Miss Deepika Akolekar

Profile

Miss Akolekar is a Consultant Breast and Oncoplastic Surgeon whose substantive NHS practice is based at Maidstone & Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust. She is the Clinical Lead of the Breast Unit.

She undertook her higher surgical training with the South-East Scotland rotation. She trained at the Edinburgh Breast Unit at Western General Hospital and subsequently continued her training in Breast Surgery at South East London and Kent Hospitals. On completion of her higher specialist surgical training, she was offered the National Oncoplastic and Reconstructive Fellowship at the Royal Surrey County Hospital, Guilford and Queen Victoria Hospital at East Grinstead. She has worked with a some brilliant Oncoplastic and Plastic Surgeons to advance her surgical skills.

She is fully trained in advanced breast conservation and breast reconstruction. As a female breast surgeon, she is passionate about conserving the breast whenever possible and using plastic surgical techniques to ensure that women undergoing breast surgery have good aesthetic outcomes.

Deepika believes in establishing excellent rapport with her patients and empowering them with the knowledge and help them in decision making during their treatment Deepika has keen interest in clinical academics and education. She underwent a dedicated period of full-time research at the University of Edinburgh which led to the award of a research MD. She has presented her work in national and international meetings and published her work in peer-reviewed scientific journals.

Deepika has a keen interest in service development. She introduced a structured telephone clinic at the Maidstone Breast Unit to convey results to patients in a timely manner thereby saving them a visit to the hospital and increasing the capacity in the breast clinics. She passionately believes in improving patient experience especially when they are faced with anxious. She has contributed to the development of Hospital@Home team which allows early discharge of patients after surgery.

Deepika has developed the Breast App along with her colleague Dr Russell Burcombe to provide patients reliable information during their treatment.