Mr George Eralil, Consultant Neurosurgeon, University Hospital Wales, Cardiff and Vale University Health Board.
Mr George Eralil has been a consultant for around 10 years with most experience being in Wales. When he came over from NHS England, he noticed the differences were stark. It has taken George a while to adjust to the Welsh attitude in general, and towards the delivery of Healthcare in particular. However, he has a deep understanding of the issues – and importantly feels like he can contribute to a radical wave of transformational thinking that we need here in Wales.
In 2017, George took over the overarching leadership of the Brain and CNS Cancer service for South Wales and brought it up to a standard that was awarded the Tessa Jowell Centre of Excellence in 2023 – one of only a handful of centres in the United Kingdom at the time. George thrives with change and wanted new leadership and thinking for the service which is when he demitted from his role.
George then concentrated on starting a complex facial pain service for South Wales but learned very quickly that the devolved nature of the Welsh NHS was as instrumental in the necessity for such a service as it was detrimental to any progress. George feels that the septuplication of management structures across the 7 health boards continues to be a huge barrier to any progress and ease of patient access to specialist healthcare.
George is busy as a surgeon in the NHS and private neurosurgery practice, and in the medicolegal world. He advises the Parliamentary Health Service Ombudsman for England, Scotland and Northern Ireland. He is on the panel of clinicians of the Trigeminal Neuralgia and Facial Pain Association (TNFP). George is also a prescriber of medicinal cannabis formulations for conditions under his professional remit. He is also a PI for several surgical and oncological trials. George is both proud and humbled to have raised the profile of the UHW by virtue of being featured in the recent BBC Series ‘Saving Lives in Cardiff’.
George’s professional interests include:
- Advanced brain tumour surgery techniques and awake procedures
- Complex Spinal surgery
- Surgery for somatic cranial neuropathies and facial pain syndromes such as trigeminal, glossopharyngeal and geniculate neuralgia
George would now like to set up a complex facial pain service for all of South Wales, to reduce individual silos and inter-practitioner delays that are necessitated by individual health boards and which can be detrimental to patient care – ”I would like to get this right from the ground up”.
