UHNM Consultant awarded Honorary Chair at Keele University School of Medicine
A consultant from University Hospitals of North Midlands NHS Trust (UHNM) has been awarded an Honorary Professorship at Keele University School of Medicine for his nationally-recognised academic and professional achievements in vascular surgery.
Professor Arun Pherwani has been a consultant vascular surgeon for over 20 years at UHNM specialising in aortic surgery, thoracic outlet conditions, vascular access including paediatric access and multidisciplinary working. He established the Staffordshire and South Cheshire AAA Screening programme and has made significant academic contribution to the National AAA Screening programme.
He has a recognised interest in data, coding and using national registries to improve outcomes for patients. He has been chair of the Audit and Quality Improvement Committee for the Vascular Society of Great Britain and Ireland (VSGBI) and is the clinical lead for the National Vascular Registry (NVR) and joint clinical lead for the National Consultant Information Programme (NCIP) for vascular surgery.
The NVR team have led national quality improvement work on improving outcomes for patients with critical limb-threatening ischaemia (CLTI) awarded with an NHSE England CQUIN, are the only international registry to collect and report on outcomes for vascular patients during the COVID-19 pandemic and have pioneered collection of Aortic Devices data to improve safety and quality for patient care. He is the UK’s national representative on VASCUNET, the Europe and Australasian collaboration of Vascular Registries and the International Consortium of Vascular Registries (ICVR) and represents VASCUNET on the European Research Hub (ERH).
He has a strong background of supporting education, research and trials at Keele University and at the UHNM. He is on the Board of Examiners for the FRCS Vascular Exit Examination.
Professor Pherwani also holds additional roles with NHS England on the Vascular Clinical Reference Group (CRG), the Outcome Registries Programme (ORP) on Medical Device Safety, the Acute Aortic Dissection (AAD) Steering Board and Chairs the Vascular Specialised Services Devices Programme (SSDP). The NCIP team are the first ever to have reported on the incidence and outcomes for patients with AAD in England including medically treated patients.
Professor Pherwani said: “I am very honoured and grateful that Keele University have awarded me an Honorary Professorship at the Keele University School of Medicine. In particular, I am indebted to Professor Fidelma O'Mahony, Professor Christian Mallen, Professor James Nolan, Dr George Varughese and Professor Kamaraj Karunanithi for their encouragement and support.
“This achievement would not have happened without the help from my colleagues at UHNM, and I would like to thank Dr Matthew Lewis, Dr Nick Coleman, Dr Steve Merron, Mr Achilleas Tsiamis, Mr Jack Fairhead, Julia Billingham, and all my vascular surgical, IR and anaesthetic colleagues across the trust in all disciplines and in all grades for their help and support.
“I have also had the good fortune of working with excellent colleagues nationally, and I would like to thank Professor Robert Sayers from Leicester, Professor Christopher Imray from Coventry, Professor David Cromwell from London and Mr Jonathan Boyle from Cambridge, along with several others from the VSGBI, the NVR team at the Royal College of Surgeons of England and within NHS England.
“And finally, I would like to thank each and every person who has helped me personally and professionally over the years. However little or much, it is their generosity and the kindness, and gratitude of the patients I serve, that has kept me well-grounded over the years.”
Professor Kamaraj Karunanithi, Consultant in Clinical Haematology and Director of Research and Innovation at UHNM added: "Prof Arun Pherwani's recognition is a reflection of his unwavering commitment and contributions to the vascular surgery department at UHNM. The collaboration between Prof Pherwani and UHNM's Research and Innovation department has notably advanced surgical research initiatives. Keele University's acknowledgment through the award is a well-deserved tribute to Prof Pherwani's efforts. The Research and Innovation team is excited about the prospect of continued collaboration with Keele University and academic development team at UHNM, aiming to foster more influential surgical research that will have a positive impact not just in the North Midlands but also reaching far beyond."