Mr Niall Sullivan

I initially trained in Nottingham University and moved to Bristol and the Severn School of Surgery for my Core Surgical Training. It is in Bristol that I met my wife and where I completed my Trauma & Orthopaedic training. I was awarded my Certificate of Completion of Training in 2018 and undertook 3 fellowships to hone my skills and learn advanced techniques for treating my patients.

To begin my fellowship training I spent 12 months in the highly regarded North Shore Hospital, Auckland, NZ. Here I worked with a number of excellent hip and knee surgeons, operating under their direction and fine tuning my skills on a wide range of pathology. I also worked with the Mako Robot and Stryker Navigation systems, giving me a head start on a technology that is increasingly used in arthroplasty.

From NZ I moved back to Bristol to complete two fellowships, first in complex Hip and Knee arthroplasty (with a focus on acetabular reconstruction) and then Major Trauma and Pelvic surgery. During this year I focussed on revision hip replacement surgery and on complex lower limb trauma and fractures around hip and knee replacements. This set me up well to take on a Consultant post at University Hospital Bristol & Weston with my trauma practice at the BRI and my elective practice at Southmead Hospital.

I specialise in hip replacement and complex hip revision surgery. I have specialist experience in the management of hip arthritis and complex hip pathologies such as avascular necrosis, metastatic cancer, post-traumatic and developmental disorders requiring hip replacements. I regularly treat young adults who require hip replacements and I understand the complexities of surgery in this group of patients and how it can impact on their life.

I am a revision hip surgeon specialising in the management of infected hip replacements and run a regional referral service with my colleagues at Southmead Hospital. Infected hip replacements are some of the most challenging revisions and this means I have developed skills and techniques which serve me well in all types of revision surgery.

I am the Hip Fracture Lead and Orthopaedic Lead for Silver Trauma at the BRI. I am used to treating older and frailer patients and understanding how to optimise their treatment to get the best outcomes.

I have received awards for the research I have carried out during my training and I continue to value the importance of research in my consultant work. I have performed a breadth of research including lab-based studies on the mechanics of hip replacements; MRI scan based anatomical research; technology based clinical studies on patients; and stem cell research with the University of Bristol.

Ongoing research studies include:

• Stem cell research on Diabetes, Multiple Sclerosis and osteoarthritis.
• Prosthetic Joint Infection studies on diagnosis with machine learning and treatments to break down biofilm.
• Orthopaedic implant technology to reduce infection risk.

Link to Google Scholar Profile

Link to ResearchGate Profile

I have always been passionate about teaching and training. At Imperial College, I was awarded the Dean’s Prize for the highest mark in my year for my Masters in Surgical Education. I train registrars and fellows in my day-to-day work and for the last two years I have been the Severn Deanery Lead for Skills, Courses and Education. In this role, I have responsibility for training for roughly 100 surgical trainees in the region.

One of the benefits of training others is that it keeps me current with the latest techniques and skills. I work hard to keep up-to-date with the latest research and my trainees keep me on my toes too.