Mr Jason Bernard is a Consultant Orthopaedic Spinal Surgeon. He treats a wide range of spinal diseases and back injuries, ranging from the simplest disc problems to complex cancer and scoliosis surgeries. His emphasis is always on exploring the individuals needs and goals to ensure that orthopaedic treatment plans are personalised.

Jason Bernard additionally runs acclaimed surgical training courses for Consultants and Senior Surgical Trainees and spent 4 years leading the management team as the Clinical Director for Outpatient Services at St George’s Hospital. He is also responsible for Clinical Governance in the Spinal Surgery department at St George’s Hospital and has been co-chair of the committee for implementation of NICE guidelines on Metastatic Spinal Cord Compression for St George’s Hospital and the Royal Marsden Hospital.

Jason Bernard graduated from Glasgow University of Medicine in 1990. He trained in Orthopaedic Surgery both in Sheffield and at St George’s Hospital in London before completing specialist training for Orthopaedic and Trauma Surgery in 2003. His research fellowship in Sheffield led to a thesis in the assessment of osteoporotic fracture and the award of his Doctorate degree.

Jason Bernard’s work at St George’s Hospital has developed the spinal service so that it is now the network lead spinal service throughout South West London, Surrey and Sussex. Mr Bernard is a sought after Expert Witness for cases of medical negligence in Spinal Surgery.

Areas of expertise

• Spinal surgery
• Scoliosis
• Disc protrusions and injuries
• Spinal stenosis and decompression
• Spinal fractures
• Spinal tumours

Current and recent appointments

• St George's Hospital London

Publications, lectures and teachings

Jason Bernard has developed and brought to market (with Hospital Innovations) a radiographic alignment guide for assessing alignment of the spine in surgery for fusion to the pelvis. The design allows accurate measurement of axis even using fluoroscopy with a small field of view.

Jason Bernard has described the existence and histologic appearance of the Dorsal Duro Laminar Ligament in the Lumbar spine. This ligament tethers the dura to the cranial edge of the L5 and L4 lamina in the midline dorsally, and is a major factor in incidental durotomy.

• Odontoid process fractures: the role of the ligaments in maintaining stability. A biomechanical, cadaveric study. Boughton OR, Bernard J, Szarko M. SICOT J. 2015 Jun 15;1:11
• Pain Physician. 2013 Sep-Oct;16(5):E519-30. Criteria for the appropriate treatment of osteoporotic vertebral compression fractures. Anselmetti GC1, Bernard J, Blattert T, Court C, Fagan D, Fransen H, Fransen P, Sabharwal T, Schils F, Schupfner R, Siddiqi MA, Stoevelaar H, Kasperk C.
• ISRN Anatomy. Volume 2013 (2013), Article ID 424058, 4 pages. http://dx.doi.org/10.5402/2013/424058 Research Article. The Posterior Epidural Ligaments: A Cadaveric and Histological Investigation in the Lumbar RegionM. J. Connor,1 S. Nawaz,2 V. Prasad,2 S. Mahir,2 R. Rattan,3 J. Bernard,2 and P. J. Adds1.
• Bone Jt Open. 2022 Feb; 3(2): 123–129. Published online 2022 Feb 4. doi: 10.1302/2633-1462.32.BJO-2021-0120.R1. PMCID: PMC8886322. PMID: 35119295. Dual modality of vertebral body tethering anterior scoliosis correction versus growth modulation with mean follow-up of five years. Jason Bernard, MD, FRCS (Tr&Orth), Consultant Orthopaedic Surgeon, 1 Timothy Bishop, FRCS (Tr&Orth), Consultant Orthopaedic Surgeon, 1 Jan Herzog, FRCS (Tr&Orth), Consultant Orthopaedic Surgeon, 1 Shahnawaz Haleem, FRCS (Tr&Orth), Consultant Orthopaedic Surgeon, 1 Cristina Lupu, BSc, Spine Clinical Nurse Specialist, 1 Bisola Ajayi, PA-R, Spine Physician Associate, 1 and Darren F. Lui, MCh, FRCS (Tr&Orth), Consultant Orthopaedic Surgeoncorresponding author 

Society memberships

• British Scoliosis Society
• Scoliosis Research Society
• British Orthopaedic Association
• Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh