Mr David Stitson

Mr David Stitson is a highly experienced Consultant Orthopaedic Surgeon, specialising in lower limb joint replacement and complex hip and knee surgery.

Mr Stitson graduated with honours from the Medical College of St Bartholomew’s Hospital in London in 1991, having been commissioned into the Royal Air Force as medical student. Basic surgical training was carried out as a Royal Air Force Medical Officer, with placements in London, RAF Halton and Stoke Mandeville Hospital, culminating in his Fellowship of the Royal College of Surgeons in 1996. He later served for a year at the Royal Air Force Hospital, Akrotiri in Cyprus before entering higher surgical training in Trauma and Orthopaedics with placements across various respected centres including Plymouth, Truro, Oxford and Middlesbrough final exams leading to the qualification FRCS Tr & Orth took place in May 2001 and the Certificate of Completion of Surgical Training was issued in February 2003.

Mr Stitson further developed his expertise during a six-month DePuy Fellowship at the Melbourne Orthopaedic Group in Australia, focusing on joint replacement and hip resurfacing techniques. He became a locum consultant at MDHU Derriford, Plymouth in November 2002, becoming substantive in February 2003. From then until 2015 he served as a Consultant in the Defence Medical Services, holding the rank of Wing Commander. He has since continued in the same consultant role as a civilian.

In addition to his day-to-day role as a trauma and orthopaedic consultant in Plymouth, Mr Stitson undertook 7 separate military deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan in support of UK military operations at the time between 2003 and 2014.

Mr Stitson continues to work as a part-time NHS consultant and practises privately at Nuffield Health, Plymouth Hospital. His surgical repertoire includes total and revision hip replacement and partial, total and revision knee replacement, knee arthroscopy, general orthopaedics and medicolegal reporting.  One of his particular interest lies in hip replacement in younger adults, where he uses CT-based planning and an array of implant options to deliver bespoke, functionally focused care.

Mr Stitson holds memberships with the Royal College of Surgeons of England, the British Orthopaedic Association, and the Combined Services Orthopaedic Society. He was also a faculty member of AOUK, where he taught fracture management techniques.