Mr Ashley Cole

Clinical interests

Mr Cole is a Consultant Spinal Surgeon with a full-time NHS practice, at Sheffield Children’s and Northern General Hospitals. His clinical interests are in spinal deformity as well as the treatment of lumbar and cervical problems.

He has previously chaired the committee responsible for giving clinical advice on complex spinal surgery to NHS England. In addition he is the spinal advisor to the Orthopaedic Expert Working Group, President Elect of the British Scoliosis Society.

Qualifications and training

– BMedSci, FRCS(Tr & Orth), DM

Mr Cole was appointed as a consultant spinal surgeon in 2003 having completed his orthopaedic training, including three Spinal Fellowships in Nottingham, Brisbane and Las Vegas. He undertook his higher surgical training in Sheffield after completing a medical degree and DM research in Nottingham.

Research

Mr Cole has an interest in outcome evaluation and research. He has completed two theses on spinal deformity (idiopathic scoliosis), the first of these as a medical student.

He is a co-developer of the British Spine Registry which is the national database mandated by NHS England for all spinal surgical procedures.

His is currently Chief Investigator for the Bracing Adolescent Idiopathic Scoliosis (BASIS) study funded by NIHR. This study will recruit 780 patients across 19-24 UK spinal centres.