Prof Vivien LeesClinician

Biography

Professor Vivien Lees is a Consultant Plastic Surgeon at Manchester University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (Wythenshawe Hospital) and holds a Clinical Academic Chair in Plastic Surgery at the University of Manchester. She was elected to the Council of the Royal College of Surgeons of England (RCS England) in 2014, re-elected in 2020, and has served as Senior Vice-President and Lead for Tackling Sexual Misconduct in Surgery from 2024. She graduated from Oxford and Cambridge and took up her consultant post in Manchester in 1997, specialising in hand and wrist surgery. She is known for leading RCS England's response to the 'Breaking the Silence' report on sexual misconduct in surgery, co-authoring the College's Code of Conduct, and publicly challenging the Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service over its handling of misconduct cases. She has also led the development of the national plastic surgery curriculum and the postgraduate Diploma and MSc in Hand Surgery.

References

1. 1.College Council — Royal College of Surgeons of England — Confirms Lees's role as Consultant Plastic Surgeon, election to Council (2014, 2020), Trustee status (2020), and Vice-President from 2023; background on training and previous roles
2. 2.Welcome to our elected Council members — Royal College of Surgeons — Confirms election as Vice President with three-year term from July 2023; identifies her as a consultant plastic surgeon in Manchester and Professor at Wythenshawe Hospital; notes her concern with access to surgical careers
3. 3.RCS England responds to MPTS new guidance — Royal College of Surgeons — Confirms her title as Senior Vice President of RCS England; evidences her public advocacy on sexual misconduct and medical regulation reform
4. 4.New Code of Conduct: tackling sexual misconduct in surgery — Royal College of Surgeons — Confirms her role as Senior Vice-President and Lead for Tackling Sexual Misconduct in Surgery; evidences co-authorship of the 2024 RCS England Code of Conduct

Expertise

Cited on

• Hospital discharge / bed-blocking

Stated areas of expertise

• Sexual misconduct in surgery
• Surgical workforce culture and safety
• Surgical education and training
• Hand and wrist surgery
• Patient safety
• Cosmetic surgery regulation

Notable achievements

• Awarded a Hunterian Professorship by RCS England in 2011 for work on 'Functional Anatomy of the Distal Radioulnar Joint' Source ↗
• Elected Senior Vice-President of RCS England and appointed Lead for Tackling Sexual Misconduct in Surgery Source ↗
• Co-authored the RCS England Code of Conduct launched in 2024 to tackle sexual misconduct in surgery Source ↗
• Led development of the Postgraduate Diploma in Hand Surgery and MSc in Hand Surgery (BSSH/University of Manchester), establishing a new standard in hand surgical training Source ↗
• Served as President of the British Society for Surgery of the Hand (BSSH) in 2015 Source ↗

What they’ve said

• “Too often people are drawn in by cut-price deals and glossy online marketing, only to return with serious, sometimes life-changing complications. When things go wrong, the NHS is left to pick up the pieces, often in emergencies and without full information about what surgery was done or by whom.”

  vice-president of the Royal College of Surgeons of England · Hospital discharge / bed-blocking · 27 Aug 2026 · NHS spending up to £19k a time treating people suffering after overseas surgery, research finds ↗

• “many NHS staff do not feel safe reporting sexual misconduct within their own NHS trust”

  Senior vice-president, Royal College of Surgeons of England · Hospital discharge / bed-blocking · 27 Aug 2026 · NHS staff must be protected from abuse | Letters ↗

Source references

1. NHS spending up to £19k a time treating people suffering after overseas surgery, research findstheguardian.com · 27 Aug 2026
2. NHS staff must be protected from abuse | Letterstheguardian.com · 27 Aug 2026

Contact & links

• Staff pagehttps://www.rcseng.ac.uk/about-the-rcs/college-governance/council/
• Press office emailpressoffice@rcseng.ac.ukpublished here ↗
• LinkedInhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/viv-lees/

Organisational contact points only, each taken from a page the organisation publishes itself. No personal or direct contact details are held or shown.