New Lead Clinician for LASG Advisory Panel
A message from Gavin Spickett, new Chair of LASG’s Medical Advisory Panel
"I was appointed as a consultant in Immunology & Allergy at the Royal Victoria Infirmary, Newcastle upon Tyne, in 1991, having previously trained in Oxford, Northwick Park Hospital and Ipswich. I have a broad range of clinical interests including severe allergic reactions, primary immune deficiency and chronic fatigue syndrome. I, and my team of nurses and dieticians, care for a number of patients with severe latex allergy and I chair the Trust’s Latex Allergy Committee.
I have been instrumental in ensuring that my Trust has reduced the use of latex, to improve the safety for patients and staff. In 2005 I completed a Masters degree in Medical Law and my thesis was entitled ‘The implications of allergy to natural rubber latex for NHS Trusts’. I have been a member of LASG’s medical advisory panel since its inception and have been appreciative of the help and advice from the outgoing chairman, Graham Lowe, who has sadly had to step down for health reasons. I would like to place on record the panel’s thanks to Graham for all the hard work he has undertaken on behalf of patients with latex allergy."
From the LASG Chair, Aleks Kinay
"After careful consideration and, due to health reasons, Dr Graham Lowe is stepping down as Chair of our Medical Advisory Panel. Graham has been a great asset to LASG over the years he has chaired the panel.
My first contact with Graham came about when he rang LASG to make a few inquiries regarding national guidance on latex allergy as he had just been appointed Chair of his Trust’s latex allergy task force. Several thousands of emails, sometimes more than dozen a day, have elapsed since this time during which Graham became increasingly involved with the group and during which he set up LASG’s Medical Advisory Panel to deal with medical queries that were coming in from healthcare and Government departments.
Graham has worked incredibly hard in his voluntary capacity to ensure that the right information reached all those that requested it, in the appropriate time frames. Always a pleasure to work with, with an analytical mind and a keen eye for a grammatical or technical error, Graham has increased the profile and credibility of our support group amongst the medical profession and other organisations, and we are extremely indebted to him.
Graham has been instrumental in developing the British Association of Dermatologists information gateway on latex allergy, the Health and Safety Executive toolkit, and our Position Statement.
Graham will continue to be our Treasurer for the time being.
In Graham’s place we are delighted to appoint our new Medical Advisory Chair, Dr Gavin Spickett. We look forward to working with Gavin more closely in the future."
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