Prof. Richard Stubbs MD, FRCS, FRACS (Surgeon and Director)

Richard Stubbs graduated from Otago University as a medical doctor in 1976. After spending two years as a house-surgeon in NZ, he travelled to the UK where he undertook specialist surgical training at The Royal Postgraduate Medical School, Hammersmith Hospital, London under the mentorship of Professor Leslie Blumgart, who was at that time becoming one of the World's leading figures in hepatobiliary (liver and bile ducts) and pancreatic surgery. Richard spent a total of seven and a half years in London and Los Angeles, working with Professor Blumgart and a number of other prominent international surgeons.

Richard returned to NZ, to practice as a specialist hepatobiliary and upper gastrointestinal surgeon in 1986 and was appointed senior lecturer in Surgery at the Wellington School of Medicine and Consultant surgeon at Wellington Hospital. He resigned from that position in 1991 to establish the Wakefield Clinic which has gone on to become a highly regarded and specialised Centre for the surgical treatment of liver cancer and obesity in particular. In 2008 he was appointed as a professor within the University of Otago, Wellington, where he is Director of the Wakefield Biomedical Research Unit.

Mr S Kusal Wickremesekera MB.ChB, FRACS, PhD (Surgeon)

Kusal is a specialist upper GI and hepatobiliary surgeon working both at Wellington Hospital and Wakefield Hospital. He is a New Zealand graduate who spent time during his surgical training at the Wakefield Clinic, both as a registrar in the mid 1990s and later as senior registrar and surgical fellow. During this time he was very much involved in the obesity surgery clinical and research programme. He furthered his specialist training with two and a half years in the UK as a fellow at Hammersmith Hospital, the Royal Marsden Hospital and on the Liver surgery and transplant unit in Birmingham, before returning to Wellington in 2006.

Mr Simon Bann MB BS BSc (Hons) MD FRCS FRCS (Gen Surg)

Simon is a specialist upper GI surgeon working both at Wellington Hospital and Wakefield Hospitals. He is a graduate of the London Hospital Medical School in the UK and completed his specialist surgical training in a variety of major London Hospitals. He undertook a period of fulltime research under the supervision of Professor Lord Darzi, a very senior and highly regarded figure in UK surgery, which led to the award of his MD degree. He subsequently undertook further training, in London, in advanced laparoscopic surgery and upper GI surgery, which is now his chosen specialty. Following completion of this training he emigrated to New Zealand to take up a consultant position at Wellington Hospital in 2007. He has published extensively in a number of areas including assessment of surgery, new technologies in surgery and advanced laparoscopic surgery. His particular expertise relates to the management of benign and malignant conditions of the oesophagus, stomach and pancreas.

Dr Kashan Bogammana, Surgical Fellow, MB BS MS

Dr Bogammana is a graduate of the University of Colombo Sri Lanka. He obtained his medical doctorate in 1998 and continued his training specialising in general surgery gaining a post-graduate Masters Degree in Surgery in 2006. Dr Bogammana has medical and surgical experience working throughout Sri Lanka. He joined the Wakefield Clinic to work with Richard Stubbs to further specialise in hepatobiliary and bariatric surgery.

Bernadette Shaw Hickey BN, MN, Ad.Dip (surg), (Practice nurse)

Bernadette trained as a nurse at Wellington Hospital, where she worked for many years as a registered nurse and later a nursing supervisor on the medical wards and the cardiothoracic surgery unit. In 1990 she became a ward and ICU nurse at Wakefield Hospital where she developed considerable experience with managing patients undergoing obesity and other major gastrointestinal surgery. In 1999 she completed a masters degree in nursing through Victoria University. She joined the team in the Wakefield Clinic in January 2005 as a practice nurse where she fulfils an important and significant role both within the obesity surgery and liver cancer programmes. She is readily contactable by patients for advice and support.

Email:bernadettes@wakefield.co.nz

Phone: 04-381-8110 ext 5431