Craniofacial unit

About the craniofacial unit

The craniofacial unit at Royal Free Hospital is run by a multidisciplinary team of plastic surgeons, ear, nose and throat surgeons, oculoplastic surgeons, maxillofacial surgeons, psychologists and speech and language therapists.
 
We offer complex craniofacial reconstructive surgical services for adult and paediatric patients with congenital and traumatic conditions, and post-cancer resection. We undertake bony and soft tissue reconstruction using alloplastic (synthetic material), auto-transplant (your own cells) and composite (more than one) tissue.
 
We aim to provide you with a personalised, innovative, and comprehensive multidisciplinary service using state-of-the-art customised 3D printing and artificial intelligence software for surgical planning. These techniques allow us to tailor the surgery to suit patients' facial features.
 
We run monthly multidisciplinary craniofacial clinics, which patients can be referred to via their GP or a hospital consultant. GPs and hospital consultants can send their referrals to Catherine Kaniu, craniofacial unit administrator, at catherine.kaniu@nhs.net or by calling 020 7794 0500 ext 38589.
 

Our team

Plastic surgeons

  • Craniofacial surgeon – Allan Ponniah (Royal Free Hospital)
  • Ear reconstruction – Greg O’Toole (Royal Free Hospital)
  • Ear reconstruction – Walid Sabbagh (Royal Free Hospital)
  • Microvascular surgeon – Dariush Nikkah (Royal Free Hospital)
  • Facial palsy – Alex Woollard (Royal Free Hospital)
  • Facial reconstruction – Professor Peter Butler (Royal Free Hospital)

Ear, nose and throat (ENT) surgeons

  • Rhinology - Cheka Spencer (Royal Free Hospital)
  • Complex sinonasal disease - Jonathan Joseph (Royal National Throat Nose Ear hospital)
  • Otology, auditory implant specialist - Joseph Manjaly (Royal National Throat Nose Ear Hospital)
  • Otology - Johannes Borgstein (Royal Free Hospital)

Oculoplastic surgeons

  • Hugo Henderson (Royal Free Hospital)
  • Nick Koutroumanos (Royal Free Hospital)

Maxillofacial surgeons

  • Deepak Komath

Psychology

  • Dr Esther Hansen
  • Emily Kenefick