Professor Chris Summerton

Professional statement

Professor Chris Summerton is an accomplished and experienced consultant gastroenterologist with a broad knowledge of gastrointestinal and liver conditions. His areas of expertise include abdominal pain, bowel pain, indigestion, diarrhoea, constipation and other digestive disorders and he is fully skilled in diagnostic endoscopy.

He graduated from Cambridge University in 1983 and underwent his clinical training in gastroenterology in Birmingham, Cambridge and Manchester. He was awarded an MD research degree in liver disease from Cambridge University in 1994. To support his interest in medical training, he gained a formal qualification in adult education in 1995.

Professor Summerton has long contributed to medical education and until recently was training programme director for gastroenterology in the north west of England. Since 2004, he has been organising specialist registrar training in gastroenterology across the north west. In recognition of this and for also forming an MSc degree course in gastroenterology, he was made an honorary professor at Salford University in 2006.

Furthermore, he has an international presence after writing various chapters in the medical textbook Davidsons Principles and Practice of Medicine, popularly used around the world to train many medical students and doctors. He has also visited hospitals in Egypt and Nigeria to give practical training and to deliver invited lectures on gastroenterology and endoscopy.

Professor Summerton is dedicated to providing excellent care for all his patients. As well as being a consultant, he was for many years a non-executive director of Hope Citadel Healthcare, a community interest company based in Manchester that runs GP services in areas of social disadvantage. He is currently a trustee of Heart of the Health Service, a national charity which supports those working in the NHS.