Mar
20
2017
The Northern Rivers now has a surgeon specialising in hand and wrist surgery. He is also a plastic surgeon.
Dr James Ledgard visits Lismore each fortnight on a Monday and Tuesday to operate and consult. He is currently only working in the private health system, but is hoping to be working in the public system soon.
His main practice is at Royal North Shore Hospital in Sydney.
James did his medical degree and internship in Adelaide, after which he moved to Sydney with his wife. He completed his surgical training in Sydney and worked in eight hospitals across Sydney as part of his plastics training. After completing his plastics training in early 2015, James did another two years of fellowship training which started in Sweden and also took him to Cape Town in South Africa.
He explained the scope of his work.
“I’m a surgeon specialising in hand and wrist. Nothing’s too small and I’m trained as a plastic surgeon so I’m happy to see any plastic surgical case. At the moment I’m concentrating on skin cancers and hands but if there’s a need for me to do other work, I can. When I start working in the public system I will be looking after more trauma cases, but at the moment most of my work is likely to be elective surgery.”
James commonly treats carpal tunnel syndrome, trigger fingers, arthritis (base of thumb arthritis is the most common), wrist arthritis and other conditions.
He is also bringing a new procedure to the area to treat the hand deformity Dupuytren’s Contractiure.
“It involves an injection to soften the Dupuytren’s cord and manipulation to break it a few days later. It is more a procedure rather than surgery. It’s reasonably new but is being adopted by more and more surgeons. Nobody else is offering this in the Northern Rivers,” he said.
Operating on Mondays and consulting on Tuesdays allows James to be in the area if any complications occur immediately after surgery. If patients wish to get in touch with him post surgery and between appointments, he is available on his mobile. A Professor of Hand Surgery at Gold Coast Hospital has also agreed to be available to James’s patients if needed.
James, his wife and children have enjoyed holidaying on the North Coast for some years and he’s delighted to have the opportunity to work here. A keen surfer, he’s managing to hit the beach during his fortnightly visits to Lismore. NCPHN welcomes James to the Northern Rivers.
To refer patients to James, phone 1300 836 366, fax 9475 1250 or email [email protected].