Member Article

North East surgeon appointed President of the British Hernia Society

Mr Liam Horgan, a specialist in hernia repairs and laparoscopic surgery at Nuffield Health Newcastle, has been named President of the British Hernia Society.

Highly respected amongst his peers and patients, Mr Horgan is from Cork, south west Ireland, where he did his basic surgical training. From there he moved to the London Royal Free Hospital to continue his training, specialising in hernia repair before eventually settling in the North East of England and joining Nuffield Health, the largest independent not-for-profit health and wellbeing organisation in the UK.

The British Hernia Society works to promote safe, effective hernia surgery through education and best practice. With more than 1,000 members, it is one of the largest peer-led medical groups in the UK and Ireland.

Mr Horgan has been part of the surgical team at Nuffield Health Newcastle for twenty years. On average, he carries out 60 corrective hernia procedures a year at Nuffield Health’s Newcastle Hospital in Jesmond, predominantly treating patients with incisional hernias, groin and complex abdominal wall hernias.

Asked about his new role, Mr Horgan said: “It is an honour to represent the British Hernia Society and take a lead role in driving innovation, education and skills in the field of hernia treatment for the benefit of our members and our patients.

Describing the two key objectives he’s keen to deliver during his two-year tenure as President, he said “Hernia repairs are the most commonly performed operations for surgeons in the UK today and I am looking forward to working closely with our members and stakeholders to create the country’s first national hernia database.

“Work is already underway to develop what will essentially be a national register to record all hernia procedures so that we can study trends and understand the long-term outcomes for patients. This will help us to develop a national set of best practice guidelines for surgeons specialising in hernia repair.

“As a Society, we have also identified an opportunity to develop a more efficient way of recording how individual patients feel about their treatment. This is known as Patient Reported Outcome Measures (PROMS). Currently there are no agreed PROMS for hernia repairs, but we are now actively working to establish a specific set of PROMS for hernia repair. We are also investigating how other countries are using mobile technology which allows instant feedback from patients using an app. This is an exciting time for the Society and I am looking forward to taking it forward.”

In addition to his Nuffield Health practice, Mr Horgan is a laparoscopic upper gastro-intestinal surgeon working in the Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust. He also leads on an annual volunteering programme in Tanzania to support general surgery and hernia surgery. In 2003, he established a laparoscopic training programme and service provision at the Kilimanjaro Christian Medical Centre, Moshi, Tanzania.

Congratulating Mr Horgan on his appointment, Matt Lamb, Hospital Director at Nuffield Health Newcastle, said: “We are extremely proud to work alongside Liam. The expertise with which he practices is renowned both in the region and nationally. He has been part of the Nuffield Health family for many years and his willingness to share his knowledge and skills is renowned in the hospital, as is his commitment to patient care and treatment.

“I’d like to congratulate Liam on his Presidency, the British Hernia Society is a prestigious organisation doing great things for the advancement of this specialism and he will be a great ambassador.”

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