Dr Ashok Gunawardene

Dr Ashok Gunawardene is a compassionate and caring surgeon who endeavors to achieve the best outcomes for his patients. He was born and grew up in the United Kingdom and qualified as a doctor from the University of Birmingham with Honours (MBChB, Hons) in 2009 after being awarded a First Class Bachelor's degree (BSc, Hons) in Anatomy from the University of Leeds. 
 
After working as a junior doctor rotating through medical and surgical specialties in the NHS, Dr Ashok completed Core Surgical Training leading to Membership of the Royal College of Surgeons of England (MRCS) by examination.  Dr Ashok moved to New Zealand where he completed RACS-accredited training in General Surgery leading to the award of Fellowship of the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons (FRACS). During this time, he undertook a period of full-time research in Wellington examining the relationship between inflammation and gastrointestinal cancer. This led to a PhD, which was supported by the award of several grants and he has published and presented this work Internationally. 
 
Having been selected onto the competitive AANZGOSA post-fellowship training program, Dr Ashok Gunawardene undertook a year of subspecialist training in Upper GI surgery at the Fiona Stanley Hospital in Perth which included training in advanced laparoscopic skills and interventional upper GI endoscopy. He has general and specialist registration with AHPRA and is a GESA-accredited practitioner in interventional upper (gastroscopy) and lower (colonoscopy) gastrointestinal endoscopy. He serves on the faculty of the Australia and New Zealand Surgical Skills Education and Training (ASSET) course and is an examiner for the FRACS Part I Clinical Examination.
 
Dr  Ashok Gunawardene consults in Epping, Sunbury and Point Cook providing procedural care at Northern Private Hospital Epping and St Vincent's Private Hospital Werribee.

Metabolic Health & Weight Loss:
Dr Ashok Gunawardene provides consulting services within an integrated multidisciplinary team for patients on GLP1 therapies. This includes GI side effect management, tolerance and compliance difficulty and muscle and bone health preservation strategies. Longterm follow-up and management of patients with legacy bariatric surgical procedures including lap-band is also offered. Primary and revisional bariatric surgical procedures are offered including intra-gastric balloon, sleeve gastroscopy, One Anastomosis Gastric Bypass, Roux En-Y gastric bypass and transoral outlet reduction (TORe). Long-term follow-up and nutritional safety monitoring is prioritised.

Upper GI Surgery:
Assessment and management of benign upper GI conditions including gastro-oesophagal reflux disease and hiatus hernia disease.

Minimally Invasive Abdominal Wall Hernia Surgery:
Laparoscopic TEP, TAPP and eTEP approaches are offered for a range of groin and abdominal wall hernia including those associated with rectus diastasis.

General Surgery:
Services offered for a range of general surgical conditions including skin lesions, subcutaneous lumps, carpal tunnel syndrome, anterior cutaneous nerve entrapment syndrome (ACNES), pilonidal sinus disease, haemorrhoids, anal fissure.

Endoscopy:
Rapid access diagnostic upper and lower GI endoscopy offered.

Qualifications/Memberships
Bsc(Hons), MBChB(Hons), MRCS, PhD, FRACS

Membership of:
Australia New Zealand Metabolic and Obesity Surgery Society
Australia New Zealand Hernia Society
International Federation of Surgery and other Therapies for Obesity
GESA-credentialed practitioner for upper and lower GI endoscopy
SCOPE-certified practitioner by Word Obesity Forum

Specialist Training
Dr Ashok Gunawardene completed general surgical training across United Kingdom, New Zealand and Australia with Post-Fellowship training Oesophago-Gastric surgery as part of the AANZGOSA subspeciality program.