Dr Elaine Palmer
Consultant Gynaecologist
MBBS, BSc, MRCOG
He is keen to stay up to date with the latest advances in foot and surgery and recently completed a mini-fellowship in minimally invasive techniques. He was appointed a consultant at Chelsea Westminster Hospitals NHS trust in 2021 and is the lead foot and ankle surgeon at the West Middlesex site.
Mr Oliver Chan is a consultant in orthopaedic surgery with a specialist interest in foot and ankle surgery. After completing his higher surgical training in the Kent, Surrey & Sussex deanery, He undertook two nationally renowned fellowships at Guy’s and St. Thomas’s Hospital and King’s College London, which focused on all aspects of foot and ankle surgery including high volume elective foot and ankle surgery, foot and ankle trauma and the management of diabetic foot pathology.
Following completion of her general gynaecological and obstetric training, uniquely amongst most other trainees, Miss Palmer undertook Advanced Specialist Training in Vulval Disease, an area of healthcare that is usually not particularly popular and only taught-about in certain hospitals. Miss Palmer, however, became passionate about this specilaity early on in her training-years, as she could see how life changing individualised care in this area could be, and how ongoing education and research in this field of medicine was vital.
Following completion of her general gynaecological and obstetric training, uniquely amongst most other trainees, Miss Palmer undertook Advanced Specialist Training in Vulval Disease, an area of healthcare that is usually not particularly popular and only taught-about in certain hospitals. Miss Palmer, however, became passionate about this specilaity early on in her training-years, as she could see how life changing individualised care in this area could be, and how ongoing education and research in this field of medicine was vital..
From a menopause perspective, after recognising the major overlap that this area of healthcare had with vulval-vaginal disease, Miss Palmer took great interest in peri and post reproductive health and the significant impact hormonal issues can have on a person’s quality of life. Miss Palmer became an active member of the British Menopause Society (BMS), completed advanced training in this area and then gained BMS Advanced Menopause Specialist Status just before she became a consultant. Two years later she gained BMS Principal Menopause Trainer Status and now works for both the Faculty of Sexual and Reproductive Healthcare (FSRH) and BMS, training those wishing to learn or specialise in menopause care including, RCOG trainees, nurses and allied health professionals, as well as running her own menopause clinics privately and in the NHS.
In the NHS, alongside her specialist clinics, Miss Palmer still provides an on-call obstetric role, delivering babies “into the small hours,” still enjoying helping to bring new life into the world just as she did when she was a trainee. In addition to teaching about menopause and vulval issues, Miss Palmer remains an avid education enthusiast, keen to provide good training for medical students ready for their transition to fully fledged doctors of the future. To this end, since 2009, she has been an Honorary Clinical Lecturer for Imperial College London, and of note, in her NHS Lead role as the Joint Site Lead for Undergraduate Obstetric and Gynaecological Education for Imperial College Students at Chelsea and Westminster’s West Middlesex University Hospital site, Miss Palmer was recently awarded the Top Consultant Teaching Undergraduate Award for 2024, for which she was emotional and exceptionally proud to receive.