Mr Douglas Whitelaw

Mr Douglas Whitelaw

Consultant Bariatric, Laparoscopic, and General Surgeon

Mr Whitelaw qualified from Edinburgh University Medical School in 1990. He underwent his higher surgical training in a number of London hospitals including the Chelsea and Westminster, Hammersmith, University College, and The Royal Marsden. He took up his position as Consultant Bariatric and Pancreatobilary Surgeon in 2004 and was appointed Clinical Director of surgery in 2009. Luton & Dunstable Hospital is a nationally recognised centre of excellence for bariatric surgery and is the designated centre for the East of England and currently undertakes around 10% of the UKs bariatric operations annually. In March 2011 it was successful in becoming one of the designated centres for Central South England from Oxfordshire to the Isle of Wight. Mr Whitelaw offers a comprehensive weight loss service with the utmost care and consideration. The services is based on a multidisciplinary approach involving consultant endocrinologists, specialist anaesthetists, psychologists, a dietician, and specialist bariatric nurses. Mr Whitelaw uses this multi-disciplinary team approach throughout both his NHS and private practice. Weight loss support groups are also run at both NHS and private practices for pre and post-operative patients.

Mr Whitelaw’s main areas of interests are bariatric surgery and laparoscopic surgery, including all laparoscopic surgery for the overweight patient. As the designated provider of bariatric surgery for the East of England, Luton & Dunstable Hospital undertakes more than 400 complex bariatric cases per year. These include laparoscopic gastric bands, laparoscopic gastric bypasses, and laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy. In addition to these operations Mr Whitelaw undertakes revision surgery for patients whose previous bariatric weightloss surgery, performed elsewhere, has not been successful.

Mr Whitelaw's other main interest is laparoscopic biliary surgery, including cholecystectomy, laparoscopic bile duct exploration for common bile duct stones, and ERCP for the endoscopic treatment of gallstones and obstructive jaundice.

He undertakes all types of laparoscopic hernia surgery including inguinal hernia repair (TEP), Incisional hernia repair, parastomal hernia repair, and recurrent hernia repair.

Mr Whitelaw is actively involved in the ongoing research programme into weight loss and bariatric surgery and its metabolic effects undertaken by the Centre of Obesity research at Luton & Dunstable Hospital.

Fellow of The Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh (RCS Edin)

British Medical Association (BMA)

International Federation of Surgery for Obesity (IFSO)

Association of Upper Gastrointestinal Surgeons of Great Britain and Ireland (AUGIS)

British Obesity and Metabolic Surgical Society (BOMSS)

British Obesity Surgery Patient Association (BOSPA)