David has been involved in postgraduate medical education for many years and was previously Head of School in Paediatrics at the Severn Deanery (South West), followed by Officer for Recruitment and then Officer for Assessment at the RCPCH. He has been a Consultant Neonatologist at Southmead Hospital for over 20 years and is due to take over as the Director of Medical Education at North Bristol NHS Trust next April.
During the last year, David has worked to ensure paediatric training and trainee progression continues despite the COVID-19 pandemic. This has required providing reassuring guidance to trainees, adapting the ARCP progression criteria, and seeking approval from the regulatory bodies to adapt and deliver remotely our exams and assessments.
David has also worked in partnership with the executive committee of the British Association of Perinatal Medicine to produce the national COVID-19 clinical guidelines for paediatricians working in neonatal settings.
We extend our warm congratulations to a valued and highly respected colleague.
Professor Russell Viner said:
David’s contribution has been immense during this last year and throughout his tenure at RCPCH. His commitment to the specialty and his mentorship and kindness to colleagues is well known and widely appreciated. He has been a fantastic support to me and a huge asset to the College. I warmly congratulate him on this well-deserved honour.
David said: “This year has been an anxious time and incredibly tough on everyone. I am pleased to have been able to play a small part in providing reassurance and guidance to paediatric trainees worried about their training, and also to health care professionals working in neonatology.
He added:
I am immensely proud to have been awarded an MBE, which is really a recognition of the hard work of many people, in particular the RCPCH staff and my colleagues at Southmead in Bristol, all of whom have shown great fortitude, innovation and dedication.
Despite the endless Zoom calls and Teams meetings, it has been the human connections and collaboration that has kept me going.