Meet the UHNM consultant transforming the lives of skin cancer patients
To mark World Cancer Day 2025, we're meeting Mr Kamal Bisarya, a consultant plastic surgeon at UHNM who is helping to not only transform the lives of our skin cancer patients, but also shape and improve cancer services at a local, regional and potentially national level.
From very early on in his career, Mr Kamal Bisarya knew what his professional calling was.
“Some clinicians say that the first ever job you do after graduating is what you end up doing for the rest of your career, this was the case for me”, the consultant plastic surgeon recalls.
“I attended medical school in London and was fortunate that my first job after graduating was in plastic surgery. After ranking, I was allocated to the Pan-Thames (London) Higher Surgical Training Rotation for Plastic Surgery. This was followed up by a Microvascular Surgery Fellowship at Newcastle University Teaching Hospitals, and a prestigious TIG Fellowship in Head and Neck Surgery and Skin Oncology in Yorkshire. Subsequently, I was a locum consultant in Yorkshire but felt fortunate to take up a consultant role at University Hospitals of North Midlands NHS Trust (UHNM), partly as I grew up relatively close in the North-West of England.”
With an interest in skin oncology and head and neck reconstruction, Mr Bisarya works as part of a multidisciplinary team (MDT) at UHNM who collectively and diligently work together to give hope to patients suffering from cancer from across Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, and up into Cheshire.
“As a Consultant Plastic Surgeon, my main role is to restore form and function. Skin cancer resection can vary from something small on a limb to something complex on a face. Our resections on the face can involve removing tissue in delicate areas, for example the eyelids, to cosmetically sensitive areas such as the nose, to larger areas when disease has spread, for example to the glands in the cheek (a parotidectomy) or glands in the neck (a neck dissection).
“Our subsequent reconstruction is done with either local tissue, tissue from nearby, or transplanted tissue from another part of the body. We continue to foster good working relationships and work collaboratively with expert colleagues from other specialties at UHNM to support best outcomes for patients. This includes colleagues from oculoplastic surgery when performing eyelid work, to Ear, Nose and Throat (ENT) surgeons when performing advanced resections on the nose or ear, to the maxillofacial team when resections involve bone. Our teams must work harmoniously and understand each other’s strengths and roles to obtain the best outcomes for our patients.
“My further subspeciality interests includes surgery for Facial Palsy and nasal reconstruction. My colleague and I were fortunate to be supported by our specialised division to set up UHNM’s first Facial Palsy Service. This has been well received, with referrals from within our division including from our oculoplastic, ENT, and maxillofacial colleagues, to specialities across UHNM including from neurosurgery and the stroke teams. We have also been privileged to have received referrals from tertiary units in Manchester for ongoing care, and also have had good reviews from patients via the Facial Palsy UK charity. We have also had good results from our complex nasal reconstruction work where we commonly use patients’ foreheads to rebuild noses post large resections and continue to work thoroughly to get autologous nasal reconstruction more publicity.
“Aside from skin cancer, my colleague plastic surgeons and I cover on-call for major trauma as part of the Royal Stoke University Hospital’s status as a major trauma centre, with patients coming in from as far afield as North Wales.”
As well as having a direct impact on his patient’s care, Mr Bisarya’s various roles means he can help shape and improve cancer services at both a UHNM, regional and potentially national level.
Mr Bisarya said: “I’m a co-lead for skin cancer at UHNM. On a weekly basis we discuss up to 60 cancer patients in the MDT cancer meeting. A cancer lead’s role is varied. We need to ensure we are au fait with national guidelines and directives and prep the weekly MDT meeting to ensure we give the best decisions for patients. We also need to support allied members of the team at all levels to make sure they have everything they need to ensure the service runs as efficiently as possible. We have regular meetings with managers if targets are not met, and if required, complete necessary admin related to this. Finally, we try to organise away days to keep knowledge up to date and team bonding.”
Outside of UHNM, Mr Bisarya says he feels fortunate to have been appointed as Chair of the Skin Expert Advisory Group (EAG) at the West Midlands Cancer Alliance (WMCA).
He said: “I believe UHNM is always working hard to be at the forefront of clinical care, and I can reflect on this and apply it on a regional level which has been extremely helpful to me.
“During my time in my role as Chair, I have been involved in multiple projects. This supports the work we do at UHNM, and I have been fortunate to be supported by my division in this work, including having senior managers attend some of the meetings. We have been able to hold our very first away day since covid, bringing clinicians and allied specialities together to discuss improvements in cancer care, and I have organised the first Rare Cancer Group meeting, where we are trying to lay the guidelines for rare but aggressive skin cancers, something I’m really proud of.
“I have also led our Skin EAG meetings for clinicians, which are held three or four times a year, where I have developed more structure to the topics being discussed including clinical, research, general education, managerial and patient areas to ensure we have a well-rounded approach to cancer care in our region. I’ve also been involved in chairing Task and Finish Groups to support all Trusts in the region, to identify particular challenges and support opportunities to ensure cancer care meets national objectives. An example has been setting up a triage service for skin cancer (teledermatology) for each Trust in the region and ascertain best practice to share amongst our collective bodies. This has fed into my other role as pathways lead at the WMCA where we have been able to improve targets for cancer care region-wide, for example the 28-day target. Again, I can only carry out this role because of the experience and support network I’ve gained from everything I do within and outside UHNM.”
However, it is still the hands-on surgical side of his role that Mr Bisarya finds most rewarding.
Mr Bisarya said: “The most difficult thing in surgery is the decision-making, although the operating can bring stress. For example, when performing surgery at the limit of fitness, say an 85-year-old requiring a craniectomy for advanced cancer and a transplant from his leg to reconstruct the scalp defect.
“Operating comes with practice, decision making comes with maturity. We have had good results from these type of patients with grateful patients and families. However, this explains why it’s essential to have a good team around you and I’ve got very supportive colleagues at UHNM which I am very appreciative of, from the MDT team to anaesthetic staff to plastic surgery colleagues.
“Whilst it can be stressful at times, the job can be very rewarding. We surgeons thrive on the ability to help patients but also learn and solve problems and reflect. The best part of the job is hopefully curing somebody of cancer and giving them back the life they and their family wouldn’t have otherwise had due to their complex problem.
“I’m extremely proud of the Skin Cancer Service at UHNM, knowing first-hand the hard work clinicians, managers and administration staff do, to benefit patients. However, I’m most proud of how we use UHNM’s values of Together, Compassion, Safe and Improving, to work as a team to consistently improve the care we give our patients. At a personal level, these values are important to me, to help both my clinical and leadership roles, which ultimately supports the care I give to patients.”