G B Irvine FRCS, FRCSEd (Orth)

Barrie Irvine is an experienced Consultant Orthopaedic Surgeon of seventeen years standing. He qualified as a doctor from St Thomas' Hospital in 1978 and immediately embarked on a career in surgery. He undertook postgraduate training in Orthopaedic Surgery in Edinburgh, the Midlands and London as well as overseas. He was a Senior Registrar at both the Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital and the Hospital for Sick Children, Great Ormond Street.

After Consultant appointment in 1991 he established a busy practice centred on lower limb joint replacement but was disappointed by the failure of established surgical techniques to fully meet the needs of his younger, more active patients with hip arthritis. Against a background of long-held interest and belief in metal bearings he introduced hip resurfacing to south Devon in 2002 in order to address this shortcoming.

His personal experience now extends to over two hundred patients and the results have been so gratifying that hip resurfacing has become his major interest and represents an ever-increasing part of his surgical workload. He strives to treat each individual patient to the best of his ability and all with care and compassion.

Away from work he is committed to his three children. A life-long love of the outdoors and remote places has its roots in an upbringing close to the Lake District. His passion for hill walking is a constant reminder of the gift of being able-bodied and a determination to help those less fortunate achieve a better quality of life.

Cuillin Ridge, Blaven, Skye	New Zealand - 2004