Mr Shwetal Dighe works as a Consultant Upper Gastrointestinal and Thyroid Surgeon at the Darent Valley Hospital Dartford and Queen Mary Hospital in Sidcup. He is currently the clinical lead for Laparoscopic UGI surgery and pancreatitis, further expanding the service to receive referrals from adjacent Trusts.

He was appointed at the hospital as an Upper GI surgeon in 2015 and was responsible for introducing a new service in the hospital offering complex gallbladder surgery including laparoscopic bile duct exploration, anti-reflux surgery for gastro-oesophageal reflux disease and complex hiatal hernia repair.

Shwetal qualified as a doctor (MBBS) from Grant Medical College in Mumbai in 1998 and completed his Surgical Training in India (MS General Surgery) in 1998 and spent two further years as a post Fellow Resident and General Surgery Lecturer in Grant Medical College.

During this period he obtained the prestigious degrees of the Diplomate of National Board (DNB New Delhi) and Membership of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh (MRCS).

He subsequently came to the UK to widen his surgical horizons and spent 3 years undertaking research in imaging of colonic cancer at the Institute of Cancer Research (London) for which he was awarded the Doctorate of Medical Research (MD Res) by the London University.

He undertook further specialist training in General Surgery and spent the last three years specialising in Laparoscopic Upper GI surgery.