Our Surgeons

North QLD Ear Nose and Throat Surgery is a locally owned and operated surgery in Townsville North Queensland. Since 2015, we have provided an ENT service for both adults and children across North, Far North, Western and Central QLD.

NQ ENT is supported by an ever-expanding team of allied health services such as audiologists, occupational therapists, speech therapists, dentists, nutritionists and psychologists.

At NQENT we value honesty and integrity and commit to excellence in everything we do to ensure everyone we interact with is treated fairly and with respect. We value that you have chosen to come and see us and we will ensure that you are treated like family.

Dr Shane Anderson

BBioMed, MBBS, FRACS, MPhil

Dr Shane Anderson is the only Fellowship trained otologist and paediatric ENT surgeon in Northern Australia. Dr Anderson is Director of North Queensland Ear, Nose and Throat Surgery, Director of ENT Department at the Townsville University Hospital and Medical Director of the North Queensland Cochlear Implant Unit.

Dr Anderson was raised in a RAAF household in Townsville and completed his first university degree at James Cook University in 1995. He moved to Brisbane and completed his Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery at the University of Queensland in Brisbane before commencing Advanced Surgical Training in South East Queensland.

He worked in the Dorset NHS in the United Kingdom before successfully completing his advanced surgical training in Otolaryngology in South East Queensland hospitals in 2012.

Dr Anderson was awarded a Fellowship of the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons in 2013. He was awarded the prestigious Fellowship at the University of Arkansas with world renowned cochlear implant and middle ear surgeon Professor John Dornhoffer. During his fellowship he also visited several university faculties to expand his knowledge base.

In 2014, he attained a Fellowship from the University of Arkansas and Fellowship from the Arkansas Children’s Hospital.

In 2015, Dr Anderson returned home to Townsville to establish his practice NQ ENT and his sub-specialities are paediatric surgery, middle ear surgery and cochlear implantation. He has obtained certification from Cochlear Corporation, MedEl and Advanced Bionics in surgical implantation of their cochlear implants. Dr Anderson is a supervising otologist with Attune Hearing Services and the Hear and Say Center. He is also a member of the medical advisory board of Deadly Ears Queensland.

Dr Anderson is a Fellow of the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons, member of the Australian & New Zealand Society of Paediatric Otorhinolaryngology, member of the American Academy of Otolaryngology and Head and Neck Surgeons, board member of the Prosper Meniere Society and a member of the International Working Group on Endoscopic Ear Surgery.

Dr Anderson research includes investigating the effects of smoking on otological outcomes in middle ear surgery, prognostic indicators for success in adult cochlear implantation and the role of Hyperbaric Oxygen in Sudden Sensorineural Hearing Loss. Dr Anderson has published several journal articles in head and neck surgery and otology and has several chapters in internationally regarding Otological Textbooks. Dr Anderson provides a private clinic in Cairns one Wednesday a month from private rooms at Coral Coast ENT.

Dr Shane Anderson is the Director of North Queensland Ear, Nose and Throat Surgery Clinic and Director of ENT Department at the Townsville University Hospital.

Dr Frauenfelder is an Ear, Nose and Throat and Head and Neck Surgeon, joining the NQ ENT team.

Dr Claire Frauenfelder

MBBS, Dip Child Health, MSurg, FRACS

Dr Frauenfelder is an Ear, Nose and Throat and Head and Neck Surgeon, joining the NQ ENT team. Originating from South Australia, Dr Frauenfelder completed her medical degree at the University of Adelaide in 2008. After completing basic surgical training, she embarked on further studies attaining a Diploma of Child Health and Masters of Surgery (Research) at the Flinders University “Aquaporins: a channel to understanding the pathogenesis of chronic rhinosinusitis”.

During her ENT fellowship training, Dr Frauenfelder completed a 15-month fellowship at the Great Ormond Hospital where she treated complex paediatric airway and congenital neck & craniofacial conditions. Caught in London in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic, she also developed an interest in research examining aerosol dispersed from the airway during surgery and anaesthetic procedures.

She returned to South Australia to teach as a Senior Clinic Lecturer with the Faculty of Health Sciences at the University of Adelaide and complete specialist training in Ear Nose and Throat and Head and Neck Surgery.

Dr Frauenfelder attained her specialist Fellowship qualifications with the Royal College of Surgeons in May 2023 and is presently a consultant ENT surgeon at the Women’s and Children’s Hospital in South Australia.

Dr Frauenfelder has an impressive list of honours and awards. In 2022, she was awarded the Robert Guerin Research Prize for the best Australasian ENT trainee in research for her investigation of outcomes for over 10,000 head and neck cancer patients admitted to intensive care in Australia and New Zealand. Other awards include the Great Ormond Street Hospital Charity Grant for protecting health care workers in theatre from high aerosol generating procedures, and the Ron Gristwood Medal for the best South Australian ENT registrar in research.

Claire has lived and worked in many rural and regional areas during her training including Kadina and Port Augusta in SA, Broken Hill NSW, and Papua New Guinea. She lives in Hahndorf in the Adelaide Hills. Claire is currently working as a consultant ENT Surgeon in Adelaide, in both public and private health care and will be visiting Townsville regularly from August 2023. With interests in surgical training and education, Dr Frauenfelder has professional practice interests in paediatrics, sleep and airway surgery, head & neck masses, & sinus surgery.

Ms Catherine Ford

Practice Manager

Catherine was the first member of the team to join Dr Anderson in 2017 and she is the driving force behind the team and the person responsible for making NQ ENT what it is today.

Catherine has over two decades of experience in the medical industry, legal, and human resource management industries in North Queensland. There is never a problem too big for Cat to solve.

Catherine manages NQENT administration staff, surgeon’s clinic and theatre schedules, the day-to-day hurdles for each surgeon, liaison with Mater, other allied health partners and other ENT clinics and much, much, much, much more. There is never a problem too big for her to solve.

Catherine is from a large family and we say there is 2-degrees of separation from Catherine to nearly everyone in Northern Queensland. Her bubbly demeanour, steadfast commitment to patient care and no-nonsense approach means everyone is family at NQENT.

Administration Staff

Rachel, Melanie, Keisha, Emma, Colleen and Lynn

Anything from a routine referral for an ENT review, to a bleeding nose or child’s ear ache, visiting a specialist can be overwhelming and our team are here to reassure you and ensure your visit is well planned and as pleasant as possible. These extraordinary ladies are the talent behind our surgeons that make them look good and magically appear organised. Together these ladies manage all aspects of medical administration for each surgeon’s private practice including triaging referrals, scheduling clinics, clinic and theatre bookings, managing reception, drafting surgical quotations, transcription of letters, referrals and reports and managing telephone calls. There are also many unseen facets of operating our ENT clinic which our staff facilitate including scheduling of various appointments if travelling from remote areas, impromptu counselling of patients and family members and sharing a good joke. We are a family run practice and our staff are invaluable to us and must be treated with respect and in a courteous manner.

Our team at NQENT work hard and we all break together for lunch between 12- 1pm. During this period our phones are unattended and we would rather you call back after this time rather than leave a message.