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South West Clinicians recognised in Queen’s Birthday Honours List

South West clinicians have been awarded honours in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List for their work during the pandemic.

Professor Tim Cook, has been awarded an OBE for service to Anaesthesia. Professor Cook, who has been consultant in Anaesthesia and Intensive Care Medicine at the Royal United Hospitals, Bath since 1998, said:

“It is very humbling to receive this honour. Teams of staff throughout the hospital have worked tirelessly to provide high quality compassionate care for patients with COVID-19. This has led to outstanding care, many lives saved and innumerable families supported. In Bath this has required teamwork at all levels across the hospitals and this will be mirrored across the whole NHS.”

Professor Cook’s work over the past 18 months has included, at the start of the pandemic, maximising preparedness for anaesthesia and critical care working together, and COVID-19 risks to healthcare workers in particular the high impact on ethnic minorities and frontline staff.

Dr Ananthakrishnan Raghuram, Consultant Respiratory Physician from Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust was awarded an MBE for services to the NHS and the Covid-19 Response.

Dr Raghuram has been a consultant physician since 2007, in General and Respiratory Medicine in Gloucestershire. Prior to this he was a consultant Physician in Birmingham and developed clinical and management skills working as a Speciality Director for Renal and Respiratory medicine in the county (2013-15).

Dr Raghuram has a wide experience in the field of education and training, and has been a training programme director for core medicine. He is now the Head of the Postgraduate School of Medicine, and an accredited educational supervisor.

Dr Raghuram is a Chair and Examiner for the Membership of the Royal colleges of Physicians and has been part of the curriculum development group for the proposed new Three counties medical school with the University of Worcester.

As Associate Medical Director in Gloucestershire, Dr Raghuram has worked to improve the engagement and development of senior medical staff and has been a co-chair of the EDI committee.

Dr Raghuram is also Chair of the Gloucestershire Chest fund, an independent charity which raises money to buy equipment and support bursaries for healthcare staff.

Dr Cathryn Edwards, Consultant Physician and Gastroenterologist at Torbay and South Devon NHS Foundation Trust has been awarded an OBE.

Cited in the honours for her role as the immediate Past President of the British Society of Gastroenterology (2018-20) and her services to medicine, Cathryn’s OBE comes less than three months after she was announced as the first female registrar for the Royal College of Physicians (RCP).

Cathryn said:

​​​​​​​“I am of course at a personal level very delighted to receive this award, but perhaps most importantly it speaks to the significant role national specialty societies have had, along with the RCP, in leading the profession during the pandemic.

“I would like to take this opportunity to say a personal thank you to my colleagues across Torbay and South Devon and my patients and their families for their kind messages of congratulation and for their unerring support and understanding. I have been quite overwhelmed by their generosity.”

Two clinicians from University Hospitals Bristol and Weston NHS Foundation were also honoured. Ruth Hendy, Lead Cancer Nurse, received a British Empire Medal (BEM) for services to cancer patients and Dr Tom Wells, Consultant Medical Oncologist, was awarded an MBE for services to Medicine and People with Disabilities in the Medical Profession.

Dr Wells who was permanently paralysed in a winter sports accident in 1992 qualified as a doctor in June 1996. Since then, Tom has gone on to ​​​​​​​co-found the disability course at Bristol Medical School and over the years has given presentations to medical students about his unique perspective of disability as both a clinician and a patient. He has also taken part in the Royal College of Physicians This Doctors Can campaign and written a book about his experience, called Behind the Curtains.

Tom said: “Receiving this award acts as real encouragement to continuing doing what I’m doing, and I’m intent on using my situation to challenge attitudes and help educate people around disability in medicine, showing what’s possible. It was such a pleasant surprise to receive this recognition, I feel honoured and I am very grateful to my wife and daughter for all of their support over the years.”