Marcus J. K. Bankes FRCS

Marcus is the Lead of the Hip Unit at Guys and St Thomas Foundation NHS Trust in London and was appointed as a Consultant in 2002, having trained at the Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital, Stanmore, with subspecialty training in Boston, Toronto and Vancouver. His practice is confined exclusively to problems in and around the hip joint, with special expertise in the surgical treatment of young adult hip disorders. Whilst a painful hip is challenging at any age, younger patients can find it particularly difficult due to the demands of education, employment and family life. They may also face disbelief, or even hostility, about their condition due to the false but widely held public (and often medical) opinion that hip surgery consists only of hip replacements and broken hips in the elderly. There have been huge advances in the understanding and treatment of hip pain in the last decade. During that time a whole new branch of surgery has developed. This is now known as hip preservation surgery, so-called because the patient’s own hip joint is preserved, rather than replaced. Marcus is recognised as an opinion leader in young adult hip problems, having established hip preserving operations such as Minimally Invasive PAO for hip dysplasia and hip arthroscopy for FAI in the UK. Marcus brings this knowledge and experience to manage patients facing the difficult decision to proceed with hip replacement surgery when the hip is too painful and damaged for other treatments to be effective. Marcus has to lead the use of very hard-wearing ceramic on ceramic total hip replacements that allow patients of all ages to enjoy decades of excellent hip function from their replacement without fear of it wearing out.

At Guy’s Hospital, Marcus is the orthopaedic surgeon in the multidisciplinary service for sickle cell anaemia. This regional service leads the UK in the care of sickle patients needing hip replacement surgery, which is now a safe and effective procedure that was, in the past, much less predictable. Marcus is a member of the British Hip Society (BHS), the International Society of Hip Arthroscopy (ISHA) and the British Orthopaedic Association (BOA). He regularly shares his experience at Society meetings as well as The London Hip Meeting and Sickle Cell in Focus. He is a reviewer for The Bone & Joint Journal, Hip International and The Journal of Hip Preservation Surgery. He has sat on the Quality Outcomes Committee of the BOA when Chair of the Steering Group for the BHS Non-Arthroplasty Hip Registry between 2012 and 2017 and continues to serve on the NAHR Steering Group. The NAHR is the only registry in the world that documents procedures and patient outcomes for all types of hip preservation surgery, not just hip arthroscopy. His interests outside work include film, TV and contemporary music, Apple electronic goods, North American sport and cycling.