Mr Shwetal Dighe works as a Consultant Upper Gastrointestinal and Thyroid Surgeon at the Darent Valley Hospital Dartford and Queen Mary Hospital in Sidcup. He is currently the clinical lead for Laparoscopic UGI surgery and pancreatitis, further expanding the service to receive referrals from adjacent Trusts.

He was appointed at the hospital as an Upper GI surgeon in 2015 and was responsible for introducing a new service in the hospital offering complex gallbladder surgery including laparoscopic bile duct exploration, anti-reflux surgery for gastro-oesophageal reflux disease and complex hiatal hernia repair.

Shwetal qualified as a doctor (MBBS) from Grant Medical College in Mumbai in 1998 and completed his Surgical Training in India (MS General Surgery) in 1998 and spent two further years as a post Fellow Resident and General Surgery Lecturer in Grant Medical College.

During this period he obtained the prestigious degrees of the Diplomate of National Board (DNB New Delhi) and Membership of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh (MRCS).

He subsequently came to the UK to widen his surgical horizons and spent 3 years undertaking research in imaging of colonic cancer at the Institute of Cancer Research (London) for which he was awarded the Doctorate of Medical Research (MD Res) by the London University.

He undertook further specialist training in General Surgery and spent the last three years specialising in Laparoscopic Upper GI surgery.

Diseases, Medical Tests and Treatments

• General Surgery
• Upper GI surgery
• Benign Upper GI surgery
• Antireflux surgery
• Complex hiatal hernia repairs.
• complex gall bladder surgery
• laparoscopic bile duct exploration

Benign Upper GI surgery

Antireflux surgery

Complex hiatal hernia repairs.

Laparoscopic hernia repair

Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh

MD(Research) Institute of Cancer Research (ICR)

British Association of Endocrine and Thyroid Surgeons

Association of Upper Gastrointestinal Surgeons

British Hernia Society (BHS)

Association of Laparoscopic Surgeons of Great Britain and Ireland (ALSGBI)

European Association for Endoscopic Surgery (EAES)