Mr Thomas Armstrong

I am married with 3 children. My free time is spent with my family, often involving some kind of sport, preferably outside and ideally by the sea. I enjoy sailing, cycling and playing golf. I am a keen follower of current affairs and most sport. I live in Southampton, which means that I find it easy to come into hospital to see my patients at short notice. The feedback that I get from my patients is excellent. I feel that the increasing number of health care professionals and their relatives who I treat these days vindicates my approach. I feel passionate about the work that I do and the patients that I treat and I always strive to do my very best for everyone I care for.

I am a general surgeon with a dedicated interest in liver, pancreatic, bile duct, gallbladder and hernia surgery (HPB Surgery). This is a highly specialised area of surgery and I receive referrals from GPs, gastroenterologists and surgeons throughout Hampshire, Dorset, Wiltshire, Isle of Wight and The Channel Islands. Because I am highly specialised, I perform a very large volume of surgery in a narrow field (more than 900 major HPB cases). I was fortunate to train in an era when HPB surgery had been centralised to major hospitals and I am amongst the vanguard of modern surgeons who have benefited from such intensive training. I have also trained in the era of keyhole surgery and undertake approximately 50% of my liver surgery using this technique. In addition to this I have operated on countless patients with gallstones and hernias. Nearly all gallbladder and gallstone related surgery is done with keyhole surgery. Clinicians based in other local hospitals often seek my advice and help in managing patients with difficult or challenging gallstone disease or the consequences of it. I work with other dedicated specialists from anaesthetics, medicine, radiology, and oncology to ensure that every patient that I see is offered the most up to date treatment that benefits from the expertise of the whole medical team. The volume of surgery that I undertake is significantly greater than the national average. I lead the Wessex Neuroendocrine Tumour Group, which was recognised as a European Centre of Excellence for treating patients with neuroendocrine/carcinoid tumours.