Miss Shami Umarji is a Consultant Orthopaedic Surgeon and Clinical Director for Surgery at St George's NHSFT, one of London’s Major Trauma Centres.  Her subspecialty interest is hand and wrist trauma and elective surgery. She also has a keen interest in creating and promoting more efficient pathways using GIRFT principles of evidence-based medicine and reducing variation. Much of her role as CD for surgery has been to keep the elective program on track which has been a major challenge post-pandemic, especially with the unprecedented pressures of emergency work as well as cancer backlog.

Miss Umarji has been involved in setting up the 'surgical hubs' or 'clinic hubs' (especially the hand hub) where high volume low complexity procedures ( in various surgical specialties) have been prioritised, ring fenced and delivered more efficiently. Given the constant threats to the NHS it has been vital now more than ever to develop sustainable as well as safe solutions in terms of staffing models, virtual activity, and care pathways. Much activity has been delivered on the same day (diagnostic and treatment). The new modular theatres on the QMH site have been vital for elective recovery.