Mr Ashley Cole: BMedSci, FRCS(Tr & Orth), DM
Consultant Orthopaedic Spine Surgeon, Sheffield Children’s Hospital Ashley Cole is a Consultant Orthopaedic Spine Surgeon working at Sheffield Children’s and Northern General Hospitals, Sheffield from 2003.
Whilst on the British Association of Spine Surgeons (BASS) Executive between 2010 and launch in 2012, he co-developed the British Spine Registry (BSR) with Mr Lee Breakwell. He has re-joined the BASS Executive as BSR Lead (2024-2027).
He has been Chair of a British Orthopaedic Association group developing the newer Orthopaedic Registries (TORUS), Spinal Chair of the Orthopaedic Expert Working Group advising the NHS on spinal coding, healthcare resource groups and tariff. After being a member of the last NHS Spinal Taskforce in 2010/11, he became Chair of the Spinal Services Clinical Reference Group advising NHS England on commissioning specialised spinal surgery and spinal cord injuries (2012-2019). He was President of the British Scoliosis Society from 2021-2023.
He returned to clinical research in 2019 and is currently Chief Investigator of the NIHR HTA funded Bracing Adolescent Idiopathic Scoliosis (BASIS) study and a co-applicant on the NIHR HTA funded PRAISE (Pain Relief After Instrumented Spinal surgEry) and FORENSIC (FusiOn veRsus bEst coNServatIve Care) trials.