Personal Profile
Since starting his practice in 2011, Dr Shaffer has treated approximately 1,500 benign patients, and provided training and mentoring to fellow consultants starting benign radiotherapy practices. He co-wrote the 2015 Royal College of Radiologists guidelines for benign conditions and is the founder and President of the International Society for Radiotherapy for Benign Conditions.
He is UK Clinical Lead for Radiotherapy for skin and benign conditions at Genesis Care and chairs the weekly UK skin and benign multidisciplinary team meeting. He is also Medical Director of XStrahl Limited – a medical device company that makes superficial radiotherapy machines for the treatment of benign conditions and skin cancer.
He has previously been chair of the IMRT-IGRT Radiotherapy Group, the Network Brain Tumour Working Group, Clinical Lead for Radiotherapy at St Luke’s Cancer Centre, and a trustee of the Fountain Centre (a local patient support charity).
In his early career, Dr Shaffer trained as a specialist registrar at various London teaching hospitals and completed a Clinical Fellowship in Radiation Oncology at the British Columbia Cancer Agency in Vancouver, Canada.
Training and Appointment
Dr Shaffer worked as an NHS consultant from 2010 - 2019 at the Royal Surrey County Hospital in Guildford and also in Basingstoke. His brain tumour team won an award for their "excellent clinical performance". He has been Clinical Lead for Radiotherapy and Radiotherapy Development, led the development and implementation of the Stereotactic Radiosurgery programme in Surrey, and has been Clinical Lead for radiotherapy innovation for Genesis Care UK.
He was also a trustee of the Fountain Centre, a charity which provides information, support, counselling and complementary therapies for cancer patients, their carers and relatives at St Luke’s Cancer Centre at the Royal Surrey County Hospital.
Current Practice
He is an expert in the use of radiotherapy for the treatment of benign conditions and set up "The Dupuytren's Practice" to provide radiotherapy for patients with Dupuytren's and Ledderhose disease throughout the UK. He treats patients with heel pain with radiotherapy treatment for plantar fasciitis and Achilles tendonitis.
He co-wrote the recent Royal College of Radiologists report on the use of radiotherapy for benign disease. He has also given evidence to NICE on this subject.
There is more information about his practice at www.thedupuytrenspractice.com and www.heelpainpractice.com.
