Miss Deepika Akolekar, Breast Care

Miss Deepika Akolekar is a Consultant Breast and Oncoplastic Surgeon whose substantive NHS practice is based at Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust.

She is the Clinical Lead for the Breast Unit based in Peggy Wood at Maidstone Hospital. She is also the Chair of the Breast Tumour Site Specific Group for Kent and Medway, which brings together clinical experts to standardise care, review pathways, and improve services for breast cancer patients.

Deepika undertook her higher surgical training with the South-East Scotland rotation. She trained at the Edinburgh Breast Unit at Western General Hospital and continued her training in Breast Surgery at hospitals in south east London and Kent.

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 women undergoing breast surgery have good aesthetic outcomes.

Deepika believes in establishing an 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 Hospital Breast Unit to convey results to patients in a timely manner, saving them a visit to the hospital and increasing capacity in the breast clinics.

She passionately believes in improving patient experience. She has contributed to the development of the Hospital@Home team which allows early discharge of patients after surgery.