Qualifications: MBBS (Lond), MA (Oxon), MRCS (Eng), MSc T&O, FRCS T&O
Miss Laura Hamilton attended state school in a small village near St.Helens in the North West. She was educated at Oxford University before finishing her medical degree at St. George’s Hospital Medical School in London. She trained all over the southeast before becoming an Orthopaedic Registrar on the London Training Rotation. Laura completed her training in hand surgery as a Hand Fellow at King’s College Hospital, London. This was supplemented with secondment to Wrightington Hospital and an RCSE Travelling Fellowship to Hong Kong. She completed a Masters in Trauma & Orthopaedics in 2016 and was appointed substantive Trauma & Orthopaedic Consultant in hand and wrist surgery in 2017. Laura prioritises getting to know patients, and ensuring they fully understand their condition and all the options available. This often involves drawing personalised pictures and sharing photos and videos. She has a special interest in minimally invasive procedures such as wrist arthroscopy and Percutaneous Needle Fasciotomy for Dupuytren’s Contracture. She is trained in all arthroplasty, but particularly enjoys the excellent results from ‘Hamster Hip’ thumb base joint replacements.
Laura loves to draw and teach, including volunteering on Consultant Exam revision courses. She mentors surgeons across the UK, and is a Personal Tutor at Brighton & Sussex Medical School. She has published and presented extensively about improving the culture in surgery, particularly orthopaedics. She is the founder of the Women in Orthopaedics (W.ORTH) group on Facebook and X, and is an active member of multiple panels encouraging diversity in surgery. Laura sits on the Orthopaedic Selection Design Group, which runs National recruitment of ST3 Orthopaedic surgeons. Through her work on improving diversity, Laura was elected on to the Council of the Royal College of Surgeons of England, which represents 30,000 surgeons. She is Co-Chair of the Future Surgeons forum supporting medical students, and is Deputy Chair of the group tackling Sexual Misconduct in Surgery. She enjoys being a visible role model at College events, and can often be found letting children try on her cap and gown.
UHSussex surgeon Laura Hamilton elected onto the Royal College of Surgeons of England council