Mr Neil Smith is a consultant general and colorectal surgeon. He was born and grew up in Kent, and studied medicine at Wadham College, Oxford University, where he undertook an intercalated Master of Arts degree for which he was awarded a ‘First’. He completed his clinical studies for the MB BS degree at St. George’s Hospital Medical School, in London, graduating in 1996 with Distinctions in final examinations in four subject areas including Surgery. He was awarded Honours in three of these (Surgery, Medicine, and Obstetrics & Gynaecology) by the University of London.
Postgraduate surgical training was completed in hospitals in London and Surrey, and Mr Smith spent two years in full-time cancer research at the Royal Marsden Hospital, investigating the significance and detection of blood vessel invasion in colorectal (bowel) cancer. For his thesis he was awarded a doctoral masters degree (MS, Master of Surgery) by the University of London in 2009.
Mr Neil Smith was appointed as a consultant surgeon at Surrey & Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust in 2008. He has developed and established the laparoscopic colorectal surgery practice at the Trust for both benign and malignant bowel diseases, working closely with Mr Tim Campbell-Smith. He wrote the Enhanced Recovery Protocol for colorectal surgery which has now been adopted by colleagues in other specialities, and is the service development lead for colorectal cancer and the training lead for gastrointestinal endoscopy. He has weekly outpatient clinics at East Surrey Hospital and alternate-weekly at Crawley Hospital.