Mr James O’Hara is a Consultant ENT surgeon with a specialist interest in the management of benign and malignant conditions affecting the throat, voice box, neck and salivary glands at Newcastle’s Freeman Hospital:
Benign (non-cancerous) and malignant (cancerous) conditions affecting the head and neck (throat, voice box, neck and salivary glands) including voice and throat complaints and swallowing disorders.
He runs a specialist weekly neck lump clinic with radiology consultant colleagues and carries out transoral robotic and laser surgery, major head and neck cancer surgery, salivary gland surgery, other surgical interventions to improve swallowing disorders such as pharyngeal pouch, as well as laryngeal and throat procedures under local anaesthetic in clinic.
Research
Mr O’Hara recently completed an MD thesis in conjunction with a large clinical trial assessing how to manage troublesome persistent throat and voice symptoms – demonstrating that the commonest treatment used for these symptoms (proton pump inhibitors, eg Lansoprazole) are ineffective.
He works with Newcastle University to deliver large trials assessing the effectiveness of tonsillectomy in adults and nasal septal surgery and is a council member on the Royal Society of Medicine, British Association of Head and Neck Oncologists, as well as head and neck cancer lead for the Northern Cancer Alliance.
