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Mr Paul Parker is a Consultant Orthopaedic Knee, Foot and Ankle Surgeon, and the British Army's most senior Consultant Trauma & Orthopaedic Surgeon.

Mr Parker specialises in lower limb sports injuries, and soft tissue knee and ankle reconstruction. Having served on over 17 operational tours, he has an excellent understanding of the needs of the 'soldier athlete' and routinely treats military personnel from all over the UK and overseas. His experience as a high-level military doctor has given him invaluable transferable skills that he brings to both his busy NHS practice at Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Birmingham (the UK's largest level 1 trauma centre), and to his private practice at Circle Health Group.

Mr Parker qualified in Medicine from Queen's University Belfast in 1985. After overseas military service in Central America and Germany, he trained as an orthopaedic surgeon in London, Edinburgh and the US, and became a Consultant Orthopaedic Surgeon in 1998. He worked as a consultant at South Tees Hospitals in North East England until 2012 when his military career took him to Birmingham, now a weekly commute from his home in North Yorkshire.

Mr Parker holds private clinics at both the Woodlands Hospital in Darlington, County Durham (age 16+), and The Priory Hospital in Birmingham (age 18+), where he and his team can provide a comprehensive assessment in the diagnosis and management of injuries of the knee, foot and ankle.

In 2012 Mr Parker chose to concentrate on lower limb sports medicine, and soft tissue knee and ankle reconstruction. He treats a wide range of sports injuries from a high-level athlete with a knee or ankle ligament injury, to someone who enjoys running or walking in their free time and is suffering with shin splints. Having previously performed lower limb joint replacement surgery for over 14 years, Mr Parker is keen to use modern joint preservation techniques to prolong the life of the knee and ankle, avoiding joint replacement surgery.

Mr Parker has extensive experience of anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) surgery and revision ACL surgery, a highly specialised operation, and carries them out routinely both in the NHS and the private sector. He is also one of the few consultant orthopaedic surgeons in the UK known for regularly carrying out ankle arthroscopy and ankle ligament reconstruction. Ankle arthroscopy is not performed in many hospitals, however, the particular requirements and specific injury patterns of military personnel mean that Mr Parker has extensive experience of these procedures.

His specialist interests also include the more general wear and tear problems with the knee, foot, ankle and toes, such as knee or ankle instability, and bunions; and he known nationally for his investigation and successful treatment of plantar fasciitis.

Mr Parker prides himself in providing a bespoke service which is centered around the individual needs of the patient.

Professional Positions

• Senior Lecturer in Special Operations Medicine, University College Cork
• Trauma & Orthopaedic Lead, International Postgraduate Deanery, Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh
• Course Director, Damage Control Orthopaedics Trauma Skills Course
• Assessor - Intercollegiate Board in orthopaedics
• External Examiner - MSc Trauma Program, University of Swansea

Diseases, Medical Tests and Treatments

• Surgery for sports injuries of the lower limb
• Arthroscopy - ankle and knee
• Ankle ligament repair and reconstruction (AFTL/CFL)
• Anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstruction
• Bunion surgery
• Cartilage regeneration techniques in the ankle and knee
• Foot surgery for toe problems
• Injections - foot and ankle
• Ganglion removal/steroid treatment
• Sports injuries of the lower limb
• Musculoskeletal injuries
• Knee pain
• The young knee
• Anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injuries
• Achilles tendonitis
• Chronic compartment syndrome
• Ankle pain
• Foot pain
• Plantar fasciitis
• Heel Pain
• Hammer toes
• Claw toes