Plastic Surgery
The Plastic Surgery department at Alder Hey is a self-sufficient unit for children, providing a service to the whole of Cheshire and Merseyside as well as North Wales (Regional and Supra Regional basis) and the Isle of Man. The team consists of two full-time consultants, Mr Christian Duncan (sub-specialty craniofacial surgery) and Ms Sian Falder (sub-specialty burns) who both provide a general plastic surgery service and cover trauma; a full-time Associate Specialist Mrs Cathy Raraty, and two sessional plastic surgeons, Professor Paul McArthur (sub-specialty: congenital hands) and Mr Sehwang Liew (sub-specialty: vascular malformations and laser treatment). The department also includes a Surgical Nurse Practitioner, Mrs Irene Molloy, who delivers trauma care, a Specialist Laser Nurse, Mrs Cath Gorst and two additional laser nurses. Supporting the departmental team are three Specialist Registrars and two junior doctors. The department is hoping to appoint a third consultant in the near future.
Plastic Surgery is a problem-solving speciality founded on principle rather than specific procedures. It is a speciality that restores form and function, improving patients’ quality of life on many levels.
The team provides:
· A high quality soft tissue, lower limb and upper limb trauma service, treating accidental injuries, dog and other animal bites and injuries from road traffic accidents
· Support and collaboration with other departments, eg. orthopaedic surgeons and general surgeons in Alder Hey, to provide soft tissue cover
· General paediatric plastic surgery such as abdominal reconstruction, breast asymmetry, gynaecomastia, skin lesions, (eg. pilomatrixoma, melanocytic naevi, cysts, dermoids), scar revision, correction of prominent ears and other ear anomalies, pre-auricular skin tags, tongue-tie
· Regional vascular malformation service including multidisciplinary clinics treating haemangiomas, vascular malformations and laser treatment
· Regional congenital hand service treating extra digits, syndactyly and complex hand hand and upper limb reconstruction including brachial plexus surgery
· Regional craniofacial service
· Regional burns service (see burns)
Benefits and outcomes
- The majority of plastic surgery patients are treated as day cases and this compares favourably with other UK paediatric plastics departments
- Our Early Bird clinic for plastics trauma has reduced the waiting times for emergency operating
- Scar reconstruction patients are often seen in a multidisciplinary clinic involving surgeon, nurse, therapists, psychologist and prosthetist.
Research
The plastics department is involved in a number of research projects and all the consultants regularly present and publish nationally and internationally. The plastic surgery department supervises and supports a number of University of Liverpool medical students throughout the year.
