Personal Profile
Mr Sipaul is an experienced Consultant Ear, Nose & Throat (E.N.T.) Surgeon. He has been a consultant at University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust since 2014. He is also a visiting consultant at Royal Hampshire County Hospital, Winchester. He has full registration with General Medical Council (GMC) and is a member of the British Medical Association. He recently completed his 5-year cycle revalidation with GMC (Oct 2023). Apart from general E.N.T. problems and surgeries, his other interest is in the diagnosis and management of head & neck cancer. This includes dealing with symptoms of sore throat, difficulty in swallowing, change in voice, sensation of something in the throat and neck lumps amongst others. He has expertise in the surgical treatment of head & neck skin lesions including basal cell carcinoma (BCC) and squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) which are mostly under local anaesthesia (LA). He is also part of a handful of surgeons in the region who perform sialendoscopy to relieve/reduce obstruction of salivary gland ducts either from stone/s or narrowing. This can help to avoid excision of the salivary gland itself. Most of his patients are from Southampton but he also sees patients from surrounding areas such as Winchester, Chandlers Ford, Eastleigh and as far afield as Andover and Salisbury. He has also received referrals from Jersey and the Isle of Wight. He can see patients with or without insurance (self-pay). In general, he prefers to have a referral letter for insured patients.
He is currently the only E.N.T. Consultant at Sarum Road Circle Hospital that regularly deals with Head & Neck cancer patients. More often than not, he is able to reassure patients with vague throat symptoms that there is no concerning pathology in a single clinic visit by performing flexible nasal endoscopy. He was the first surgeon in the world to devise, develop and describe a particular type of skin flap in front of the ear to reconstruct cutaneous defect in and around the opening of the ear canal. Together with his Specialist Registrar at the time, he published the paper entitled ‘A one-stage method for external auditory canal reconstruction: the Wessex pre-auricular flap’ in the European Annals of Otorhinolaryngology, Head and Neck diseases journal (Aug 2022).
Mr Sipaul has been described by patients and colleagues as a caring, compassionate and consummate clinician. He takes time to listen to his patients and when appropriate he is happy to refer a patient to another consultant if he is unable to help. He will do his utmost best to be transparent in his decision making and ensure as much as possible that the patient understands what the problem is and the plan of dealing with it. To that end, he routinely provides a copy of the consultation letter to the patient.
Multidisciplinary teams (MDT)
Mr Sipaul is an integral part of the Thyroid MDT which meet every 2 weeks and weekly Head & Neck MDT based at Southampton General Hospital. He has a close working relationship with the OMF (Oral Maxillo-Facial) & Plastic consultants, Head & Neck Specialist nurses, Speech & Language therapists, dietitians and oral surgeons.
Recovery:
Virtually all his surgical patients go home either the same day or the next day after their operations. It is rare that they need to stay for longer than 48 hours after their procedure. Depending on the type of surgery, most patients can resume work after 3 days and occasionally up to 2 weeks.
Patient reviews:
- Email to Mr David French (Chief Executive of University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust) from a patient (Mrs E.K) on 24th June 2023: ‘On the 12th of May in the afternoon I was admitted to the day surgical unit at Southampton Hospital. Unfortunately I can only recall the name of the surgeon, Mr Fabian Sipaul, to whom I am truly grateful to for the skilful way he removed a benign tumour from my neck. The scar is so discreet and the side effects from the surgery minimal …’
- Email to Patient Support Services at University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust from a patient (Mrs LC) on 16th Oct 2022: ‘October 13th was my throat lazer surgery to treat leukoplakia. My consultant Mr Fabian Sipaul is my current Hero. Truthful and reassuring, concerned, and a superb surgeon, just what was needed …’
- iWantGreatCare website: ‘I was impressed with the care and treatment given to me by Mr Sipaul recently. He was very approachable and professional and came to see me after my neck operation, before I was discharged from hospital. He explained what he did and when I would be seeing him again for a review and biopsy results. (Written by a patient at University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust on 3rd March 2019.)
He completed medical school at University College Cork, Ireland in 1997 with MB BCh BAO & BMedSci. His basic surgical training took place in East Anglia at James Paget Hospital followed by E.N.T. at Norfolk & Norwich Hospital. Further E.N.T. training and a year of research was in Bristol. The research grant was an award from Royal College of Surgeons, England (Augustus Newman Foundation). He was successful in obtaining entry into the highly competitive Severn Deanery Otolaryngology Specialist Registrar (SpR) Training programme which took 6 years at various hospitals in Bristol, Gloucester and Bath. In his final year as an SpR, together with his consultants, he set up and established the 1st Bristol Interdisciplinary Head & Neck Dissection Course for national & international surgeons. He obtained his FRCS (ORL-HNS) (Fellowship Royal College of Surgeons in Oto-Rhino-Laryngology & Head and Neck Surgery) before embarking on a 2 year overseas fellowship as additional specialist training. The first was in Christchurch New Zealand primarily in Head & Neck Surgery and the second in Adelaide, Australia mainly in Advanced Rhinology & Anterior Skull Base and some Head & Neck Surgery. Upon his return to the UK, he was initially appointed as a locum consultant at University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust in July 2014 before securing a substantive post about 2 years later.
Apart from his clinical commitment, he enjoys mentoring trainee surgeons and is regularly involved with medical student teaching. He is a trainer in the Wessex Head & Neck Dissection course and Southampton Phonosurgery course.
Some of his publications include:
- R. Chessman, F. Sipaul (Aug 2022), A one-stage method for external auditory canal reconstruction; the Wessex pre-auricular flap. European Annals of Otorhinolaryngology, Head & Neck Diseases, 139(4):230-232
- T. Singh, T. Biggs, E. Crossley, M. Fouary, A. Mahmood, A. Salamat, T. Paterson, N. Jayakody, A. Dando, F. Sipaul, K. Marinakis, H. Sudhoff, P. Brown (Dec 2020), Noise Exposure on the London Underground, an Observational Study over a Decade. Laryngoscope, 130(12): 2891-2895
- Q. Bonduelle, T. Biggs, F. Sipaul (Nov 2020), Floseal: A novel application technique for the treatment of challenging expistaxis. Clinical Otolaryngology, 17; 45(6): 960 – 962
- E. Crossley, T. Biggs, M. Jog, K. Marinakis, F. Sipaul, P. Brown, T. Singh (Nov 2020), Drainless head and neck surgery: A retrospective review of 156 procedures (thyroidectomy, parotidectomy and neck dissections in a tertiary setting): The Southampton experience. Clinical Otolaryngology 16; 45(6): 946-951
- N. Janjua, M. Bajalan, S. Potter, A. Whitney, F. Sipaul (Feb 2016), Multidisciplinary care of a paediatric patient with Gradenigo’s syndrome. BMJ Case Report
- F. Sipaul, B Ling, Mason C, Keast A (Dec 2015), Spontaneous regression of laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma. JOURNAL OF LARYNGOLOGY & OTOLOGY, 129(12): 1248-50
- S. Mattar, F. Sipaul, To nasendoscope or not to nasendoscope, that is the question. EUROPEAN ARCHIVES OF OTO-RHINO-LARYNGOLOGY, 2013;270(5):1765
- T. Upile, W. Jerjes, F. Sipaul et al (May 2012), A patient with ulcerated calcifying epithelioma of Malherbe in the pinna: case report. HEAD AND NECK ONCOLOGY, 4(25)
- F. Sipaul, M. Birchall, A. Corfield (Aug 2011), What role do mucins have in the development of laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma? A systematic review, EUROPEAN ARCHIVES OF OTO-RHINO-LARYNGOLOGY, 268(8): 1109-17
- 10. K-A. Hanks, F. Sipaul, R.P. Youngs (Accepted Nov 2010), A rare cause of unilateral nasal obstruction in an adult, JOURNAL OF LARYNGOLOGY & OTOLOGY
He is married to a New Zealander who is an ardent All-Blacks rugby fan, with two teenage daughters in a Hampshire state secondary school. They are keen netballers and he has become a passionate netball dad. He spends most of his weekend ferrying them to netball training and matches. He is also a primary carer for their teams.
When time permits, he indulges in his other interest i.e. cooking Oriental cuisine, which was kick-started while he was a kitchen assistant in a Chinese restaurant/take away during medical school in Ireland.
Personal quotes:
‘If you are not sure, make sure’.
‘Do what you think is right, not what is convenient’.
‘It’s nice to be important but it’s more important to be nice’.
In his clinical practice, his three abiding philosophies are the above which are self-explanatory. These have served him well since he became a consultant in 2014.
