[K]evin Windebank, Secondary Care Doctor on the Governing Body of NHS North Cumbria Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) has been awarded an Honorary Fellowship by the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health (RCPCH).
The Fellowship is bestowed by the RCPCH to individuals who have demonstrated, through research or clinical commitment, major contributions to paediatrics during their career.
The RCPCH awarded the Fellowship to Dr Windebank for advancing child health in the UK and internationally describing him as a ‘superb clinician and teacher as well as being an outstanding communicator.’
The citation states: “He has been a central and dynamic figure in the delivery of exceptional health care in the field of paediatric malignancies in the North East, the United Kingdom and beyond for many years.
“He was the lead in setting up the Teenage Cancer Service in Newcastle which culminated in the opening of one of the first teenage specific wards in the country. He was also responsible for setting up the paediatric lymphoma service and was an important national expert in this disease. In addition he is the UK expert on Langerhans cell histiocytosis as well as being one of the foremost international experts in this disease, receiving numerous requests for second opinions from around the globe. He developed the paediatric curriculum at Newcastle University and ran it for over 15 years, he led this dynamically and effectively with excellent feedback from all students.
“Dr Windebank is a leading advocate on the value and importance of the College in the lives of paediatricians and the advantages the College brings in terms of enhancing the quality of care given to the children of the United Kingdom and the rest of the world.”
Dr Windebank said: “I am absolutely honoured to receive this Honorary Fellowship. I have had the pleasure of working with some fantastic colleagues throughout my career and to have your work recognised in this way is really amazing. I’m still pinching myself that I was awarded this prestigious Fellowship.”
Jon Rush, Chair of the Governing Body for NHS North Cumbria CCG said: “Dr Windebank is a real credit to both himself and the organisation. We are thrilled he received this fellowship for all of the fantastic work he has achieved throughout his career.”
Dr Windebank joined the NHS North Cumbria CCG Governing Body as Secondary Care Doctor in December 2016 following retirement after 25 years as a Senior Lecturer in Child Health at Newcastle University and as a Consultant in Paediatric and Adolescent Oncology for the Newcastle upon Tyne NHS Hospitals Foundation Trust.
His responsibilities at the University included organising Child Health teaching for medical students, working together with hospitals across the North East and Cumbria.
At the Newcastle Royal Victoria Infirmary he specialised in looking after children and young people with cancer from Cumbria and the North East. This involved working closely with local Cumbrian hospital paediatric teams to provide a degree of shared care, especially for children with leukaemia and lymphoma.
As a part of NHS Cumbria CCG’s Governing Body Dr Windebank plays a key and active role in the decision making process of the organisation.
