Ear, Nose & Throat (ENT), Head and Neck

The St Vincent’s Hospital Melbourne Ear Nose and Throat (ENT)/Head and Neck unit provides specialist care in the diagnosis and management of conditions affecting the Ear, Nose and Throat, and Head and Neck.

Key specialty areas of the unit:

• Diagnosis and treatment of all head and neck lumps and bumps, tumours and cancer
• Major head and neck cancer management, including cancer of the nose and sinuses, nasopharynx, oral cavity (tongue and jaw), oropharynx (tonsils and throat) and larynx (voice box)
• High volume of endoscopic and open craniofacial surgery involving the skull base
• Advanced endoscopic and open nasal and sinus surgeries, reconstructive rhinoplastic nasal surgery
• Voice and swallowing disorders involving transoral microscopic laser laryngeal surgery, endoscopic and open laryngeal surgeries
• Airway surgery and airway reconstruction surgery
• Complex salivary gland disorders and tumours (parotid gland, submandibular gland, salivary tumours)
• Victoria's only unit performing sialendoscopies (endoscopic keyhole saliva duct procedures)
• Thyroid care with surgeon-performed ultrasound in clinic and advanced thyroid surgery
• Complex ear surgery and ear investigations in collaboration with The Royal Victorian Eye and Ear Hospital located in East Melbourne. Many general ENT conditions can be better referred to the ENT Unit at RVEEH as a high volume of the St Vincent’s services include cancer and complex ENT conditions requiring multidisciplinary involvement
• Collaboration with Neurosurgery for anterior skull base and lateral skull base surgeries
• Dedicated Base of Skull multidisciplinary team
• Dedicated Head and Neck Cancer multidisciplinary team
• Collaboration with Medical Oncology, Radiation Oncology, Radiologist, Pathologist, Speech Pathologist, Dietitian, Nursing and Allied Health teams for the management of complex head and neck tumours.
• Collaboration with Plastic surgery for advanced reconstruction following head and neck surgery
• Specialist dental surgeon in the multidisciplinary team to provide osseointegrative implant for dental and prosthetic rehabilitation
• Our specialist consultant surgeons are internationally trained and are Fellows of the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons. Many of the consultant surgeons are also appointed specialists in other health services creating a streamlined collaborative network with Barwon Health (Geelong), Ballarat, Albury/Wodonga and Tasmania. The unit sees patients from regional centres and interstate
• Our specialist consultant surgeons are involved in research and education of doctors in training. There are two specialist registrars and several residents training under the supervision of the unit. These training positions are administered by The Royal Australasian College of Surgeons and St Vincent’s. The ENT/Head and Neck Unit is an accredited training unit by the Australian Society of Otolaryngology Head & Neck Surgery and usually receives the appointment of Senior Trainees of the ASOHNS/RACS training program.
• Our specialist consultant surgeons are published academic authors and frequent invited lecturers and speakers locally and internationally. Specialist Surgeons from the ENT/Head and Neck unit welcome lecture invitations to support your institution’s educational needs.

Head and Neck Cancer Multidisciplinary Meeting (MDM)

St Vincent’s Hospital Melbourne ENT/Head and Neck Unit is a high volume quaternary referral centre that provides a comprehensive head and neck cancer program.

The Head and Neck Cancer MDM occurs weekly on Thursday. We receive referrals from Geelong, Ballarat, Albury/Wodonga, other regional centres and interstate from Tasmania.

We realise that collaborative team care is the optimal care for the patient. The team is made up of ENT/Head and Neck Surgeons, Oromaxillofacial Surgeons, Dental Surgeons, Plastic Surgeons, Neurosurgeons, Thyroid Surgeons, Radiation Oncologist, Medical Oncologist, Radiologist, Pathologist, Nuclear Medicine Physician, Clinical Nurse Specialists, Speech Pathologists, Dietitians, Social Worker, Palliative Care Physicians, Pastoral Care worker and many other specialists (See Our Team page). 

Urgent referrals to the Head and Neck Clinic can be made to the on-call ENT Registrar or the Clinical Nurse Coordinator. Referrals should include all relevant information including radiology and pathology results. Contact details:

Base of Skull Multidisciplinary Meeting (MDM)

St Vincent’s Hospital Melbourne ENT/Head and Neck Unit also provides unique specialty service in treating many uncommon skull base conditions in close collaboration with the neurosurgical team. The Base of Skull MDM occurs monthly on Tuesdays.

Urgent referrals to the Base of Skull Clinic can be made to the on-call ENT Registrar or the Clinical Nurse Coordinator. Referrals should include all relevant information including radiology and pathology results. Contact details: 

HealthPathways Melbourne is an online portal designed to be used by general practice at the point of care to guide best practice assessment, management and referral of common clinical conditions.

Please Note:
This is a public outpatient service. All patients need to be referred to us by a GP. Please see your GP if you believe you would benefit from a referral to this clinic. Many doctors have private consulting suites as well as working in the public hospital system. This is entirely separate from St Vincent’s and our staff do not have any information about the private consulting practices of doctors.