previously been a Consultant on the British Overseas Aid Scheme at Lautoka Hospital in Fiji. I was elected Professor of Gynaecological Surgery at the University of Surrey in January 1999. I am also an Honorary Clinical Lecturer in Obstetrics and Gynaecology at the Royal London Hospital, University of London and was Clinical Tutor at the Imperial College School of Medicine in the University of London. I have recently (October 2001) retired from the National Health Service but am still an Honorary Consultant at the Royal Surrey County Hospital and an Emeritus Consultant at the Chelsea and Westminster Hospital.

I was the President of the European Society for Gynaecological Endoscopy and the President and Co-founder of the British Society for Gynaecological Endoscopy. I am an International Advisor to the American Association of Gynaecological Laparoscopists and served a term on the Board of Trustees of this organisation. I was President of the Obstetrics and Gynaecological section of the Royal Society of Medicine. I am Director of the Minimal Access Therapy Training Unit at the Royal Surrey County Hospital in conjunction with the Royal College of Surgeons and have been actively involved on the steering committee and various working parties in setting up this training initiative funded by the Department of Health and the Wolfson Foundation. I am also the Surgical Representative for the United Kingdom on the Surgical Committee of the International Federation of Obstetrics and Gynaecology (FIGO) and a Consultant Adviser to the National Institute of Clinical Effectiveness (NICE).

I have published eight books, “Lasers in Gynaecology”, “Laparoscopic Surgery”, “Advanced Laparoscopic Surgery”, “New Surgical Techniques in Gynaecology”, “Gynaecological Endoscopic Surgery”, “Menorrhagia”, “Endometriosis” and “Endoscopic Surgery for Gynaecologists”. This last book, which was edited with Professor Michael Diamond, from Wayne State University, Detroit, Michigan, is the largest selling textbook in the world on Endoscopic Surgery in Gynaecology and the 2nd Edition was published in 1998.

I have published more than 170 papers on Endoscopic Surgery; have lectured all over the world on this subject and have taken part in many training workshops as a faculty member, both in this country and overseas.