Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery

This department offers a multi-disciplinary approach with therapy-led clinics four times per week providing a Hand Therapy Service for the assessment and treatment of patients post-trauma and surgery. The department has a dedicated nursing staff providing treatment and dressing clinics for patients. A clinical photography service is also available for record-keeping.

Trauma service
St James’s Hospital is the National Burns Centre and Regional Plastic Surgery Trauma Referral Centre for the Dublin Midlands Hospital Group.

Ambulatory care
The Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery Service provides a ‘See and Treat’ and Diagnostic Surgical Service for urgent skin cancer referrals. A referral-based Trauma Clinic is provided on weekdays.

Micropigmentation service
There is a nurse-led micro-pigmentation service that provides nipple-areola tattooing for patients following breast reconstruction, and for patients with problematic scars.

Laser treatment
The plastics consultants in conjunction with a specialist nurse-led service, offer laser treatment for the following conditions: venous malformations, pigmented lesions, scars and medical hair reduction.

The National Burns Unit
The unit continues to provide optimal care for burn-injured patients and utilises the skills of a multi-disciplinary team from the acute to the rehabilitative phase of burn injury.

The multi-disciplinary team is dedicated to improving the quality of care delivered to patients and promotes the best management of burn-injured patients by educating nursing staff in acute hospitals. Nursing staff have also expanded their role to provide care for patients requiring dialysis.

The team, in conjunction with the patient and their family, aims to preserve life and with equal importance, promote quality of life by maximising long-term physical vocational and psychosocial functioning.

Appointment instructions
All referrals must comply with the current General Data Protection Regulations. If you require treatment by the plastic surgery team, please ask your GP to refer you.

New patients:
GP letter to the relevant consultant electronically, via HealthLink.

Non-Healthlink referrals to the relevant consultant to facilitate triage to the appropriate clinic.

Trauma referrals
Please contact the on-call team to discuss the most appropriate management for trauma patients, and where necessary the trauma referral form should be completed online here.

Referrals should include:

• Date of referral
• Patient name
• Patient’s full address
• Patient’s date of birth
• Patient’s contact phone number and email address, where available
• Brief medical history and current condition.

Please include current GP details if not referring through a GP service.

Patients are referred by GPs and other hospitals for investigation, treatment and surgery for plastic surgery.

If you require treatment by the Plastic Surgery team, please ask your GP to refer you.

New Patients: GP letter to the relevant consultant, electronically via Healthlink

Non-Healthlink referrals to the relevant consultant to facilitate triage to the appropriate clinic.

Referrals should include:

• Date of referral
• Patient name
• Patient’s full address
• Patient’s date of birth
• Patient’s contact phone number and email address, where available
• Brief medical history and current condition.

All referrals are triaged by the consultants and appointments are scheduled as appropriate.