Richard Irving holds the position of Consultant in Otology, Neurotology & Skull Base Surgery at The Queen Elizabeth Hospital NHS Foundation Trust and the Diana, Princess of Wales Hospital for Children, Birmingham. He was appointed in 1997 having completed his training in 1996 and spending a year as a Consultant Clinical Instructor at the University of California San Francisco.
Richard provides a highly specialised service and offers expertise in otology, neurotology and base of skull surgery. His interests include hearing loss, chronic ear disease, tinnitus and vertigo. Richard manages a facial paralysis service and is also involved in treating tumours of the skull base and restoring hearing using middle ear and cochlear implants.
Richard was trained in London, Cambridge and San Francisco and has a Doctorate in Medicine (MD) obtained from research on the genetic aspects of vestibular schwannoma. His research activity has resulted in grant awards of over £2 million for deafness research into translational projects involving bringing technology into clinical practice. He is an Honorary Professor in Bioengineering at Brunel University London.
Richard has published over 150 papers and 20 book chapters on aspects of ear disease and is the Neurotology section editor of Scott Brown’s Otolaryngology. As a national expert, he is regularly invited to give both national and international lectures on various aspects of ear disease. Richard serves on the Editorial Board of The Journal of Laryngology & Otology and Cochlear Implants International. He worked with NICE developing guidelines for the management of hearing loss in the UK.
Throughout his career, Richard has been involved in teaching and training and runs a very successful otology fellowship program. He teaches annually on a number of national and international courses. Richard provides support to surgeons in developing countries and has operated in India, Nepal, Oman and Bangladesh in recent years.
Richard provides support direct to patient groups as an advisor to the British Acoustic Neuroma Association and Facial Palsy. UK.
Richard has served as the President of the British Society of Otology having previously been the founding secretary and is the current secretary of the British Society for the History of ENT. Richard has also served as the President of the Royal Society of Medicine Section of Otology and is the President-Elect of the British Skull Base Society.
