Mr David Potter

I'm a Consultant Orthopaedic Surgeon who specialises in the treatment of shoulder conditions at the Northern General Hospital, with a busy private practice exclusively at Spire Claremont Hospital. I specialise in shoulder surgery and upper limb trauma.

I trained in Sheffield before undertaking a fellowship in shoulder and elbow surgery at Wrightington Hospital. I have also worked with world renowned shoulder surgeons in Capetown, Zurich, New York and San Antonio. 

I studied medicine at the University of Sheffield Medical School, qualifying in 1990. After general surgical training in Sheffield and Leeds, I returned to Sheffield as a specialist registrar in 1995. I was awarded a grant by Aesculap/ BBraun in 1998 to visit Professor Christian Gerber in Zurich which confirmed my interest in shoulder surgery. In 2001, I became the Shoulder Fellow at Wrightington Hospital working with Professor John Stanley, Ian Trail and John Haines. This fellowship gave me the opportunity to become involved in the management of numerous difficult and complex cases. During this year, I also spent some time working with Professor Louis Bigliani and Evan Flatow in New York and also attended shoulder meetings in San Diego, Nice and Cape Town.

I was appointed as a consultant orthopaedic surgeon to Sheffield Teaching Hospitals and Senior Lecturer in the University of Sheffield and took up my post at the start of 2002. It was at this time that I formed the Sheffield Shoulder and Elbow Unit and the first Sheffield Shoulder and Elbow Fellow was appointed in January 2004, being one of only five such posts in the country, providing specialist training for future consultant surgeons in upper limb surgery.

In addition to providing a full shoulder service to Sheffield and the surrounding area, I have developed specific interests in primary and revision shoulder replacement surgery, arthroscopic shoulder stabilisation and rotator cuff surgery and complex upper limb trauma. As a result of my now established reputation as an expert in my field, I regularly receive referrals to treat patients with complex shoulder problems from other shoulder specialists throughout the North of England.

I have been an active member of the British Elbow and Shoulder Society (BESS) since 1998 and have presented and published papers on shoulder and elbow surgery nationally and internationally. I was awarded the first Shoulder Arthroscopy Fellowship to be made by BESS in 2003, introduced to assist young surgeons to develop advanced skills in arthroscopic shoulder surgery. This support allowed me to visit Steve Burkhart in San Antonio (whom I have since hosted in Sheffield), Gary Gartsman in Houston and I also spent several weeks operating with Joe deBeer in Cape Town, South Africa. My main areas of research interest are total shoulder replacement (glenoid surgery) and proximal humeral fractures. I also enjoy teaching both locally and nationally and am frequently invited to participate in courses and meetings as a faculty member.

I have taught arthroscopic shoulder surgery at Wrightington Hospital and the Royal College of Surgeons in London as well as jointly organising the first Arthrex advanced shoulder arthroscopy course in Naples, Florida which ran for several years thereafter. I have also lectured on shoulder replacement surgery techniques at the Royal College of Surgeons in London and convened a ‘Master class in Shoulder Replacement’ with Louis Bigliani in Sheffield.