Dr Blightman qualified from Manchester University in 2006. He undertook his specialist anaesthetic training in London and Kent, including a year at the Royal Marsden Hospital, where he completed a year as a Fellow in Patient Safety. He was admitted as a Fellow to the Royal College of Anaesthetists (FRCA) in 2014, and as a Fellow of the Faculty of Intensive Care Medicine (FFICM) in 2017. He also completed the European Diploma in Regional Anaesthesia (EDRA) in 2015.

Dr Blightman was appointed as a Consultant in Anaesthesia and Intensive Care Medicine at Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust in 2017. He holds private practising privileges at KIMS Hospital and with Nuffield Health (Tunbridge Wells), where he provides anaesthetic services for adult patients having all types of surgery. He specialises in anaesthesia for orthopaedics, including regional anaesthesia for both upper and lower limb surgery.