Our Team

Having been to medical school in the UK and starting his early surgical training in Newcastle, Mark moved to New Zealand in 1994. He completed his advanced surgical training here and had a year working back in the UK as consultant surgeon in Bristol before returning to a consultant post in Whangarei in 2002.

He has been the head of the Department of General Surgery at Whangarei Hospital before handing on the role to John Lengyel. He has held a number of teaching positions with the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons and is a current examiner for the college. He also practiced privately at Vinery Lane Surgery before establishing Northland Surgical & Endoscopy with John Lengyel in 2015.

Mark is happy to see a wide range of general surgical problems including thyroid, gallbladder, hernia and has a particular interest in colorectal problems and endoscopy. He offers laparoscopic surgery where appropriate. Mark has a clinic on Thursday mornings and operates in theatre at Kensington Hospital on Thursday afternoons and Friday mornings.

Consulting Times: Tuesday Morning

Operating Times: Thursday afternoon, Friday morning

(Services available outside these hours by arrangement)

Mark's Practice Manager Tracy Sanders is available at the rooms or on the phone for any queries.

John has been at Whangarei Hospital since 2012 following a move from the UK where he was a consultant at a busy university hospital in the Midlands, and came here highly recommended.

He has become an invaluable member of the Department of General Surgery at Whangarei Hospital where he is the current Head of Department. Now having branched out to provide the same level of service as a general surgeon in the private sector, John is available to see patients for a range of issues, including but not limited to his particular skills in laparoscopic surgery, colorectal problems, endoscopy and a developing expertise in varicose vein options.

John will have a clinic Tuesday mornings at Northland Surgical & Endoscopy rooms on Western Hills Drive, and will be operating at Kensington Hospital for endoscopy and general cases on Monday and Tuesday afternoons.

Consulting Times: Tuesday morning

Operating Times: Monday afternoon, Tuesday afternoon

(Services available outside these hours by arrangement)

John's Practice Manager Deborah Yardley is available at the rooms or on the phone for any queries.

Mr Rajesh Patel MBChB FRACS (General surgery) Cert. CPU

Breast, Endocrine, Melanoma and General Surgeon

Originally from Auckland, Raj obtained his undergraduate medical qualifications at the University of Otago. Raj went on to pursue his surgical training around New Zealand and completed his General Surgery training at Auckland Hospital in 2012. Subsequently, he spent a year in Canada for his fellowship. There, under the guidance of a world-renowned endocrine surgeon, he specialized in parathyroid, thyroid, and adrenal diseases. He then spent a year in Melbourne, Australia completing a second fellowship in oncoplastic-breast surgery. He was also the honorary fellow at Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, specializing in melanoma and skin cancer. Concurrently, he further advanced his endocrine skills; to obtain his qualifications in competently performing ultrasound guided thyroid fine needle aspirations in the clinic. Raj was fortunate to have worked with leaders in the world of breast, endocrine and melanoma surgery, and is very excited to bring his expertise to the Northland community.

Raj's Practice Manager Rachel Birch is available at the rooms or on the phone for any queries.

Rachel graduated with a Diploma of Education in 1998 but her love and passion for all people drew her back to working within the medical industry. Married to her GP husband Ian, they have three teenagers who keep life fun and busy. Rachel has worked within the medical field through administration and phlebotomy. She loves good coffee, conversation and keeping fit whether it be outdoors or at the gym.

Arjun is Consultant Gastroenterologist for Northland DHB and chair of the NDHB Endoscopy User Group. Dual trained in medicine and gastroenterology from the UK, he also gathered valuable experience from two clinical fellowship positions in hepatology and interventional endoscopy (Wales and Auckland). Arjun will be actively involved in the bowel cancer screening roll-out planned for Northland DHB in 2020/21 and his skills cover diagnostic and therapeutic gastroscopy and colonoscopy. He also started the ERCP service in Northland thus avoiding patients having to travel to Auckland. In January 2018 he extended his services to the private sector with the aim of establishing a proficient one-stop specialist GI consultation and endoscopy service. Arjun is available to see patients with any gastro or liver disorders including inflammatory bowel disease, irritable bowel syndrome, deranged LFTs, coeliac disease, GERD, rectal bleeding, etc. Arjun has clinic on Friday mornings at Northland Surgical & Endoscopy rooms on Western Hills Drive and performs his endoscopy procedures at Kensington Hospital on Friday afternoons.

Arjun's Practice Manager Janine Anderson is available at the rooms , on the phone or by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) for any queries.

Janine is the practice manager of Dr Arjun Sugumaran and will be your first contact when you come to see Arjun. Janine has a good knowledge of the Northland health sector with 9+ years’ previous experience in a health environment providing clinical administration support for general practice, medical specialists, Manaia Health PHO, and Northland DHB. People are important to Janine and she thrives on providing quality support in a warm, caring and professional way.