A NEW surgeon has joined the team at Airedale Hospital – but he's no stranger to the Steeton site.

Consultant orthopaedic surgeon Paul McCormack has worked there twice before – once as a registrar, and the other time as a core trainee.

"I have always had a close affinity to Airedale – it was the first hospital I worked at when I moved to England," said Mr McCormack, who did his foundation training in Belfast before coming to this country to complete it.

"I really liked the surrounding countryside and the community feel of the hospital.

"I’ve always fitted in really well with the team – with the consultants and nursing and other health professionals in orthopaedics."

The appointment is his first consultant post.

He will be specialising in shoulder and elbow surgery, and will work alongside fellow consultant orthopaedic surgeons David Bowe and James Tyler.

"I have worked for Mr Bowe before and it was a great job ­– my first doing upper limb surgery," said McCormack.

"He has been a mentor to me, which was another factor that attracted me to working at Airedale."

Helping to reduce surgery waiting lists will be amongst his priorities.

"We want to get patients seen as soon as possible," he said.

"I’ve also got a strong interest in education. I’m hoping that in the future I can have a higher orthopaedic trainee and we can offer a really good training service for upper limb surgery trainees, like the training I received.

"I’ll also be playing an active role in a one-stop clinic for shoulder injuries."

Mr McCormack says that in addition, an aim is to provide shorter inpatient stays for people undergoing shoulder replacements.

He adds: "More day case surgeries will ease the pressure on the hospital, reduce waiting lists and get our patients home faster so that they can recover in their own environment where they’re comfortable. It’s a team approach – about having pathways in place and how the patient's follow up is done, with a dedicated phone number and a team readily available to answer any questions and be on hand to give advice or help."

Mr Bowe said: "Paul will be a major asset to the team, having trained both locally and in other national centres. He will help drive forward our vision for increased day case shoulder surgery and improve our timely management of upper limb trauma."