Dr Nicholas Bull- General Surgery, Hepato Biliary Surgery
Nick is a General Surgeon trained in the Newcastle and Hunter region. He has undergone 4 years of further subspecialty training in liver, pancreas and gallbladder surgery with a focus on minimally invasive techniques and advanced endoscopy. This included completion of the AANZHPBA fellowship program and he was awarded the Padbury trophy for placing first in the final examination. Nick has a strong interest in clinical research and teaching with multiple articles published in national and internation forums. He has experience in managing a wide range of liver, pancreas and general surgery problems and is qualified in gastroscopy, colonoscopy and ERCP.

Dr Peter Chong – Urologist
Peter works in both the public system, Belmont District Hospital and the Royal Newcastle Centre, as well as privately at Lake Macquarie Private Hospital and Charlestown Private Hospital. He has an interest in endourology including minimally-invasive stone disease treatment and upper tract laparoscopy, and lower urinary tract symptom’s. He also treats urological cancers such as prostate, bladder and kidney tumours. Peter is passionate about ensuring patients are well-informed about their cancers and treatment options prior to any surgery. Peter is actively involved with teaching through supervision of the public hospital registrars, the teaching program of the Hunter Post-graduate Medical Institute (HPMI), GPTVTC training of GP registrars and is currently recruiting for a study through the University of Newcastle and NSW looking at decision making in urology oncology patients.

Dr Allan Kirkpatrick – Palliative Care
He is available for admissions and consultations at Lake Macquarie Private Hospital and Warners Bay Private Hospital for symptom control and end of life care. He is also very involved in the Aged Care sector servicing four Nursing Homes in the Lake Macquarie region. The reality is that residents of Aged care facilities are unfortunately approaching the end of their lives and deserve to be kept comfortable and to be able to make a seamless transition to end of life care when their time comes. He believes that people in aged care deserve to be able to end their lives in familiar surroundings with comfort and dignity.

Dr Simon Whitcher – Bariatric & Weight Loss Surgeon
Dr Simon Whitcher is a General and Bariatric Surgeon who has lived and worked in Newcastle for the last 10 years. After finishing an undergraduate degree in Medical Science and a postgraduate degree in Medicine and Surgery, Dr Whitcher undertook his internship and residency in the Hunter region. He then continued his surgical training in the Hunter gaining a broad base of experience and skills across various areas of general surgery including hernia, gallbladder, colorectal, endocrine, trauma and breast surgery.