Personal Profile
Mr Simon Barton is a Consultant Trauma and Orthopaedic surgeon specialising in the treatment of disorders of the knee. His practice includes the management of sports injuries, anterior knee pain, patella instability and arthritis. He graduated from the University of Edinburgh in 2005 and completed his early surgical training in the South East of Scotland, Western Australia and Yorkshire. His higher orthopaedic training was on the North West Rotation, and he became a Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh in 2015.
Following completion of training he embarked on two sub-specialty Fellowships to further expand his expertise in the management of soft tissue injuries, patella-femoral disorders and joint preserving solutions for arthritis. He was then selected onto the highly competitive Wrightington Sports Knee Fellowship Programme in 2016. Mr Barton developed the expertise to manage complex multi-ligament injuries and patients with failed reconstructions through revision and osteotomy surgery. During his time at Wrightington he gained the skills to allow him to deliver a modern, patient specific approach to soft tissue injuries of the knee.
In 2017, he moved to Bristol to undertake his second Fellowship at the prestigious Avon Orthopaedic Centre. As the second highest volume unit performing partial knee arthroplasty in the country the training he received there has fundamentally shaped his approach to the management of knee arthritis. He strongly believes in only removing the diseased areas of the arthritic knee, which is reflected in the volume of uni-compartmental and patella-femoral arthroplasty he performs.
The second focus of his Fellowship was to develop the expertise to manage disorders of the patellofemoral joint (anterior knee pain and instability). Under the guidance of Jonathan Eldridge, who has published the world's largest series on trochleoplasty outcomes, he learned the Bereiter trochleoplasty technique for the management of severe dysplasia. This condition, which results in recurrent dislocations of the patella, can only be effectively managed by deepening the groove at the end of the femur (trochlea). Mr Barton is one of a handful of surgeons in the North West of England to be Fellowship trained in this surgery, and offers a tertiary referral service for this in both his NHS and Private practice.
He was appointed as a Consultant Trauma and Orthopaedic Knee Surgeon in 2018. His NHS practice is based at the Sports Knee Clinic, Wrightington Hospital. He regularly manages patients with complex knee injuries including articular fractures and multi-ligament injuries. His elective practice is exclusively focused on knee surgery.
He has had a lifelong interest in sports and exercise, having played representative rugby into his 20s. He continues to train regularly, and enjoys weightlifting, cycling and the occasional triathlon or half-marathon. He has personal experience of the dedication and commitment required to rehabilitate from serious injury and to return to competitive sport. His practice is focused on evidence based and innovative surgical techniques, with the goal of optimising function and return to play or competition.
