The Poynton SpineCare Clinic Team

Mr. Ashley Poynton

MD FRCSI FRCS (Tr & Orth)
Founder & Lead Spine Surgeon

Subspecialty Interests

Surgical interests include cervical and lumbar disc prolapse, degenerative conditions of the cervical, thoracic and lumbar spine, spinal deformity, spinal tumours, spinal trauma and minimally invasive spinal surgery.

He also has a major interest in non-operative management of spinal conditions and spinal rehabilitation.

Memberships / Affiliations

• Irish Institute of Trauma and Orthopaedic Surgery
• Irish Spine Society
• European Spine Society

Profile

Mr. Ashley Poynton is a committed and highly experienced spinal surgeon with international fellowship training in Spinal Surgery.

Having completed his Orthopaedic higher surgical training under the auspices of the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland in 2001 Mr. Poynton was awarded The Certificate of Specialist Training and admitted onto the Specialist Register of the Irish Medical Council.

Following on from this he underwent further sub speciality training over 2 years based at The Hospital for Special Surgery (Cornel University), and Sloan-Kettering Memorial Hospital, Manhattan, NewYork, USA. This spinal fellowship training programme is world class and involved high volume exposure to all aspects of spinal surgery, including minimally invasive surgery, degenerative, deformity, trauma and spinal oncology. It also involved a fellowship in metabolic bone diseases, a combination of laboratory and clinical research focusing particularly on biology of bone healing and fusion enhancement. Mr. Poynton also has a strong academic background with an MD from TCD in 2000 and over 50 publications in peer review journals along with 5 textbook chapters.

Following his return from fellowship in 2003, Mr. Poynton was appointed to the Mater Misericoridae Hospital (incorporating the National Spinal Injuries Unit), Cappagh National Orthopaedic Hospital and the National Rehabilitation Unit as a Consultant Orthopaedic Spine Surgeon. His major focus was to develop and enhance the National Spinal Injuries Unit and create a multidisciplinary team capable of undertaking highly complex spinal surgery.

Mr. Poynton is now working in full time private practice since 2011. He has created The Poynton SpineCare Institute and aims to develop the Institute into the premier spinal clinic in Ireland for the delivery of comprehensive multidisciplinary care for a wide spectrum of spinal disorders.

Mr. Deb Roy

MRCS(Ed) FRCS (Neurosurgery)
Spine Surgeon

Specialist interests include cervical and lumbar disc prolapse, degenerative conditions of the cervical, thoracic and lumbar spine, spinal deformity, spinal tumours, spinal trauma and minimally invasive spinal surgery and robotic assisted spine surgery. Mr Roy also has a major interest in non operative management of spinal conditions and spinal rehabilitation.

Membership / Affiliations

British Association of Spinal Surgeons (BASS) AO Spine North American Spine Society (NASS)

Profile

Having completed his basic surgical training in North East deanery in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, where was awarded MRCS(Ed) and CCBST by the Royal College of Surgeons, Edinburg Mr Roy then completed his higher specialist training in Neurosurgery in the West Midlands.
He was the winner of Travelling Fellowship from North American Spine society (NASS) in 2013, which gave him the opportunity to observe and learn from best spinal surgeons in the United States of America. Finishing his exit exams in Neurosurgery he did his first Orthopaedic spine fellowship at the Royal Adelaide Hospital (Australia) for a year in 2015 with Prof Brian Freeman, this was an AO Spine recognised fellowship.

His second Neurosurgical spinal fellowship was in Salford Royal Hospital NHS Foundation Trust in Manchester (UK) in 2016 with Mr John Leach, this is recognised by both “Royal College of Surgeons of England” and “British Association of Spinal Surgeons (BASS)”. Following completion of his fellowship he was appointed Consultant Spinal Neurosurgeon at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham. This is the largest Neurosurgical department and the leading Level 1 trauma centre in the UK.

He has completed multiple international and national podium presentations, written book chapters and published articles in peer reviewed journals.

He is thrilled to join The Poynton SpineCare Institute to be part of first-class team delivering comprehensive, multidisciplinary care for a wide spectrum of spinal disorders.

Mr. Peter J. Samuels

MBChB, DA(SA), MMed Neurosurgery,
FC Neurosurgery, ABIME
Consultant Spine Surgeon

Mr Samuels completed his MBChB in 1997 at the University of Pretoria and worked at various public hospitals throughout South Africa. He then obtained a Diploma in Anaesthetics in 2001 with the Colleges of Medicine of South Africa. He chose to broaden his career during 2002 in the United Kingdom and Ireland where he worked as a RMO in various hospitals, ICU departments and emergency rescue teams.

Upon return to South Africa, Mr Samuels worked within the departments of general surgery, anaesthetics and trauma until becoming a neurosurgery registrar in 2006 at the University of Pretoria. He qualified with a Master of Medicine in Neurosurgery in 2011 and began working as a cranial and spinal surgeon in private practice at various hospitals on the north and south coast of Kwa-Zulu Natal (South Africa).

Mr. Samuels then completed the Fellowship of Neurosurgery qualification in 2017 with the Colleges of Medicine of South Africa. He continued with private practice in South African until February 2023, when he made the decision to relocate to Ireland and work as a spinal surgeon with the team at the Poynton SpineCare Institute and Mater Private Hospital Group.

He has obtained many other certifications to date including ABIME, ATLS Instructor (South African Trauma Association), Gamma Knife Radiosurgery (University of Pittsburgh, USA), Endoscopic Spinal Surgery (Joimax, Austria), Microvascular Neurosurgery (Macquarie University, Australia) and Neuromodulation (Medtronic, France). He continues to attend webinars and workshops on both cranial and spinal surgery for professional development.

His special interests include degenerative conditions of the cervical and lumbar spine, spinal trauma, spinal cord injuries, spinal tumours, dorsal column stimulators, interventional pain management, awake fluorescent guided cranial tumour resection, minimally invasive and endoscopic spine surgery. He also manages non-operative conditions of the spine and has a keen interest in spinal rehabilitation.

Memberships:

• Eurospine
• European Association of Neurosurgical Societies
• American Association of Neurological Surgery
• South African Medico-legal Association
• South African Medical Association
• World Institute of Pain
• World Federation of Neurosurgical Societies.
• AO Spine
• Society of Neurosurgeons of South Africa
• The South African Spine Society
• The Trauma Society of South Africa