Mr. Onur Gilleard
Qualifications & Experience
Mr Onur Gilleard is a distinguished consultant plastic surgeon on the GMC specialist register. He previously held an NHS consultant post at St Bartholomew’s Hospital in London, specialising in skin cancer and microsurgical reconstruction. In 2021, Mr Gilleard transitioned from the NHS to dedicate himself fully to private practice, allowing him to focus exclusively on providing personalised, high-quality care to his patients. He is recognised as an expert in laser treatments, having conducted research and developed advanced treatment protocols using cutting-edge laser technology to optimise both clinical outcomes and cosmetic results.
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Most of the apprehension about a first mole map comes from not knowing the shape of the appointment: how undressed you will be, whether anyone will comment on your skin, what the machine does, and whether you leave knowing something or waiting for a letter. The answers are undramatic. This is a photographic and dermoscopic record built systematically, reviewed by a consultant plastic surgeon in the same visit, and issued as a written report with a stated interval for the next one.
Before You Come
Preparation is minimal but four things genuinely affect image quality, and images that cannot be compared next year are the one avoidable failure in this process.
- Remove nail varnish, on fingers and toes
- The single most useful piece of preparation. Melanoma can arise in the nail bed, and varnish makes the nail unassessable — not harder to assess, but impossible.
- Leave make-up, fake tan and heavy moisturiser off
- Fake tan in particular alters the apparent colour of every lesion it covers and makes this year’s images non-comparable with last year’s. If you have applied it, it is better to move the appointment than to map over it.
- Wear hair down or bring a comb
- The scalp is examined directly rather than photographed through hair. Anything that makes parting it straightforward helps.
- Note anything you have been watching
- A specific lesion you are worried about is worth mentioning at the start rather than hoping it gets picked up. Patient concern is a legitimate reason to examine something closely, and it is a poor use of the appointment to keep it to yourself.
Jewellery comes off for the imaging. Underwear stays on — areas covered by it are examined directly by the consultant rather than photographed.
The Appointment, Stage by Stage
A full map runs 45 to 60 minutes end to end, and divides roughly as follows.
- Consultation and risk assessment — about 15 minutes. A consultant plastic surgeon or dermatologist reviews your medical history and skin cancer risk factors, discusses anything you have noticed, examines your skin, and identifies areas needing particular attention. This determines what the imaging then concentrates on.
- Total-body imaging — about 20 minutes. Standardised photography in a fixed set of poses using the FotoFinder bodystudio ATBM system, producing roughly 60 to 100 overview images. This stage is performed by a trained clinical nurse.
- Targeted dermoscopy — 15 to 30 minutes. Contact and polarised dermoscopic images of individual lesions of interest, typically 10 to 40 images, each stored against the body map so the same lesion is retrieved at every future visit. Between 60 and 100 lesions are individually catalogued for a typical patient; someone with atypical mole syndrome may exceed 150.
- Consultant review — live, in the room. This is the part that differs most from what people expect. The consultant reviews every image with you during the appointment rather than afterwards, assesses anything the software has flagged, and recommends removal, monitoring or no action. Anything urgent is discussed there and then.
- Report. A verbal summary at the end of the appointment, followed by a written report within five working days, issued digitally, with a copy to your GP on request.
If something needs removing, it can be excised at the same appointment rather than requiring a second visit. What the written document contains and how to read its terminology is covered in understanding your mole map report.
The Parts People Actually Worry About
These questions come up in almost every consultation and are rarely addressed in writing anywhere.
- How undressed do I have to be?
- Down to underwear for the photographic sequence. Areas beneath it are examined directly rather than imaged. You are not photographed in any state you have not agreed to, and the sequence is explained before it starts.
- Does it hurt?
- No part of mole mapping is invasive. Photography involves standing in a series of positions. Dermoscopy involves a lens resting lightly on the skin, sometimes with a drop of fluid to improve the optics. Nothing pierces, cuts or heats the skin.
- Can I have a chaperone?
- Yes, and it can be requested when booking rather than raised on the day.
- Will I be judged about sun damage?
- Sun exposure history is asked about because it changes risk assessment and the recommended interval, not as a moral question. Freckling, past burns and tanning bed use are recorded as clinical information.
- What if I have a lot of moles?
- That is the population this service exists for. A high mole count lengthens the imaging slightly; it does not complicate it. Whether the number itself changes risk is addressed in does having many moles raise melanoma risk.
- Will I leave knowing anything, or wait for a letter?
- You leave knowing. The consultant goes through the images with you in the room and gives a verbal summary at the end of the appointment. The written report follows within five working days and formalises it.
The Questions You Will Be Asked
The risk assessment at the start is not administrative. It determines how closely particular areas are examined and how soon you are asked to return, so answers that are approximate are worth thinking about beforehand.
- Family history — melanoma or other skin cancer in a close relative, and at what age. This carries more weight than most patients expect.
- Personal history — any previous skin cancer, precancerous lesion, or lesion removed for any reason.
- Sunburn history, particularly blistering burns in childhood, and any tanning bed use.
- Skin type — how easily you burn and whether you tan — recorded formally as a Fitzpatrick type.
- Immunosuppression — transplant, immunosuppressive medication, or a condition affecting immunity.
- What you have noticed — any lesion that is new, changing, itching or bleeding.
How these combine into an overall risk picture is set out in who is at high risk of melanoma.
Afterwards
Three outcomes cover almost every appointment.
Nothing needs action. The commonest result. You have a baseline, a report and a date for the next map — normally twelve months later.
Something is worth watching. A lesion is documented in detail and specifically re-examined at the next visit. This is where surveillance does its distinctive work: an interval comparison converts an uncertain lesion into an answerable question rather than an open one.
Something needs removing. The lesion is excised and sent for histological examination. For a pigmented lesion this means removing it whole rather than sampling it, because depth determines what follows and cannot be assessed from a fragment. What happens next is covered in a suspicious mole was found.
Between appointments, the work that matters is yours: monthly self-examination in consistent conditions, and reporting anything new rather than waiting for the next map. Nodular melanoma in particular can develop within an annual interval. Practical method in checking your own skin and the places you cannot see.
Cost and Booking
| Item | Price |
|---|---|
| Mole mapping — complete package | £300 |
| Initial consultation | £100 |
| Mole removal | £350 |
| Each additional mole removed | £200 |
| Histological analysis | £180 |
Appointments take place at 101 Harley Street: mole mapping or contact the clinic. The wider context — what surveillance is and who benefits from it — is in clinical mole surveillance.
Frequently Asked Questions
- How long does a mole mapping appointment take?
- Between 45 and 60 minutes: around 15 minutes for consultation and risk assessment, 20 minutes for total-body imaging, and 15 to 30 minutes of targeted dermoscopy depending on how many lesions need individual capture.
- How should I prepare?
- Remove nail varnish from fingers and toes, avoid fake tan, make-up and heavy moisturiser, and come with hair that can be parted easily. Note down any lesion you have been watching so it can be examined specifically rather than relied on to be noticed.
- Does fake tan really matter?
- Yes, more than people expect. It alters the apparent colour of every lesion beneath it, which makes the images unreliable for comparison against future visits. Rescheduling is better than mapping over it.
- How undressed will I be?
- Down to underwear for the photographic sequence, with areas beneath examined directly instead. The sequence is explained before it begins, and a chaperone can be requested at booking.
- Is it painful or uncomfortable?
- Neither. Nothing about mapping is invasive — it is photography plus a dermoscope resting on the skin. Discomfort, where it exists, is about being photographed rather than about the procedure.
- Do I get results on the day?
- Yes. The consultant reviews the images with you live in the room and gives a verbal summary before you leave. The written report is issued digitally within five working days, with a copy to your GP on request.
- What is different about a first appointment?
- There is nothing to compare against, so the AI comparison stage has little to do. Anything already abnormal is identified clinically, but the change-detection function only begins at the second map. That is why the baseline is best thought of as an investment in the next visit.
- What happens if something is found?
- It is either documented for specific comparison at the next visit, or excised at the same appointment and sent for histological examination. Around 20% of patients who attend for a map have something removed, and of lesions excised on suspicion, 20% prove dysplastic and 15% malignant.
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