Hand surgery

The hand surgery service provided by QVH is recognised, both regionally and nationally, for its excellent high quality service covering a range of elective conditions as well as trauma.

It includes consultants with specific interests in congenital hand anomalies; rheumatoid and osteoarthritis; wrist surgery for arthritis and instability; compression neuropathies; and post-trauma reconstruction.

It accounts for approximately one quarter of all elective plastic surgical operations at QVH. It also comprises approximately 80% of the trauma workload at the hospital.

We offer, where appropriate, non-operative and minimally invasive treatment alternatives such as wrist arthroscopy, needle aponeurotomy (fasciotomy) and endoscopic carpal tunnel release.

We are continuously available to manage soft tissue and bony trauma and to provide advice on other urgent problems including tendon ruptures, infections, extravasation injuries and pain syndromes.

Patient information video

Axillary nerve block for hand/arm surgery

Clinical effectiveness

Full details of our patient safety, patient experience and clinical effectiveness measures are published in our annual Quality Report. Find the latest version here.

Mr Asit Khandwala

Specialist interests: All aspects of plastic surgery especially hand surgeryMr Asit Khandwala started in Plastic Surgery in 1989. He has trained both in the UK and India. He trained in Plastic Surgery at the St James University Hospital in Leeds, Charing Cross, Chelsea and Westminster, St Andrew’s Centre for Plastic Surgery in Chelmsford and Queen Mary’s, Roehamptom. He also trained at the Stoke Mandeville Hospital. He completed his specialist training and was appointed a Consultant at the Queen Victoria Hospital in 2004.Mr Khandwala is a fully accredited specialist in Plastic Surgery and a full member of the BAPRAS (British Association of Plastic Reconstructive and Aesthetic Surgery), BAAPS (British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons) and also a full member of the British Society for Surgery of the Hand (BSSH). Mr Khandwala is also involved with research, audit and education of medical students.

He runs general plastic surgery, skin cancer, breast surgery and hand surgery clinics at Queen Victoria Hospital, and in Dartford and Horsham. He has a special interest in Hand Surgery, especially rheumatoid hands and nerve reconstruction.

Miss Jennifer O’Neill

Specialist interests: Skin cancer, hand surgery, reconstructive surgery

Miss Jennifer O’Neill joined Queen Victoria Hospital (QVH) as a consultant in 2017.

She graduated from Queens’ College, Cambridge with a 1st class BA Hons degree and then completed clinical medical training at New College, Oxford.

Initial surgical training was completed in London, Brighton, Exeter and East Grinstead. Miss O’Neill then visited Melbourne to perform research (MMed) on the subject of the lymphatic system before taking up a further surgical training post on the South-West plastic surgery training programme (Bristol and Exeter).

Miss O’Neill’s specialist fellowships were the hand surgery fellowship at QVH and a microsurgery fellowship performing free tissue transfer to the lower limb in Bristol. She also completed an interface fellowship in reconstructive and cosmetic Surgery (Training Interface Group) based in Guildford in addition to the Bristol aesthetic fellowship.

Miss O’Neill was awarded both the British and the European hand diplomas following the hand fellowship at QVH.

After becoming a consultant in 2015, Miss O’Neill worked as a hand and skin cancer specialist Locum Consultant at Wexham Park Hospital prior to taking up her current role at QVH.

Miss O’Neill is the current surgical tutor for plastic surgery at QVH and is part of the simulation teaching faculty. She has postgraduate qualifications in healthcare leadership and medical education.

Miss O’Neill is a fully qualified plastic, reconstructive and aesthetic surgeon. She has been awarded the intercollegiate fellowship in plastic surgery and is a Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons of England (FRCS Plast). She is on the GMC’s specialist register for plastic surgery and is a member of the British Association of Plastic, Reconstructive and Aesthetic Surgeons (BAPRAS).

Mr Mark Pickford

Specialist interest: Hand surgery

Mr Mark Pickford is a Consultant Plastic Surgeon, sub-specialising in hand surgery. Within the arena of hand surgery he has particular interest in treating children’s hands, including those with congenital differences. Mark was trained in plastic surgery in the UK, and also during a one year hand surgery fellowship with Harold Kleinert’s group in Louisville, Kentucky.

Mr Pickford holds two hand surgery clinics a week at QVH, one on a Monday for children, and one on a Friday for adults. The general plastics part of his practice covers the Hastings geographical area. He spends all day Tuesday each week at the Conquest Hospital providing outpatient clinic services, and also outpatient surgery for patients with skin malignancies.

Mr Pickford’s interests include hand trauma, surgery for congenital hand differences, management of Dupuytren’s disease including all surgical options and Xiapex/collagenase injection treatment. His work routinely encompasses management of inflammatory arthritic conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis and also degenerative arthritis (osteoarthritis) which manifest themselves in the hand. He has an interest in wrist pathology including degenerative conditions and instabilities resulting from injury, and routinely performs arthroscopy examinations and treatments. His work routinely involves the management of nerve compression syndromes in the upper limb.

Mr Pickford’s work for general plastic surgery covers a broad scope ranging from skin cancer management to breast reconstruction using all available techniques (tissue expansion, Latissimus flaps and DIEP flaps).

Mr Robert Pearl

Robert Pearl Is a consultant plastic surgeon with a specialist interest in hand surgery. He studied medicine at Southampton University and underwent basic surgical training at St Mary’s Hospital, London. He trained in plastic surgery at Mount Vernon Hospital, Northwood, where he completed his Medical Doctorate on treatment of melanoma, before completing the Pan Thames training scheme. This included plastic surgical training at The Royal Free Hospital, London; Queen Victoria Hospital, East Grinstead and St Thomas’ Hospital, London.

He attained the Royal College of Surgeons Fellowship for Plastic Surgery in 2012 for which he was awarded the McGregor Gold Medal.

Mr Pearl’s subspeciality training in hand surgery included fellowships at Great Ormond Street Hospital, the Windsor Hand Clinic and Queen Victoria Hospital, culminating in award of the BSSH Hand Diploma. He is a member of the British Society for Surgery of the Hand, and also holds the European Hand Diploma.

Mr T C Teo

Specialist interests: Hand surgery; upper and lower limb reconstruction following trauma or disease.

Mr Teo graduated from Aberdeen University in 1982. In 1987 he was awarded a Harvard University Research Fellowship and spent a year in Boston, USA, studying the role of lipid in nutritional support of major burns and sepsis. His MD thesis, based on this work, was awarded with honours together with the Cash Medal in 1991. His plastic surgery experience included oversea fellowships in Taiwan and Australia.

TC is world famous for his pioneering work in the fields of propeller flaps, perforator flaps including the SCIP and post-auricular free flap, and supermicrosurgery. He is one of the first Plastic Surgeons to embrace the supermicrosurgery concept and was a pioneer in this field, together with contempories such as Koshima. He has been invited worldwide to teach and perform “live surgery” on many microsurgery, perforator and instructional courses, and is one of the founding faculty of the International Masters in Microsurgery course.

Recently, as Visiting Professor to the Canniesburn Flap and Perforator Course 2019 he gave special lectures on “Supermicrosurgery” and also on “Propeller and Perforator Flaps”.

He also likes teaching and doing voluntary work in developing countries and has been to operate in Ghana, Malawi, Kenya, Nepal, Bangladesh, India, Brazil and Siberia. He believes that engaging with young surgeons and teaching them techniques which they can then use to treat their own communities has a greater long-term benefit.