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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Mole removal is available at the St Albans clinic: consultant assessment with dermoscopy, and removal at the same visit where that is the answer. The distinction worth knowing before you book is that full photographic mole mapping is carried out at Harley Street only — so if what you want is a documented record of your whole skin rather than one lesion dealt with, Hertfordshire is not where that happens.
What Actually Happens in Hertfordshire
The St Albans clinic runs minor surgical and lesion work. That covers mole removal, cyst and eyelid cyst removal, wart and genital wart removal, cherry angioma, lipoma and dermatofibroma. Imaging-based surveillance does not run there.
| St Albans | 101 Harley Street | |
|---|---|---|
| Consultation and dermoscopy of a specific lesion | Yes | Yes |
| Mole removal at the same visit | Yes | Yes |
| Histology sent to the laboratory | Yes | Yes |
| Full photographic mole mapping | No | Yes |
The reason for that last row is practical rather than commercial. Total-body photography depends on standardised imaging — the same angles, distances and lighting reproduced identically at each visit — and the system that does it is installed at Harley Street. A map taken under different conditions each year cannot be compared, which defeats the point of taking it. The service is set out in mole checks in Hertfordshire.
Same-Day Removal, and the Part That Cannot Be Same-Day
Assessment, the decision and the removal itself happen in one appointment under local anaesthetic, and the appointment takes about an hour. You do not need a GP referral and there is no separate waiting list between consultation and surgery.
What no clinic can compress is the laboratory. Where the lesion’s features warrant examination, the tissue is fixed, processed, sectioned, stained and read by a pathologist, and the report is typically back in 3 to 7 days. Any clinic advertising a same-day diagnosis on a pigmented lesion is describing something that does not exist.
How the result reaches you follows a fixed pattern: a benign result is emailed, and a pre-malignant or malignant result is telephoned before the written report is sent. If a melanoma is confirmed, the referral goes into an NHS skin cancer multidisciplinary team — a national requirement rather than a local preference, and no private clinic manages melanoma outside one. Paying privately for the removal does not put you at the back of an NHS queue afterwards.
The Method Follows the Lesion
Three techniques, and which one applies is decided at the examination rather than requested at booking.
- Narrow-margin excision — the whole lesion with a 2 mm margin and a cuff of fat beneath it, closed with sutures along a natural skin crease. This is used for any pigmented mole where melanoma cannot be excluded, because it preserves the base of the lesion. If a mole turns out to be a melanoma, Breslow thickness — measured from the granular layer to the deepest tumour cell — determines the width of the definitive surgery and whether a sentinel lymph node biopsy is offered. A technique that destroys the base destroys that measurement.
- Shave excision — for a raised, clearly benign mole that catches on clothing or a razor. Quick, no sutures, flat result, and not used where there is any diagnostic question.
- Laser — CO2, reserved for lesions assessed as clearly benign on history, examination and dermoscopy. Available at Harley Street only.
The full comparison, including where hyfrecation and cryotherapy fit, is in shaving versus excision, and the decision logic in the complete guide to mole removal.
Having Several Moles Removed at Once
More than one lesion can be dealt with in a single appointment, and each is assessed individually first. What sets the practical limit is not a fixed number but the sites involved, how much tension the wounds are under, and the total dose of local anaesthetic. Lesions on the back, shoulder and chest are under the most tension and spread the most, so spacing those across visits sometimes produces a better result than taking them all at once. The detail is in having multiple moles removed.
Cost
The same prices apply at both sites; there is no Hertfordshire surcharge and no London premium.
| Item | Price |
|---|---|
| Consultation | £100 |
| Mole removal | £350 |
| Each additional mole at the same visit | £200 |
| Histological analysis | £180 |
Histology is applied where the lesion’s features warrant it rather than automatically on every removal, so it is a clinical decision rather than a fixed addition — but it is quotable in advance either way. Book: mole removal or contact the clinic.
When the NHS Is the Better Route in Hertfordshire
If a lesion looks genuinely suspicious, the NHS urgent suspected-cancer pathway through a GP is fast, free and is the right choice. Paying privately does not move a genuinely urgent case forward, and the local performance data supports that: West Hertfordshire reports around 85% of patients told their diagnosis within the faster diagnosis standard and 78% starting treatment within 62 days, with East and North Hertfordshire close behind.
Where private care changes the timeline is the routine end. 38.8% of routine dermatology patients in Hertfordshire and West Essex wait more than 18 weeks — which is better than every London region, but still four months for a lesion that is bothering you rather than alarming anyone. That is the gap a self-funded appointment closes, and it is worth being straightforward that it is a convenience gap rather than a safety one.
The NHS will not remove a mole for appearance, and it will not remove a benign lesion that is not causing a problem. The criteria are set out in removal on the NHS.
Afterwards
The dressing stays dry and intact for five days. Sutures come out at 5 to 7 days on the face and 10 to 14 days on the trunk, back and limbs. The single biggest influence on the final scar sits in the first fortnight and is not a product: avoiding the gym, lifting and stretching for two weeks matters more than which technique was used. Silicone gel or tape from 2 to 3 weeks, daily for at least three months, and SPF 50 over the scar for twelve months, because a new scar that gets burnt pigments permanently. Full day-by-day detail in the aftercare guide.
Getting There
The St Albans clinic serves patients across Hertfordshire and the surrounding towns — Harpenden, Hemel Hempstead, Watford, Welwyn Garden City, Hatfield, Radlett and Luton — and is reached from the M1 at junction 6 and from the A1(M). St Albans City station runs into St Pancras in around twenty minutes, which for some patients makes Harley Street the easier of the two sites rather than the harder one. That matters if you want mapping as well as removal, since mapping happens in London.
Frequently Asked Questions
- Can I have a mole removed in St Albans?
- Yes. The Hertfordshire clinic runs minor surgical and lesion work, including consultant assessment with dermoscopy and removal at the same visit where that is the answer. Full photographic mole mapping is carried out at Harley Street only.
- What does mole removal cost in Hertfordshire?
- £350 for the first lesion and £200 for each additional lesion removed at the same appointment, with a £100 consultation and £180 for histological analysis where the lesion warrants it. The prices are the same at both clinics.
- Is same-day mole removal possible?
- Yes for the removal itself — assessment, decision and surgery happen in one appointment under local anaesthetic. Not for the diagnosis: where tissue is sent for laboratory analysis the report takes 3 to 7 days, and no clinic can shorten that.
- Do I need a GP referral?
- No. You can book a consultation directly. If a lesion looks urgently suspicious, the NHS two-week suspected-cancer pathway through a GP is fast and is the right route.
- Do you see patients from Harpenden and the surrounding towns?
- Yes — the St Albans clinic serves Harpenden, Hemel Hempstead, Watford, Welwyn Garden City, Hatfield, Radlett and Luton, reached from the M1 at junction 6 and from the A1(M).
- Can several moles be removed in one appointment?
- Usually yes. Each lesion is assessed individually, and the limits are the sites, the wound tension and the total local anaesthetic dose rather than a set number. Additional lesions at the same visit are £200 each.
- How long is the NHS wait in Hertfordshire?
- For urgent suspected cancer it is fast: around 85% of West Hertfordshire patients are told their diagnosis within the faster diagnosis standard and 78% start treatment within 62 days. For routine dermatology, 38.8% of patients in Hertfordshire and West Essex wait more than 18 weeks.
- Why is mole mapping not available at St Albans?
- The total-body imaging system is installed at Harley Street, and mapping depends on standardised imaging repeated identically at each visit. Images taken under different conditions cannot be compared, which removes the reason for taking them.
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