Skin cancer

QVH is the largest specialist plastic surgery unit in the country, with 18 plastic surgery consultants as well as five maxillofacial and three ophthalmic surgeons, supported by over 30 junior surgeons. We are the largest provider of skin surgery services in the south east, caring for patients with lumps and bumps, moles, sun damage and skin cancers. Our team has the highest levels of experience and expertise, treating over 3,000 patients every year.

Our internationally-known Melanoma and Skin Cancer Unit (MASCU) is the only unit in the region providing the complete range of specialist skin cancer services including medical treatments with immunotherapy, cryotherapy, curettage, simple excisions, skin grafting, local flaps, CO2 laser treatment and the complex management of metastatic disease. It is the designated tertiary referral centre for all skin cancers across the region and is recognised by the Kent, Sussex and Surrey Cancer Networks.

Our Macmillan Skin Cancer Nurse Specialists, Maggie Curtis and Julie Anthony, act as a point of contact for patients, relatives, carers and other healthcare professionals and coordinate care and psychological support for patients receiving skin cancer treatment at QVH.

The surgeons listed to the right are those with skin cancer as their main area of expertise. Other QVH plastic surgeons also treat skin cancer patients where appropriate. We also have a team of supporting professionals including pathologists, psychological therapists, multi-disciplinary team coordinators and dedicated MASCU secretaries.

The team can be contacted on 01342 306660.

Recent survey results

• Latest National Cancer Patient Experience Survey

Clinical effectiveness

Complete excision rates in basal cell carcinoma (BCC)
BCC is the most common cancer in Europe, Australia and the USA. Management usually involves surgical excision, photodynamic therapy (PDT), curettage or immuno-modulators or a combination. Surgical excision is highly effective with a recurrence rate at 2%. Complete surgical excision is important to reduce recurrence rates. Sometimes this is not possible because of the size or position of the tumour. Sometimes the incomplete excision will only become evident with histological examination of the excised tissue. The high rate of complete excision for QVH is particularly pleasing as a high proportion of our referrals are from dermatologists who refer more complex cases.

Complete excision rates in malignant melanoma
Melanomas are excised with margins of healthy tissue around them, depending on the type, size and spread of tumour. These margins are set by national and local guidelines and each case is discussed in a multidisciplinary team (MDT). Sometimes total excision is not possible because of the health of the patient, or the size, position or spread of the tumour, and the MDT may recommend incomplete excision.

Page last updated: 5 February 2024.

Mr Ruben Kannan

Specialist interests: Facial reanimation/restoration and supermicrosurgery

Mr Ruben Kannan is an award-winning consultant plastic surgeon with a doctorate in nanotechnology from University College London and additional diplomas in head and neck surgery as well as legal medicine. He gained entry onto the GMC Specialist Register in Plastic Surgery in 2012 and has completed fellowships in facial reanimation, reconstructive microsurgery, and aesthetics, with advanced training in super-microsurgery (Japan), migraine surgery (USA) and Bell’s palsy surgery (USA).

Having been a consultant in the NHS since 2013, he joined the facial palsy unit at QVH in 2016: the largest and most advanced facial palsy service in the UK. The team treats the most difficult and complex Bell’s palsy patients throughout the country. In 2018 alongside QVH maxillofacial surgeons, he jointly performed the world’s first free tissue transfer for chewing function at QVH. His innovations focus on restoring not only an optimal facial appearance but function as well. Mr Kannan’s defining policy is to restore maximal function with minimalistic surgery: a combination of aesthetic restoration and super-microsurgery (surgery in the sub-1mm realm). These include the Motor End-Plate Innervation (MEPI) concept, the early management of both flaccid and non-flaccid facial palsy, chimeric vascularised nerve flaps, Fibonacci-sequence flaps, ultrasound-guided Botox injections and intra-oral vascularised nerve grafts.

Mr Kannan is a recognised trainer for the prestigious national head and neck surgery TIG fellowship programme at QVH and hosts many international visitors and fellows at QVH. During COVID, he and his colleagues helped QVH set up telemedicine consultation portals for facial palsy patients nationwide. This allows the best care for facial palsy patients, in the comfort of their homes.

Mr Kannan is a full member of the Sir Charles Bell Society and is on the medical advisory board of Facial Palsy UK, and a council member for the Royal Society of Medicine (Plastic Surgery section). He is an expert for the International Microsurgery Club, in addition to being a founder-member of the UK Cranial Nerve Network, the first network of specialists in the world, dedicated to the management of cranial nerves. Mr Kannan is a good listener and seeks to customise treatment on an individual basis, based on discussions with his patients. This allows him and his colleagues to not only rebuild the face but restore some or all its function such as movement, sensation, and the ability to chew; continuing to build on the legacies of both McIndoe and McLaughlin at East Grinstead.

Mr Asit Khandwala

Specialist interests: All aspects of plastic surgery especially hand surgery

Mr 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. He has a special interest in Hand Surgery, especially rheumatoid hands and nerve reconstruction.

Mr Ian King

Special interests: Skin cancer, Microsurgical reconstruction, Lower Limb, Trauma, Breast, General Plastic Surgery.

Mr Ian King is a UK-trained Consultant Plastic, Reconstructive and Aesthetic Surgeon and was appointed to QVH in 2021. He has been awarded the intercollegiate Fellowship in Plastic Surgery to the Royal College of Surgeons, is on the GMC Specialist Register for Plastic Surgery, and is a full member of the British Association of Plastic, Reconstructive and Aesthetic Surgeons (BAPRAS).

Mr King holds degrees from both Oxford and Newcastle Universities. He completed his foundation programme and plastic surgery-themed core surgical training in hospitals throughout the north east of England prior to taking up higher surgical training in plastic surgery in London and the south east. By rotating through prestigious and high-volume units, Mr King developed his interest in post-traumatic and cancer reconstruction.

Mr King has completed two distinguished microsurgery fellowships at QVH and at The Royal Marsden Hospital in London. He has also completed further subspecialty fellowships in extremity trauma reconstruction at St Mary’s Hospital, Paddington, and in skin cancer surgery at Guy’s and St Thomas’ Hospitals, London, where he trained in sentinel node biopsy, the surgical management of patients with melanoma and post-Mohs surgery complex reconstruction. Mr King was awarded the BAAPS/BAPRAS Aesthetic Fellowship which was based at the Cadogan Clinic, London. These posts gave him excellent experience in cancer management, trauma and cancer reconstruction and in developing advanced microsurgical skills.

Mr King is an active member of the Sussex specialist skin cancer multi-disciplinary team and is the clinical governance lead for plastic surgery at QVH. He holds an Honorary Consultant contract at University Hospitals Sussex where he works alongside a team of consultant colleagues to provide specialist reconstructive services focusing on lower limb trauma, cardiothoracic reconstruction and complex wounds. He also has a keen interest in medical education; as an Honorary Clinical Senior Lecturer at Brighton and Sussex Medical School, he has established and runs weekly clinical medical student plastics teaching at the major trauma centre in Brighton.

GMC: 7042930

Qualifications: MA(Oxon) MBBS MRCS FRCS(Plast.)

Mr Siva Kumar

Specialist interest:  Skin cancer, post-mohs reconstruction, trauma, breast, laser, general plastic surgery.

Mr Siva Kumar Veeramani is a UK-trained Consultant Plastic, Reconstructive & Aesthetic surgeon appointed at Queen Victoria Hospital in 2016.  He has been awarded the intercollegiate fellowship in plastic surgery and is on the General Medical Council specialist register in plastic surgery.

Mr Kumar graduated from the University of Newcastle-upon-Tyne in 2005.  He undertook his plastic surgery training at major UK centres in the North of England. He completed his training with three nationally appointed specialist fellowships in skin cancer surgery, trauma surgery and cosmetic surgery.  During his skin cancer fellowship at Leeds, he trained in sentinel node biopsy and the surgical management of patients with advanced melanoma. His trauma surgery fellowship at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham involved the management of both civilian and military trauma. Prior to his appointment at Queen Victoria Hospital, Mr Kumar worked as a locum consultant at the Newcastle-upon-Tyne Hospitals Foundations Trust specialising in breast reconstruction. These posts offered him additional experience in cancer management and microsurgical reconstruction.

Mr Kumar is the Queen Victoria Hospital’s Clinical Director for Plastic Surgery and Chairperson of the specialist skin cancer multi-disciplinary team.

Mr Kumar holds clinics at Queen Victoria Hospital.

Qualifications: MBBS, BMed.Sci(Hons), MRCS, MBA, FRCS(Plast.)

Dr Rhonda Meys

Specialist interests: General dermatology, dermatological surgery, Mohs’ micrographic surgery, skin cancer, laser, and scarring.

Dr Rhonda Meys is a UK-trained consultant dermatologist and UK Fellowship accredited Mohs Surgeon. She obtained her undergraduate degrees (BMedSci and MBBS Hons) in Australia in 1998 and completed her general medical and dermatology consultant training across Edinburgh and central London Trusts, including Chelsea and Westminster, University College London, the Royal London, and the Royal Free London. Additionally, she holds a higher degree in Dermatological Research MD (Res) from Imperial College London. Her post-Certificate of Completion of Training UK accredited Mohs micrographic surgery and laser fellowship was completed at Guy’s and St Thomas’s Hospital.

Dr Meys has previously worked as a consultant dermatologist and dermatological surgeon at the Royal Free London before joining Queen Victoria Hospital in 2022. She is now the hospital’s Mohs lead for Sussex.

In her role as a consultant, Dr Meys has undertaken various roles, including serving as the undergraduate teaching lead, as well as teaching and supervising registrars, fellows and students. She holds a title of Honorary Professor at Plymouth University for her work with International Dermatology Diploma and MSc students. Dr Meys has written book chapters on dermatological surgery, pigmentation and cosmeceuticals and published numerous research and clinical papers in peer reviewed journals. She also leads the annual national dermatology registrar course in cosmetic dermatology.

Qualifications:
Ba Med Sci, MB,BS Hons Tasmania, Australia
DipSTM&H London School of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene
MRCP Royal College of Physicians
MD (Res) Imperial College London
CCT (UK) Dermatology Royal College of Physicians
UK accredited Mohs micrographic surgery Fellowship, Guys and St Thomas’ Hospital

Memberships:
British Association of Dermatologists
British Society of Dermatological Surgeons
British Cosmetic Dermatology Group Executive
American College of Mohs Surgery
European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology
European Society for Micrographic Surgery

Page last updated: 6 February 2024.

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 on the skin cancere at QVH.

Miss O’Neill was previously surgical tutor for plastic surgery for 5 years and part of the simulation faculty. She has now transitioned to the role of guardian for safe working for the junior doctors at QVH.

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 Sam Orkar

Specialist interests: Breast surgery including breast reconstruction and breast asymmetry, skin cancers and problem scars.

Kusu Samuel Orkar was appointed Consultant Plastic and Reconstructive Surgeon at Queen Victoria Hospital on 1 July 2009.

Sam qualified at the University of Jos in Nigeria and was the best graduating student in his year.  He completed the Nigerian and West African training in General Surgery and Plastic Surgery and worked as a Consultant General and Plastic surgeon in Nigeria.  He undertook further training in Plastic Surgery in the UK at the Canniesburn Unit, Glasgow, St Andrews Centre for Plastic Surgery and Burns, Chelmsford, Queen Victoria Hospital and the McIndoe Surgical Centre both in East Grinstead.

Sam has done fellowships in breast/microsurgery, hand surgery and cosmetic surgery to further hone his skills.

Sam’s subspecialty interests are breast surgery including reconstruction, skin cancer, and problem scars.  Sam runs clinics at QVH and the Medway Maritime Hospital.

Sam is on the GMC specialist register for plastic surgery and is a member of BAPRAS and BAAPS

Qualifications:

• BM BCh University of Jos, Nigeria
• FMCS(Nig) Fellow Medical College of Surgery, Nigeria
• FWACS (plast) Fellow West African College of Surgeons (plastic surgery)
• FRCS Ed Fellow Royal College of Surgeons Edinburgh
• FRCSEd(Plast) Royal College of Surgeons Intercollegiate Fellow(plastic surgery)

Mr Mark Pickford

Specialist interest: Hand surgery

Mr Mark Pickford is a Consultant Plastic and Hand Surgeon, subspecialising in the treatment of children with developmental differences. He trained in Plastic Surgery in the UK, and then completed a one-year Hand Surgery fellowship with Harold Kleinert’s group in Louisville, Kentucky (1996-1997).

Mr Pickford runs two hand surgery clinics a week at QVH, one for children, and one for adults. He also runs plastic surgery outpatient services at the Conquest Hospital, once a week on Tuesdays, where skin cancers are the commonest problems being managed.

Besides Children’s hand surgery he also treats Dupuytren’s disease, and a broad spectrum of other common degenerative hand conditions.

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 Bav Shergill

Mr Bav Shergill graduated from Guy’s and St Thomas’ Hospitals, London in 1996 and has gained extensive experience in general dermatology through posts at a variety of London hospitals. After completing his registrar training, Mr Shergill received specialised training in skin Cancer surgery and laser surgery at the St John’s Institute of Dermatology, London. He is one of a small number of dermatologists in the country with recognised training in Mohs surgery for skin Cancer treatment. In 2012, he established the Mohs unit at Queen Victoria Hospital.

Mr Shergill’s expertise includes non-surgical treatment of skin Cancer, using creams and photodynamic therapy. He is committed to using the least invasive procedures whilst successfully removing the Cancer. He was the Lead Clinician for skin Cancer in Sussex, actively involved in training GPs, registrars, medical students and nurses in dermatology and dermatological surgery techniques.

Page last updated: 10 January 2024.

Mr Phil Gilbert

Mr Phil Gilbert initially trained in dentistry and maxillofacial surgery before obtaining his medical degree. He subsequently underwent core surgery training before specialising in plastic surgery.

Mr Gilbert was as a consultant at the University Hospital in Rotterdam, Netherlands for three and a half years, focusing on paediatric plastic surgery such as cleft lip and palate repairs, craniofacial deformities, vascular malformations, and other very rare conditions and injuries. Following his tenure in Rotterdam, he took on the role of consultant in Edinburgh for three years, specialising in the treatment of children and burn injuries.

With over 25 years as a consultant at Queen Victoria Hospital, Mr Gilbert has dedicated his expertise to major burn injuries, general plastic surgery, and paediatrics. In his current part-time role, he specialises in potential skin cancer surgery.

Page last updated: 16 January 2024.