Mr Raf Niziol

Mr Raf Niziol is a leading consultant oral and maxillofacial surgeon and one of the UK’s foremost specialists in head and neck cancer surgery and complex microsurgical reconstruction. He brings to King Edward VII’s Hospital a depth of expertise developed at Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust — one of the country’s largest and most respected head and neck cancer centres. Here, Raf and his colleague perform the highest volume of head and neck microsurgical free flap surgery in the UK, completing around 100 free flap procedures each year.

Raf provides comprehensive care across the full breadth of oral and maxillofacial surgery, including complex wisdom teeth, jaw cyst and benign jaw tumour surgery; salivary gland surgery and the surgical management of pre-cancerous lesions such as oral dysplasia. However, his principal
subspecialty interest is the surgical treatment of head and neck cancer, including cancers of the tongue, floor of mouth, jaw, cheek, palate and neck, together with the major reconstructive surgery these conditions often require.

In the private sector, Raf is believed to perform among the highest volumes of complex head and neck free flap reconstructions in London, an expertise he is now able to offer to patients of King Edward VII’s Hospital. His practice is built around contemporary, evidence-based oncological surgery: meticulous tumour clearance, microvascular reconstruction to restore form and function, and a strong emphasis on aesthetic outcome, speech, swallowing and long-term quality of life. As a core member of head and neck multidisciplinary teams (MDTs) in London, Raf discusses every one of his caner patients in this specialist forum of colleagues across surgery, oncology, radiology, pathology and allied specialties. This
ensures that patient care under Raf is gold-standard, tailored to your individual diagnosis, and delivered in line with the latest evidence. He has published and presented his outcomes at both national and international meetings.

Raf also uses his expertise in microvascular surgery to help patients whose initial cancer treatment, reconstruction or rehabilitation has not delivered the result they had hoped for. Through a dedicated referral pathway, he offers second-opinion consultations and revision microvascular reconstruction for patients with previous flap failure, poor functional outcome, osteoradionecrosis, post-radiotherapy deformity, or unsatisfactory aesthetic results.

He is one of only a small number of UK surgeons with the training and operative volume to offer specialist microsurgical nerve repair for injuries to the lingual and inferior alveolar nerves following damage sustained during dental extractions, implants or third molar surgery. Raf qualified in medicine from St George’s Hospital, University of London, and is dual-qualified in medicine and dentistry. He completed higher surgical training in London and the prestigious Advanced Head and Neck Surgery Fellowship at Guy’s Hospital before being appointed as a consultant. He is a Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons in Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery and a member of the British Association of Head and
Neck Oncologists (BAHNO) and the British Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons (BAOMS).

Patients value Raf’s calm, approachable manner and his commitment to clear, honest communication. His guiding philosophy — your first chance is your best chance — reflects his belief that early diagnosis, expert surgery and meticulous follow-up offer patients the best possible long-term outcomes