Biography

Mr Sunil Bhudia is a consultant cardiac surgeon at Harefield Hospital, where he treats private and NHS patients.

He qualified in pharmacology with basic medical science at University College London (UCL) in 1994. He continued his medical training at UCL and in 1996 was awarded his Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery.

In 2001, Mr Bhudia specialised in cardiothoracic surgery when he took up the post of research fellow in cardiothoracic surgery at the Cleveland Clinic Foundation, Ohio, USA, where he undertook research towards his thesis.

In 2004, he returned to the UK as a specialist registrar and in 2009 he became a consultant in cardiac surgery at University Hospital Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust. 

Mr Bhudia joined Royal Brompton and Harefield hospitals in 2016 as a consultant in cardiac surgery.

He was appointed as Clinical Director of Harefield Hospital in 2023.

Clinical expertise

Mr Sunil Bhudia is a cardiac surgeon with specialist expertise in:

  • minimal access surgery for mitral valve, tricuspid valve, for patients with valvular heart disease
  • minimal access surgery for aortic valve
  • coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) including off-pump and on-pump, with total arterial revascularisation
  • surgery of the major aorta, including aortic root surgery, ascending aorta surgery and aortic arch surgery
  • minimally invasive direct coronary artery bypass (MIDCAB) grafting
  • atrial fibrillation surgery.

Research interests 

Mr Sunil Bhudia's research interests include:

  • team working
  • human factors
  • cardiac modelling
  • using new technologies such as virtual reality, mixed reality, and augmented reality.

He has been a co-investigator in phase two clinical trials investigating red blood cell washing and acute kidney injury in patients undergoing cardiac surgery. 

He was the principal investigator in various studies funded by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR). These studies covered the effect of remote ischaemic preconditioning on clinical outcomes in patients undergoing coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG). In the studies, Mr Bhudia and his team also looked at the impact of two blood transfusion threshold levels following cardiac surgery.

He supervises PhD students at University of Warwick and Imperial College.

Teaching

Mr Sunil Bhudia is an honorary associate clinical professor at Warwick Medical School at the University of Warwick. He has been the cardiovascular module leader for Warwick Medical School's undergraduate course and in 2013 was appointed as the block leader for the heart, lung, and blood block.

He is an assigned educational supervisor at Harefield Hospital and sits on the London Committee. Previously, he conducted the same role in the west midlands and participated in the annual review of the competence progression committee of the west Midlands cardiothoracic surgery rotation.

Mr Bhudia is involved in various training programmes, including:

  • specialist advisory committee member for cardiothoracic surgery training
  • surgical tutor for the Royal College of Surgeons of England
  • director of national cardiothoracic courses for trainees
  • educational supervisor for cardiothoracic trainees at Harefield Hospital
  • a faculty member of the Harefield cardiothoracic course
  • co-organiser of cadaver aorta course
  • proctor for major aortic cases.