Mr William Thomas

Mr William Thomas is a Consultant Orthopaedic Surgeon specialising in shoulder surgery. He has been a consultant in Exeter since 2013 and has particular expertise in shoulder replacement surgery, including anatomic and reverse shoulder replacement, as well as arthroscopic (keyhole) surgery, rotator cuff repair, shoulder instability and frozen shoulder.

Mr Thomas was an early adopter of stemless shoulder replacement and has followed the outcomes of this technology over the long term, with his Exeter series now reaching ten-year follow-up. Since 2018, he has been the UK surgical representative on Stryker's international research and development programme for MAKO robotic-assisted shoulder replacement.

His specialist interests include joint replacement and robotic-assisted shoulder surgery, and he is actively involved in research, surgical education and the development of new shoulder replacement technology. Mr Thomas has longstanding expertise in complex elbow surgery and, since its establishment in 2022, has been a specialist surgeon within the Peninsula Elbow Network Hub, the regional referral centre for complex elbow conditions and elbow replacement surgery. From October 2026, he will be Clinical Director for Orthopaedics – Eastern Services at the Royal Devon University Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust.