Mr Denis Wilkins

Mr Denis Wilkins, FRCS
Past President Association of Surgeons of Great Britain & Ireland
Consultant General and Vascular Surgeon
Derriford Hospital Plymouth

Denis Wilkins qualified in Medicine in the great City of Liverpool in 1966.  Having embarked on a surgical career he served as Medical Officer for the British Antarctic Survey in Halley bay, Antarctica, where he completed the field work for his Doctorate in Physiology (and had his own team of huskies).  Surgical training was completed at Addenbrooke’s in Cambridge and Barts in London.  He served as Vascular Transplant and Endocrine Surgeon, Derriford Hospital, Plymouth 1979-2007.

Throughout his career he has pursued an interest in surgical training and assessment.  Commensurate with this he held local, regional and national posts of responsibility, including Presidency of the Association of Surgeons GBI, Chairman of the Court of Examiners Royal College of Surgeons of England and Chairman of the Surgical Specialties Curriculum Board of the Intercollegiate Surgical Curriculum Project.

Following retirement from clinical practice he continued work as a Medico-legal expert witness and served on the Governing Boards of Derriford Hospital and the University of Plymouth.

During his time working for the Association of Surgeons and much inspired by the Aviation approach to Passenger Safety and its ‘CHIRP’ system for reporting incidents, he led the development of the Confidential Reporting System in Surgery, CORESS. He remains a trustee to date.

Pursuits

The holder of a private pilot’s licence for the past 40 years
Advocate, Clinical Human Factors Group
Chairman, Peninsula Medical Foundation which supports the Plymouth Medical School
St. John Ambulance
Widowed 2012. Married to Susan Wilkins, Associate Director of Nursing, Derriford Hospital, Plymouth. Four daughters and a stepdaughter.