Mr John Wadley
Mr John Wadley MB ChB FRCS FRCS(SN) is a Consultant Neurosurgeon at Springfield Hospital, Chelmsford, Essex specialising in spinal surgery.
Based At
NHS base
Barts Health NHS Trust, St Bartholomew's and the Royal London Hospitals, Broomfield Hospital
GMC Number
3311646
Clinic Timetable
Saturday 0815-1400, other clinics by prior arrangement
Clinical interests
Cervical Spine
Disorders of the cervical spine including trauma, degenerative disease, rheumatoid disease and tumours. Surgery includes both anterior approaches, including instrumented fusion, artificial cervical disc implantation, and stability-preserving posterior approaches including microforaminotomy, open-door laminoplasty and lateral mass instrumentation. Rarely tumours are seen in this region. Typical symptoms with which patients present with these problems include neck pain and instability, arm pain with sensory disturbances in the arm and hands (brachalgia) and spinal cord compression leading to progressive weakness and paralysis (cervical myelopathy). Being a neurosurgeon at The Royal London Hospital, Britain and Europe's largest and leading Major Trauma Centre (MTC), Mr Wadley also has extensive experience of cervical spine injuries.
Thoracic Spine
Disorders of the middle section of the spine, known as the thoracic spine, are far less common than conditions affecting the cervical spine (neck) and lumbosacral spine (lower back). Nevertheless, degenerative disease sometimes requires surgery in this area, with symptoms including pain, sensory disturbance, and progressive paralysis (myelopathy), and more rare lesions include blood vessel abnormalities (spinal AVMs or arterial fistulas), spinal cord hernias, and benign tumours causing spinal cord compression.
Lumbosacral Spine
Degenerative disease (spondylosis) in the lower back is an extremely common problem, often contributing to musculoskeletal/mechanical low back pain, pain with sensory symptoms radiating into one or both legs (sciatica) or pain, sensory disturbance, and weakness coming on in one or both legs during exercise and walking (neurogenic claudication). Such symptoms are usually caused by a disc prolapse in the lumbosacral spine, a degenerative facet joint cyst, or degenerative narrowing of the spinal canal or lateral recesses (spinal stenosis). Neurosurgical procedures include delicate keyhole microsurgical procedures such as microdiscectomy and microforaminotomy, and sometimes more extensive operations such as decompressive laminectomy. Instrumentation (metalwork) is almost never required, and in line with all neurosurgeons, Mr Wadley does not advocate non-evidenced-based and potentially hazardous procedures such as ‘fusion' for lower back pain. He also has extensive experience of resection of spinal tumours in this area.
Peripheral Nerve Procedures
Mr Wadley has extensive experience with routine peripheral nerve surgery, particularly carpal tunnel decompression and ulnar nerve decompression at the elbow. These operations are performed as a day case, and often with local anaesthetic.
Chiari Malformations
Chiari malformations are congenital anomalies at the base of the brain/spinal cord, commonly causing headaches and other symptoms such as sensory disturbance in the limbs, disturbance to walking, and dizziness. This is a specialist area of neurosurgery and one in which Mr Wadley has many years of experience.
Professional Memberships
Fellow of The Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh
Intercollegiate Speciality Fellowship in Neurosurgery, Royal Colleges of Surgeons
Member, Society of British Neurological Surgeons
International Member, Congress of Neurological Surgeons, USA
Member, European Gamma Knife Society & British Radiosurgery Group
Member, the former Cervical Spine Society
Fellow and latterly Council Member, Neurosciences Section, The Royal Society of Medicine
Medical Advisor, British Trigeminal Neuralgia Association
Past Medical Advisor, Angioma Alliance, UK
Member, Society of Expert Witnesses
Academic Background
Mr Wadley's NHS appointment is as the senior Consultant Neurosurgeon in the Department of Neurosurgery at the Bart's Health Regional Neurosciences Unit, at St. Bartholomew's Hospital and The Royal London Hospitals, Bart's Health NHS Trust. Along with the sister Regional Neurosciences Unit at Queen's Romford, they provide the specialist brain and spine services to North East and East London and Essex. He is also the Honorary Consultant Neurosurgeon at Broomfield Hospital, Chelmsford, Essex, where for the last 15 years he has run a very busy Outreach Clinic, providing specialist brain and spine expertise in Essex from the Barts Regional Neurosciences Unit.
Mr Wadley graduated in Medicine MB ChB with distinction from Liverpool Medical School in 1989, being awarded the MPS Prizes for both Medicine and Surgery, and underwent basic surgical training in Liverpool, Edinburgh and London. He received specialist higher training in Neurosurgery in London Teaching Hospital Units on the North Thames Neurosurgical Training Programme, as well as neurosurgical fellowships working in Pittsburgh, USA and St. Louis, USA.
Mr Wadley was awarded first prizes for research papers presented at the Congress of Neurological Surgeons USA Meeting in Boston in 1999 and the Congress of Neurological Surgeons USA (Paediatric Section) in New York in 2001. For two years he performed pioneering academic research and development in the emerging technology of neuronavigation in brain surgery at the Institute of Neurology, Queen Square, London, in submission for the MS degree at University College London. The EASI Project was conducted in collaboration with Philips Medical Systems BV in the Netherlands, and funded by the European Commission under the 4th Telematics Framework, and was one of the most successful research frameworks in Europe at that time, paving the way for neuronavigation technologies to become what is now a routine part of modern brain and spine surgery. He obtained the Intercollegiate Specialist Fellowship in Neurological Surgery, FRCS (SN), in 2000 and was appointed as Consultant Neurosurgeon to St. Bartholomew's Hospital and The Royal London Hospital, and the London Gamma Knife Centre at Bart's in 2001.
He has over 50 peer-reviewed academic publications in medical journals, and book chapters. He also has dedicated interests in teaching and medical education within the Medical College of St. Bartholomew's and nationally, being the convenor of the National Specialist Fellowship Course in Neurosurgery, preparing young neurosurgeons for their final exams before being appointed consultants, and was a neurosurgical tutor on teaching and cadaveric dissection courses at the Royal College of Surgeons of England between 2004 and 2009.
For many years Mr Wadley has been at the forefront of many technical advances in neurosurgery, including more recently the pioneering of artificial cervical disc arthroplasty and motion preservation technology in the cervical spine. In 2014 he set up a training proctorship with NuVasive Inc. in New York, USA, to train North American neurosurgeons and orthopaedic spinal surgeons in PCM cervical arthroplasty techniques, of which he has the largest series worldwide (over 500 cases in more than 15 years of follow-up).
Mr Wadley is the senior neurosurgeon at The Royal London Hospital, Britain and Europe's largest and leading Major Trauma Centre (MTC), augmented by the two helicopters of the HEMS. The Royal London NeuroTrauma Unit is a specialist brain injury unit that admits the highest volume of severe traumatic brain injuries per year in the UK, and performs the largest number of complex spine procedures nationally for spinal injuries. The Royal London NeuroTrauma Service has had a leading role in the four major terrorist incidents in London in the last 20 years. Between 2004 and 2013 he was the lead investigator at Barts & the London for the major multicentre international RESCUEicp trial in traumatic brain injury (TBI), run by colleagues from Cambridge University and published in the New England Journal of Medicine (N Engl J Med 2016; 375:1119-1130), and which was a major international advance in TBI management. The 10-year follow-up paper is to be published soon in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA).
Based at
NHS base
Barts Health NHS Trust, St Bartholomew's and the Royal London Hospitals, Broomfield Hospital
GMC Number
3311646
Clinic Timetable
Saturday 0815-1400, other clinics by prior arrangement
Clinical interests
Cervical Spine
Disorders of the cervical spine including trauma, degenerative disease, rheumatoid disease and tumours. Surgery includes both anterior approaches, including instrumented fusion, artificial cervical disc implantation, and stability-preserving posterior approaches including microforaminotomy, open-door laminoplasty and lateral mass instrumentation. Rarely tumours are seen in this region. Typical symptoms with which patients present with these problems include neck pain and instability, arm pain with sensory disturbances in the arm and hands (brachalgia) and spinal cord compression leading to progressive weakness and paralysis (cervical myelopathy). Being a neurosurgeon at The Royal London Hospital, Britain and Europe's largest and leading Major Trauma Centre (MTC), Mr Wadley also has extensive experience of cervical spine injuries.
Thoracic Spine
Disorders of the middle section of the spine, known as the thoracic spine, are far less common than conditions affecting the cervical spine (neck) and lumbosacral spine (lower back). Nevertheless, degenerative disease sometimes requires surgery in this area, with symptoms including pain, sensory disturbance, and progressive paralysis (myelopathy), and more rare lesions include blood vessel abnormalities (spinal AVMs or arterial fistulas), spinal cord hernias, and benign tumours causing spinal cord compression.
Lumbosacral Spine
Degenerative disease (spondylosis) in the lower back is an extremely common problem, often contributing to musculoskeletal/mechanical low back pain, pain with sensory symptoms radiating into one or both legs (sciatica) or pain, sensory disturbance, and weakness coming on in one or both legs during exercise and walking (neurogenic claudication). Such symptoms are usually caused by a disc prolapse in the lumbosacral spine, a degenerative facet joint cyst, or degenerative narrowing of the spinal canal or lateral recesses (spinal stenosis). Neurosurgical procedures include delicate keyhole microsurgical procedures such as microdiscectomy and microforaminotomy, and sometimes more extensive operations such as decompressive laminectomy. Instrumentation (metalwork) is almost never required, and in line with all neurosurgeons, Mr Wadley does not advocate non-evidenced-based and potentially hazardous procedures such as ‘fusion' for lower back pain. He also has extensive experience of resection of spinal tumours in this area.
Peripheral Nerve Procedures
Mr Wadley has extensive experience with routine peripheral nerve surgery, particularly carpal tunnel decompression and ulnar nerve decompression at the elbow. These operations are performed as a day case, and often with local anaesthetic.
Chiari Malformations
Chiari malformations are congenital anomalies at the base of the brain/spinal cord, commonly causing headaches and other symptoms such as sensory disturbance in the limbs, disturbance to walking, and dizziness. This is a specialist area of neurosurgery and one in which Mr Wadley has many years of experience.
Professional Memberships
Fellow of The Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh
Intercollegiate Speciality Fellowship in Neurosurgery, Royal Colleges of Surgeons
Member, Society of British Neurological Surgeons
International Member, Congress of Neurological Surgeons, USA
Member, European Gamma Knife Society & British Radiosurgery Group
Member, the former Cervical Spine Society
Fellow and latterly Council Member, Neurosciences Section, The Royal Society of Medicine
Medical Advisor, British Trigeminal Neuralgia Association
Past Medical Advisor, Angioma Alliance, UK
Member, Society of Expert Witnesses
Academic Background
Mr Wadley's NHS appointment is as the senior Consultant Neurosurgeon in the Department of Neurosurgery at the Bart's Health Regional Neurosciences Unit, at St. Bartholomew's Hospital and The Royal London Hospitals, Bart's Health NHS Trust. Along with the sister Regional Neurosciences Unit at Queen's Romford, they provide the specialist brain and spine services to North East and East London and Essex. He is also the Honorary Consultant Neurosurgeon at Broomfield Hospital, Chelmsford, Essex, where for the last 15 years he has run a very busy Outreach Clinic, providing specialist brain and spine expertise in Essex from the Barts Regional Neurosciences Unit.
Mr Wadley graduated in Medicine MB ChB with distinction from Liverpool Medical School in 1989, being awarded the MPS Prizes for both Medicine and Surgery, and underwent basic surgical training in Liverpool, Edinburgh and London. He received specialist higher training in Neurosurgery in London Teaching Hospital Units on the North Thames Neurosurgical Training Programme, as well as neurosurgical fellowships working in Pittsburgh, USA and St. Louis, USA.
Mr Wadley was awarded first prizes for research papers presented at the Congress of Neurological Surgeons USA Meeting in Boston in 1999 and the Congress of Neurological Surgeons USA (Paediatric Section) in New York in 2001. For two years he performed pioneering academic research and development in the emerging technology of neuronavigation in brain surgery at the Institute of Neurology, Queen Square, London, in submission for the MS degree at University College London. The EASI Project was conducted in collaboration with Philips Medical Systems BV in the Netherlands, and funded by the European Commission under the 4th Telematics Framework, and was one of the most successful research frameworks in Europe at that time, paving the way for neuronavigation technologies to become what is now a routine part of modern brain and spine surgery. He obtained the Intercollegiate Specialist Fellowship in Neurological Surgery, FRCS (SN), in 2000 and was appointed as Consultant Neurosurgeon to St. Bartholomew's Hospital and The Royal London Hospital, and the London Gamma Knife Centre at Bart's in 2001.
He has over 50 peer-reviewed academic publications in medical journals, and book chapters. He also has dedicated interests in teaching and medical education within the Medical College of St. Bartholomew's and nationally, being the convenor of the National Specialist Fellowship Course in Neurosurgery, preparing young neurosurgeons for their final exams before being appointed consultants, and was a neurosurgical tutor on teaching and cadaveric dissection courses at the Royal College of Surgeons of England between 2004 and 2009.
For many years Mr Wadley has been at the forefront of many technical advances in neurosurgery, including more recently the pioneering of artificial cervical disc arthroplasty and motion preservation technology in the cervical spine. In 2014 he set up a training proctorship with NuVasive Inc. in New York, USA, to train North American neurosurgeons and orthopaedic spinal surgeons in PCM cervical arthroplasty techniques, of which he has the largest series worldwide (over 500 cases in more than 15 years of follow-up).
Mr Wadley is the senior neurosurgeon at The Royal London Hospital, Britain and Europe's largest and leading Major Trauma Centre (MTC), augmented by the two helicopters of the HEMS. The Royal London NeuroTrauma Unit is a specialist brain injury unit that admits the highest volume of severe traumatic brain injuries per year in the UK, and performs the largest number of complex spine procedures nationally for spinal injuries. The Royal London NeuroTrauma Service has had a leading role in the four major terrorist incidents in London in the last 20 years. Between 2004 and 2013 he was the lead investigator at Barts & the London for the major multicentre international RESCUEicp trial in traumatic brain injury (TBI), run by colleagues from Cambridge University and published in the New England Journal of Medicine (N Engl J Med 2016; 375:1119-1130), and which was a major international advance in TBI management. The 10-year follow-up paper is to be published soon in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA).