Mr Simon Ellis

I was born in 1960 in Newcastle, Staffordshire. I attended Newcastle-under-Lyme High School for boys before studying medicine at St John's College Cambridge.

Whilst at Cambridge, I studied medical ethics and law as my final year elective. I transferred to Charing Cross Hospital in London for my clinical studies and was awarded my medical degree in June 1985 followed by a Master of Arts degree in 1988.

After obtaining my surgical fellowship, I completed my orthopaedic training in December 1996; this included 15 months at Lord Mayor Treloar Hospital where I was supervised by Neil Thomas, past president of the Knee Society, and a two-year period as senior registrar at the Royal United Hospital in Bath.

I have invested considerable time in the study of knee surgery, in particular maintaining a keen interest in the development of soft tissue knee surgery. An invitation to the Stryker Arthroscopic International Forum and a tour of America led me to exploring the frontiers of arthroscopic knee surgery and anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction and the decision to concentrate purely on knee surgery.

I introduced the accelerated rehabilitation in anterior cruciate ligament to Kent which resulted in many sportsmen and women being able to return to training within three to four months of surgery.

My interest in knee arthritis has resulted in me leading the implementation of the Depuy Attune knee replacement in Kent - a recent addition to joint replacement which appears to give improved patient satisfaction. I also follow the up to date guidelines of the enhanced recovery programme.

In addition, I have been asked to lecture on anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction at international meetings and regularly lecture to general practitioners as well as allied healthcare professionals.

I am a member of the British Orthopaedic Association as well as the South East Knee Study Group who meet regularly to discuss difficult knee cases where I benefit from the shared knowledge of my knee specialist colleagues.

I regularly attend both national and international knee specialty meetings to keep abreast of new innovations.

I was appointed consultant to Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust which I commenced at the end of December 1996. Initially I was appointed as a general trauma and orthopaedic surgeon; however with time, I made the conscious decision to specialise in knee surgery.

I left the NHS in 2016 but continue to treat NHS patients at Spire Alexandra via my regular NHS patient choice e-referral clinics and the Choose & Book scheme.