Surgical Career
David Khoo is a consultant general surgeon. He has a practice at the Spire Hartswood Hospital, the Spire Wellesley Hospital, Southend and the Wellington Hospital, London.
He was appointed a consultant in 1996 at Oldchurch and Harold Wood Hospitals (now replaced by Queen's Hospital, one of the 2 hospitals of Barking, Havering and Redbridge (BHR) University Hospitals NHS Trust). Having established a successful cancer and benign Upper Gastrointestinal Unit at BHR, he retired from full time NHS practice in 2021 and now works part time for the NHS at Basildon Hospital specialising in complex benign upper gastrointestinal surgery.
Background
David Khoo has a very wide background in training which included all areas of general surgery which included specialties like vascular, breast and colorectal surgery. However, the area of laparoscopic surgery and surgery of the gut are his main interests. He was one of the first to take up laparoscopic surgery; he was doing as much as possible laparoscopically in the pioneering days of laparoscopy in the UK at around 1991, including appendicectomy, colon resection, hernia repair and gallbladder surgery. He now concentrates his time on the surgery of the gut in particular the foregut (upper gastrointestinal surgery).
During David Khoo's career at BHR, he has had a big role in the development of the local services for laparoscopic surgery, and advanced complex laparoscopic surgery and bariatric surgery. He has also been a main force in the development of gastrointestinal diagnostic services such as the rectal bleeding clinics, and BHR University Hospital is a designated upper GI cancer centre.
Much of David Khoo's work involved the most difficult forms of laparoscopic surgery i.e.
- oesophagogastrectomy
- hiatal hernia and reflux surgery
- splenectomy
- colon resection
- biliary surgery
- bariatric surgery
He has published on subjects such as laparoscopic common bile duct exploration for gallstones, and Barrett’s oesophagus.
David Khoo has also had significant roles as Clinical Director in Surgery and gastroenterology for the Trust, and has been a leader in the regional cancer services in North and Northeast London.
David Khoo undertakes private bariatric operations at the Spire Hartswood and the Spire Wellesley Hospitals.
He is known for training of junior surgeons, and has an interest in the efficient and rapid diagnosis of gastrointestinal conditions and the appropriate use of investigations such as endoscopy.
David Khoo received the prestigious “Silver Scalpel” award in 2009.
Membership of Learned Bodies and Affiliations
- Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons of England
- British Society of Gastroenterology
- Association of Surgeons of Great Britain and Ireland
- Association of Upper Gastrointestinal Surgeons