Private Thoracic Surgeon
London

A thoracic surgeon treats disease of the lungs, the pleura (the lining of the chest), the airways, the diaphragm, the chest wall and the mediastinum (the space between the lungs), excluding the heart. Dr Okiror’s practice covers lung nodules and lung cancer, lung cancer surgery, pleural effusion, empyema and other pleural disease, pneumothorax (collapsed lung), emphysema (valves and lung volume reduction surgery), hyperhidrosis and facial blushing, diaphragm paralysis and hernia, thymoma, myasthenia gravis and mediastinal tumours, slipped rib syndrome, thoracic outlet syndrome, tracheal and central airway disease, thoracic endometriosis. Most operations are performed by robotic or keyhole technique.

The first question at any consultation is whether an operation is needed at all. A good proportion of consultations end without surgery being recommended; where it is, the smallest operation that achieves the result is the one offered. Every cancer case is discussed at a multidisciplinary team meeting before an operation is recommended.

Contact Jo Mitchelson on 020 7952 2882 or pa@lungsurgeon.co.uk. No GP referral is needed. New patients are seen within 2–3 days at London Bridge Hospital, The Lister Hospital Chelsea, Canary Wharf or the City of London, and by video within 24 hours.

Before the appointment, the practice arranges for any imaging you have had elsewhere to be transferred, and Dr Okiror reviews the scans himself rather than working from the report. You leave the first appointment with a plan: reassurance and discharge, a repeat scan at a defined interval, a biopsy, or an operation. Where tissue is needed, ION robotic bronchoscopy at London Bridge Hospital gives most patients a preliminary diagnosis on the day.

How quickly treatment happens. Surgery is usually within a week of completing investigations. Patients who already have their tests can be booked for surgery within days of their consultation. Urgent cases can be booked for surgery within 48 hours. Patients who are unwell and attend the Urgent Care Centre at London Bridge Hospital are admitted directly to the ward, and surgery is usually within 48 hours. Transfers from NHS hospitals are arranged by the HCA Medical Concierge team.

Source: SCTS National Thoracic Surgery Audit 2023–24 and personal operative data 2024–25. Operative survival is survival of the operation, not long-term cancer survival.

Guy’s and St Thomas’ is the UK’s largest thoracic robotic surgery programme and was the first NHS Trust in the UK to reach 10,000 da Vinci cases, in September 2023. London Bridge Hospital was the first centre in Europe to offer ION robotic bronchoscopy outside a trial, in November 2023, and is ranked tenth in the UK and the highest-ranked private hospital in the Newsweek World’s Best Hospitals 2026 list; St Thomas’ and Guy’s are ranked first and second.

A new consultation is £250–£350 and a follow-up £200–£275. Guide prices for every operation are published on the fees page, each an all-inclusive range covering the hospital, surgeon and anaesthetist fees for an uncomplicated stay: diagnostic bronchoscopy £3,600–£4,500, ION robotic bronchoscopy £9,500–£10,500, VATS pleurodesis £10,000–£14,000, bullectomy for pneumothorax £12,000–£16,000, robotic lobectomy or segmentectomy £25,000–£30,000. Hospital charges are the largest part of every total, and the hospital issues a written fixed quote after consultation and before treatment.

Dr Okiror is recognised by AXA Health, Bupa, Aviva, Vitality, WPA and Cigna, and by most other UK and international insurers. If you have private medical insurance, Dr Okiror and the hospital bill your insurer directly, and insurers usually settle the hospital, surgeon and anaesthetist fees in full, less any excess written into your policy. Please confirm with your insurer that your policy covers treatment at London Bridge Hospital or The Lister before your first appointment. Self-paying patients are equally welcome.

Dr Lawrence Okiror FRCS(CTh) FRCSEd(CTh) is a Consultant Thoracic and Robotic Surgeon at Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust, where he leads the Central Airways Service and the nationally commissioned Advanced Emphysema Surgical Service and is Clinical Audit Lead for thoracic surgery. He leads the Robotics Advisory Panel of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh’s Cardiothoracic Specialty Board and examines for the UK Intercollegiate Board and the European Board of Cardiothoracic Surgery.

He is Co-Principal Investigator and Lead Surgeon at Guy’s and St Thomas’ for the NIHR MIST-4 trial in pleural infection (ISRCTN16328099) and Co-Principal Investigator for PRO-SEAL (ISRCTN15099654), and has more than 30 peer-reviewed publications, book chapters and national research awards. Private practice since 2021. Full profile →

Four questions are worth asking anyone you consult, and the answers should be specific rather than reassuring. How many anatomical lung resections do you perform a year? What proportion are done robotically or by keyhole? What is your operative survival rate against the national benchmark? And who operates on the day? Dr Okiror’s answers are on this page: 153, 71.3% robotic, 99.59% against 98.5%, and Dr Okiror.

Independently verified patient reviews are on Doctify. Published fees and outcomes are also listed with the Private Healthcare Information Network (PHIN).