Mr Phillip Johnston

Mr Phillip Johnston is a consultant orthopaedic surgeon in Cambridge with specialist expertise in hand and wrist conditions. His clinical practice covers Dupuytren’s disease, carpal tunnel syndrome, trigger finger and trigger thumb, basal thumb osteoarthritis, wrist osteoarthritis, wrist fractures including distal radius and scaphoid injuries, deformity correction through osteotomy and WALANT surgery. He privately practises at Nuffield Health Cambridge Hospital, while his NHS base is Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust where he's a consultant orthopaedic surgeon at Addenbrooke’s Hospital.

He also treats acute and complex traumatic conditions, including fixation of distal radius and scaphoid fractures, and reconstruction for distal radius malunion or scaphoid non-union. He has developed a regional referral practice for complex wrist and forearm injuries. His published surgeon-specific outcomes through the British Society for Surgery of the Hand show trapeziectomy results above the national average, with outcomes for Dupuytren’s surgery consistent with national standards.

Mr Johnston is a strong advocate for WALANT surgery, which involves performing procedures under wide-awake local anaesthesia without a tourniquet. This approach avoids the risks associated with general or regional anaesthesia while maintaining safety and surgical precision for suitable procedures. Over the past six years, he has performed or supervised around 3,500 procedures, completing close to 600 operations per year. His annual practice includes an average of 95 carpal tunnel decompressions, 12 trapeziectomies, 65 Dupuytren’s procedures, 20 trigger digit releases, 11 scaphoid procedures and 35 operations for distal radius fractures.

He is committed to maintaining high clinical standards through ongoing teaching and training. He has served as faculty for major international courses, including the BSSH Instructional Series for hand and wrist surgery, and he is Chairman of the AOUK Principles of Fracture Management course, supporting the development of trauma skills in orthopaedic trainees. As Training Committee Chair for Orthopaedics at Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, he oversees surgical education for 75 registrars across 15 hospitals in East Anglia, ensuring consistent, high-quality training for the next generation of orthopaedic surgeons.

Mr Johnston is a member of the British Society for Surgery of the Hand, the British Orthopaedic Association, the British Medical Association and the Royal College of Surgeons.