James McCourtney qualified from the University of Glasgow Medical School in 1988 and trained in general surgery in Glasgow and the West of Scotland, completing his advanced higher surgical training at St Mark's Hospital in London in 1999. He was awarded the higher degree of MD in 1998 for research carried out in small bowel motility in ileoanal pouch patients. He was appointed Consultant Colorectal Surgeon to the Royal Alexandra Hospital, Paisley in July 1999. Since December 2007 he has worked in full-time private practice as Scotland's first independent colorectal surgeon. In addition to an extensive practice in colonoscopy and proctology, with a special interest in haemorrhoids, he has a busy complex colorectal surgical practice. He performs OPEN complex major and major resections for colorectal cancer, diverticular disease, neuroendocrine gut tumours, ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease exclusively in the private sector at Ross Hall Hospital in Glasgow. He performs the majority of private complex major colorectal operations at Ross Hall Hospital. In January 2007 Mr McCourtney was the first surgeon in Scotland to perform the HALO procedure for haemorrhoids (L7032); and in May 2018 he performed the first RAFAELO procedures (H5120) in Scotland for haemorrhoids.