New neck and head surgeon at hospital

A new surgeon has joined the team at Grimsby hospital providing specialist services for people requiring head and neck surgery.
Mr Kelvin Mizen, new surgeon at Grimsby Hospital.Mr Kelvin Mizen, new surgeon at Grimsby Hospital.
Mr Kelvin Mizen, new surgeon at Grimsby Hospital.

Mr Kelvin Mizen, oral and maxillofacial/head and neck microvascular consultant surgeon, has more than 10 years’ experience working as a consultant at Mid Yorkshire and Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust.

He is joining the team at Grimsby hospital providing outpatient clinics and theatre sessions and he also works in Hull.

Mr Mizen has a special interest in facial reconstruction specifically for head, neck and skin cancers. His microvascular work is a technique used to rebuild the face and neck using blood vessels, bone and tissue, including muscle and skin from other parts of the body.

The surgery involves taking flaps of healthy tissue and transferring it to the affected area of the head or neck to reconstruct it.

Mr Mizen said: “I am delighted to be working with the surgical team at Grimsby hospital and providing specialist surgery for local patients. Head and neck cancers can leave patients with devastating and unsightly changes to their faces which we aim to repair as much as possible.

“Any type of surgery can be traumatic for people but especially when it involves their facial features as this is the first thing that people see. It is very delicate and specialised work but something that gives me great job satisfaction.”

Mr Mizen, who also performs surgery for the treatment of salivary gland disease, neck lumps as well as surgery for facial pain and trauma, will refer complex and major cases to Hull for care under him and his team there.

As well as his NHS work, Mr Mizen is the lead surgeon for Facing Africa which is a UK-based charity that funds voluntary surgeons from across Europe to perform facial surgery in Ethopia.

He said: “The charity helps the survivors of noma which is a fast-acting gangrene infection that affects mainly children and leaves them with unsightly, painful and debilitating deformities of the face.

“I returned last year from my seventh trip to Ethiopia. Some of these children need major facial reconstruction and it is thanks to volunteer surgeons that we are able to return the smiles to some of these children.”

Mr Mizen has been awarded the Royal Society of Medicine Travelling Fellowship prize for his work with the charity.