James started his journey with a passion for helping others and a commitment to excellence. With a history of extensive training and experience, he is known for his dedication to treating patients in both public and private service. His specialist training was completed at Tygerberg Academic Hospital in Cape Town, South Africa, followed by further sub-specialist training with a special interest in spine, hand and hip surgery.

James has been involved with serving the community through public service since 2007 and started his part-time private practice in 2015. James and his family moved to New Zealand in 2019 when he joined the team at the Northland District Health Board as a consultant orthopaedic surgeon. He is constantly adding to his repertoire of surgical skills, always hard at work to achieve surgical excellence. James regularly attends conferences both locally and abroad and keeps up to date with the latest advances by attending courses and visiting fellow surgical colleagues who are masters in their field.

As a family man, James brings a personal touch to his practice, ensuring each patient receives the highest level of care and compassion whilst still making time to be with his lovely wife and two daughters. He loves the outdoors and all it has to offer, understanding how even a small injury or dysfunction can challenge one's daily activities. James does not hesitate to get his hands dirty, literally, in order to get the best for his patients!

Spine Surgery
James specialises in managing all conditions affecting the spine from the neck to the coccyx, including disc herniation, nerve compression, back pain, spinal fractures, degenerative spine conditions, spine tumours and adult deformity.

Apart from highly specialised surgical techniques, he also offers non-surgical treatments specifically aimed at improving back pain where indicated:

• Minimally invasive discectomy and decompression surgery
• Disc replacement surgery
• Microscopic and endoscopic surgery
• Fusion procedures and adult deformity correction
• Radiofrequency ablation

Hand and Wrist Surgery
Protecting and improving hand function is another one of James’ passions. The list of conditions affecting the hand and wrist is extensive: common conditions treated at James’ rooms include carpal tunnel syndrome, small joint- and wrist arthritis, Dupuytrens contracture, acute fractures and post-traumatic conditions, tendon injuries, wrist pain and degenerative hand pathologies.

James works alongside a network of dedicated hand therapists throughout Northland to ensure the best possible outcome for his patients.

Treatments offered vary from injections and minimally invasive techniques for minor ailments in the consulting rooms, to specialised surgical procedures in the operating theatre. Most hand- and wrist surgeries are performed as day-stay surgery, many of which can be done under local anaesthetic.

• Arthroscopic/keyhole procedures
• Joint replacement surgery
• Tendon reconstruction
• Deformity correction
• Endoscopic carpal tunnel surgery
• Steroid injections

Hip Surgery
James hip surgery service provides advanced options for hip replacement surgery for joint arthritis, tailored to each patient’s individual needs for improved mobility and function. Where the pathology is not yet so advanced that surgery is required, ultrasound-guided steroid injections may be an alternative solution that can be done in the consulting rooms.

• Ultrasound-guided steroid injection
• Anterior hip replacement
• Posterior hip replacement

General Orthopaedics
Apart from the above sub-specialties, James also has extensive experience with treating orthopaedic trauma, including revision surgery for non-union of fractures, deformity- and limb-length correction and removal of symptomatic fixation devices such as plates, screws and nails from both the upper- and lower limb.

This picture is of a patient who presented with a complex injury to the right lower leg, requiring a highly specialised external frame fixation to correct his deformity and aid with healing of the fracture.