Many professionals and advocates working with children with Long COVID were inspired by deeply personal experiences, my journey with Long COVID was rather different and rare.
Adult and Children Symptoms
I’m a Consultant Paediatric Cardiologist and Cardiac Transplant Physician based at the Freeman Hospital in Newcastle upon Tyne. I’ve worked in paediatrics for over 20 years, specialising in congenital heart disease, paediatric heart failure, transplantation, and cardiac MRI. I lead on the advanced heart failure programme and cardiac imaging service.
At Freeman Hospital, I am the Medical Lead for Patient Safety and Quality within the cardiothoracic clinic board and serve as Clinical Governance Lead for Paediatric Cardiology. Nationally, I’m proud to lead the National Congenital Heart Disease Audit (NCHDA, NICOR), with key objectives to continuously improve standards of care and outcomes across the UK.
Throughout my career, I’ve been driven by a commitment to both clinical excellence and innovation. My clinical research fellowship at UCL and Great Ormond Street Hospital deepened my understanding of cardiac MRI, and I continue to use this advanced imaging in my everyday work to help guide complex diagnoses and treatment decisions.
Alongside my clinical responsibilities, I hold an academic post as an Associate Clinical Lecturer at Newcastle University, where I teach and mentor the next generation of healthcare professionals. Sharing knowledge and building future expertise is an essential part of my role. Keen researcher, I am chief investigator and principal investigator for a number of national and international clinical trials in children with cardiac conditions.
In recent years, I’ve also turned my focus toward the impact of Long COVID in children. Through my work with Long Covid Kids, I’ve become a public advocate for improved understanding, research, and care pathways for young people affected by this condition. Listening to families and learning from their experiences has shaped how I approach this evolving challenge — with compassion, curiosity, and a strong belief that we must do better.
Whether I’m reviewing scans, supporting a child through heart failure, or working with national networks to improve outcomes, my goal remains the same: to provide clear answers, tailored care, and real hope to children and families facing the toughest of diagnoses.
As a principal investigator. I am in the process of setting up ethically approved clinical study with support of Newcastle Hospitals Clinical Research team, to look at impact of COVID infection on children through diagnostic blood markers and imaging.
While many professionals and advocates working with children with Long COVID were inspired by deeply personal experiences, my journey with Long COVID was rather different and rare. A working colleague, who had suffered from multiple COVID infections throughout the pandemic leaving them housebound and unable to work, approached me to seek my involvement in a study looking at vascular impact of COVID on children and how use of blood thinning medication could help mitigate the long-term effects. I knew straight away that my expertise in cardiovascular conditions and medical management, would be great asset in better understanding the complications related to COVID infections and how we can manage and treat children. Next thing, I become a medical champion for the LONG COVID KIDS charity and set up the children’s Long COVID clinic with Dr Binita Kane.
I realised that as an accomplished paediatric cardiologist, I brought in unique expertise and knowledge of manging children with cardiac medications including blood thinning drugs to help alleviate COVID induced features of micro-vascular effects, dysautonomia and POTS. Working with Dr Kane and her holistic approach to managing patients with Long COVID, we have changed lives for several children with excellent outcomes in the last 2 years.
‘Results speak for themselves’ – Listening, understanding and making a tangible difference by way of managing Long COVID children and seeing the positive outcomes, continues to drive my passion for this amazing work and journey we have undertaken. I would love to contribute even more by increasing the awareness of this condition and more importantly contribute to scientific research and evidence-based medicine, in improve understanding of Long COVID in the wider population and healthcare community.
Publications to Follow
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