A SPECIALIST hospital for plastic and reconstructive surgery has launched a unique fellowship scheme for aspiring surgeons.

The Cosmetic Fellowship, which gives trainee plastic surgeons the opportunity to work alongside The McIndoe Centre’s consultants, is the first of its kind in the UK.

The McIndoe Centre, in East Grinstead, is part of charity Horder Healthcare.

It introduced the fellowship to redress the gap in specialist plastics and skin cancer training traditionally carried out by the NHS.

Dr Richard Tyler, chief executive of Horder Healthcare, said: “Plastic surgery trainees must assist with, or perform, 100 cosmetic cases during their specialist training programme but changes in the NHS mean that trainees can no longer expect this type of exposure in NHS hospitals.

“Our fellowship scheme is unique because it gives trainee surgeons the chance to learn alongside our highly experienced consultants who are renowned in their field. “This scheme is part of our ongoing commitment to innovation and developing our future generations of surgeons.”

Recipient of the Cosmetic Fellowship 2018 was Dr Matt Pywell, pictured, who has been a specialist plastic surgery trainee since 2015 and will sit his final qualifying exams with the Fellowship of the Royal College of Surgeons next year.