery & General Plastic Surgery
Mr S Liew
- Skin Cancer & Laser Surgery
Mr P McArthur
- Congenital Hand & Paediatric Surgery
Miss R Nayar
- Skin Cancer, Mohs & General Plastic Surgery
Prof R Pritchard Jones (Trust Medical Director)
- Skin Cancer, Abdominal Wall Reconstruction & General Plastic Surgery
Mr H Shaaban
- Skin Cancer, Head & Neck Surgery
Prof K Shokrollahi
- Burns, Laser, General Plastic & Paediatric Surgery
Miss R Taghizadeh
- Breast Reconstruction & Microsurgery
Mr H Tehrani
- Skin Cancer, Mohs & Laser Surgery
Mr C West
- Trauma, Hand, Abdominal Wall Reconstruction & General Plastic Surgery
- Other Key Staff
Tracey Walker Directorate Manager B&P
Alison Smith Matron B&P
Pat Lewis Assistant Directorate Manager B&P
Nicola Weadock Ward Manager 3A
Rachel Fletcher Dissection Nurse Specialist
Lindsey Bidston Ward Manager 4D
Donnas Wilkinson Senior Burn Outreach Nurse Specialist
Julie Morley Burn Outreach Nurse Specialist
Tina Gallagher Breast Reconstruction Nurse Specialist
Allison Goulden Breast Reconstruction Nurse Specialist
Carmel Hughes B&P Co-ordinator
Clare Kelsey Trauma Unit Co-ordinator
Rachel Evans Sister Holbrook Unit
Lisa Shaw Sister PSDU
Pam Cardwell Sister Plastics Dressing Clinic
Nicola Crompton Sister Plastics Dressing Clinic
Sara O'Connell Admin Services & Rota Co-ordinator B&P
Charlotte Bamber B&P Clinic Co-ordinator
Anthony Simpson Prosthetics Department Lead
John Heaton Senior Medical Photographer
Helen Martin Advanced Practitioner Physiotherapist – Facial Palsy
- Location and Contact details
Whiston Hospital, Level 3, Green Zone
B&P Directorate Offices Contact Number - 0151 430 1262
B&P Directorate Manager – Tracey Walker 0151 430 1159
B&P Matron - Alison Smith 0151 430 2456
Ward 3A – Plastic Surgery 0151 430 1520
Holbrook Unit - 0151 430 2201
Plastic Surgery Trauma Unit - 0151 430 1642
Prosthetics Department - 0151 430 1854
Medical Photography Department – 0151 430 1406
Whiston Hospital, Level 4, Orange Zone
Ward 4D – Mersey Regional Burn Unit
St Helens Hospital
Plastic Surgery Day Case Unit (PSDU) - 01744 646428
Laser Department – 0151 430 1854
Page last updated on 06th September 2022
