SHAW SOMERS

Shaw Somers has been an NHS consultant surgeon at Portsmouth Hospitals NHS Trust since 1996 and specialises in upper gastrointestinal surgery. Before this appointment he was a senior lecturer and honorary consultant at St James' University Hospital, Leeds and Associate Professor at the Prince of Wales Hospital, Hong Kong.

His obesity surgical training started in 1994 in Leeds with Stephen Pollard, one of the UK's first obesity surgeons. Since 1998, he has provided an NHS obesity surgery service, initially at King Edward VII Hospital and subsequently at St. Richard's Hospital, Chichester. He now practices at centres around the South of England.

Shaw has experience of over 1000 bariatric procedures. Including 450 Roux en-Y gastric bypasses, 400 laparoscopic adjustable gastric bands and 100 complex or revision procedures. His mortality rate is exemplary (less than 0.2%) despite operating on patients of extreme size (315kg; BMI 105) and co-morbidity.

In addition to being a recognised trainer in Bariatric Surgery and a council member of the British Obesity Surgery Society, He has a strong academic pedigree with over 30 peer-reviewed publications and is an Honorary Reader in Surgery at the University of Portsmouth.

For further information please visit his personal website

GUY SLATER

Guy Slater was appointed as a consultant upper gastro-intestinal surgeon at the Royal West Sussex NHS Trust and Portsmouth Hospitals NHS Trust in  April 2004. He spent the previous year completing an obesity surgery fellowship in Brisbane, Australia with Dr George Fielding one of the world's foremost bariatric surgeons.

Guy Slater joined the King Edward VII Hospital, bariatric surgical service in 2005. To date he has completed over 250 obesity surgery procedures including 100 roux en-Y gastric bypasses and 150 laparoscopic adjustable gastric band procedures. His 30-day mortality rate is zero, despite operating on many large patients. As the unit tends to reserve roux en-Y gastric bypass for larger patients, his average patient body mass index is greater than 60 kg/m2.

Guy has published and presented in the field of obesity surgery, including six first author papers. He remains committed to training and research in the field of obesity surgery.

For further information please visit his personal website

SIMON TOH

Simon Toh is consultant specialist upper gastro-intestinal surgeon at Portsmouth Hospitals NHS Trust since 2002. His training has included a fellowship with Prof Jamieson in Adelaide and has worked with the associated Bariatric Unit. He works in partnership with Guy Slater and Shaw Somers to provide specialist upper GI services to the Central South Coast area. He has participated in the Bariatric service since 2005.