Mr Barry Clements

Mr Barry Clements is a Consultant General and Gastrointestinal Surgeon at Kingsbridge Private Hospital in Belfast. He specialises in hernia repair, gallbladder surgery, upper gastrointestinal disorders, endoscopy, and colonoscopy. He also practises at the Royal Victoria Hospital, Belfast, where he is Lead for Modernisation and Governance in Unscheduled General Surgery and Director of the Emergency Surgical Unit (EmSU) and Surgical Ambulatory Service (SAmS).

Mr Clements qualified with honours in medicine from Queen’s University Belfast in 1985, following an intercalated degree in Medical Microbiology. He went on to complete postgraduate research into the pathophysiology of biliary obstruction in Belfast, under the supervision of Professor Brian Rowlands, and was awarded an MD by thesis in 1997. In 1991, he became the first researcher outside the United States to receive a Surgical Infection Society Fellowship from North America, an award which contributed to several seminal publications and international recognition.

He was appointed the inaugural Wolfson Foundation Laparoscopic Fellow in 1995, training under Professor Michael Bailey at the Minimal Access Therapy Training Unit in Guildford, where he developed his expertise in laparoscopic surgery. He joined the staff of the Royal Victoria Hospital in Belfast as an Upper GI Surgeon in 1997 and has since played a central role in developing surgical services, including the establishment of EmSU and SAmS within the Belfast Trust.

Alongside his clinical work, Mr Clements is active in academic research and education. He is an Honorary Lecturer at Queen’s University Belfast, an undergraduate and postgraduate examiner, and a trainer recognised by the Royal Colleges. He has presented and published widely, with over 100 peer-reviewed publications and co-authorship of two surgical textbooks. His contributions to medical education were further recognised with a Postgraduate Certificate in Medical Education from Queen’s University Belfast in 2018. He was awarded an Honorary Fellowship of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow in 2012.

Mr Clements is a member of numerous professional bodies including the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh, JCIE Examining Board, Association of Surgeons of Great Britain and Ireland, Association of Laparoscopic Surgeons, Association of Upper Gastrointestinal Surgeons, Irish Society of Gastroenterology, Ulster Medical Society, British Medical Association, and the Health and Social Care Alliance.