A CONSULTANT surgeon Musgrove Park Hospital in Taunton, part of the Somerset NHS Foundation Trust, has been recognised by his peers for the incredible work he’s done in the specialty of bariatric surgery.

Professor Richard Welbourn has been appointed as Honorary Associate Professor in Surgery at the University of Bristol, a decision made by senior colleagues across the world who work in his field.

“I’m thrilled to bits with this new position, which I’ll have in addition to my role as a surgeon at the trust,” says Richard.

“It’s even more humbling for me as the University of Bristol team doesn’t give out many honorary positions, so this is a really rare feat.

“I first became interested in bariatric surgery in 2002 when the first round of National Institute for Clinical Effectiveness (NICE) guidance came out – it felt a ground-breaking moment.

“I attended an international meeting of surgeons who were involved in laparoscopic (keyhole) surgery when it was in its infancy, and one of the topics covered included using this method for bariatric surgery, something I didn’t know much about at that time.

“Seeing videos of these type of operations being performed for the first time was really inspiring and I felt it was the real beginning of a revolution for bariatric surgery.

“Despite some misconceptions, bariatric surgery isn’t just about making people thin, it’s actually about making people well by reducing their weight and improving their quality of life. For example, the surgery can help a person’s diabetes and other weight-related diseases to go into remission.”

Richard played a huge role in bringing this type of surgery to Musgrove Park Hospital, where he performed the first ever gastric bypass via keyhole surgery at the hospital in 2004.

“At that time, I was a one-person team, but we now have five surgeons at the trust able to perform this operation,” Richard continued.

“Our efforts in Somerset led to us being the first NHS trust in the UK to be accredited as an International Center of Excellence by the US Surgical Review Corporation, a non-profit, patient safety organisation that develops and administers best-in-class accreditation programmes for medical professionals, surgeons, hospitals and outpatient departments throughout the world.

“This meant we were very much the leading NHS trust in the UK for bariatric surgery – a huge honour for us. We’ve continued to be reaccredited by the corporation ever since, and are still the only trust in the UK to have this.”