Dr Andrew Rowland

School of Health & Society

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Contact Details

Community Paediatric Service
1st Floor
Universal Square
Devonshire Street North
Manchester
M12 6JH
United Kingdom

*Please mark all correspondence FAO: Professor Rowland (Coral Suite)*

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0161 2761234

Biography

Professor Andrew Rowland
JP BMedSci (Hons) BMBS (Hons) PhD SFFMLM FAcadMEd FRCEM FRCPCH FRSA CF

Officer for Child Protection at the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health

OVERVIEW
Andrew has a portfolio career as a Lead Employer Medical Director, Consultant in Children's Emergency Medicine, Honorary Professor (Children’s Rights, Law, and Advocacy), Non-Executive Director of an international non-governmental organisation (M'Lop Tapang), and Chairman of the Board of Trustees of a registered charity in England and Wales (SicKids). He has 20 years of national, and over a decade of international, clinical and leadership experience and expertise. This includes eight years in non-executive board level director roles in multi-million Euro and multi-million Dollar organisations.

In 2023 Andrew was appointed as the Officer for Child Protection at the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health. Andrew's Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) degree was in children’s rights, law, and advocacy and explored "building child safe communities with children and young people at their hearts".

ACADEMIC
In 2014 Andrew was appointed as Honorary Professor at the University of Salford. His research portfolio includes having been the Principal Investigator for an NIHR RfPB study into children’s emergency department early warning systems and scores (over £316k), and directing a national project for NHS England (North) to co-design a communication model with children and young people to better identify those at risk of exploitation, and those with personal experience of mental health problems, alcohol use, drug use and family or school difficulties (over £100k). Andrew has led national and international colleagues to recommend legislative changes in the United Kingdom (UK), USA and Australia, to better safeguard the health and wellbeing of children and young people living in those countries. His publications are available from the University of Salford Institutional Repository.

INTERNATIONAL CHILDREN'S ADVOCACY
Andrew has provided advice to two governments in Southeast Asia about establishing a countrywide child protection training strategy and launching improved multi-agency partnerships and investigations of potential cases of child abuse. He has delivered internationally-orientated training on the recognition of, and response to, potential cases of child abuse, which he has delivered to representatives of the UNHCR, UNICEF, overseas Diplomatic Missions, overseas High Commissions, and the UK National Crime Agency. Further, as part of a small, invited group of senior professionals Andrew contributed to advice given to a government in Central America about the potential evaluation of new proposals designed to improve childhood morbidity and mortality in the country. Andrew has contributed to the development of recommendations at the International Federation for Emergency Medicine to introduce safeguarding (child protection) standards into emergency departments around the world. He has been a member of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office Pro-bono Medical Panel since 2013.

MEDICO-POLITICAL ACHIEVEMENTS
From 2013-2019 Andrew was the appointed Head of the UK delegation to the Union Européenne des Médecins Spécialistes (UEMS). In 2018 he led a team to secure the continued full membership of the UK within UEMS, regardless of the outcome of the Brexit negotiations between the UK government and the remaining EU27 States. Within the UEMS Andrew initiated a project to include safeguarding competencies within pan-European medical specialty training curricula.

HUMANITARIANISM
Andrew is the Chair of the Board of Trustees of the SicKids charity he founded in 2015. SicKids (registered with the Charity Commission for England and Wales: 1164131) operates internationally between the North West of England and Cambodia. SicKids has contributed to improved outcomes for disabled children and those living with asthma in South West Cambodia; and it has launched a unique collaboration between the UK and Cambodia to install state-of-the-art children’s Sensory Spaces in both countries. From 2013 to 2020 Andrew was a member of the British Medical Association International Committee and was Deputy Chair of the committee from 2016 to 2019.

MEDICINE IN THE NATIONAL HEALTH SERVICE
Since January 2019 Andrew has been Lead Employer Medical Director initially at St Helens and Knowsley Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust and now at Mersey and West Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust (MWL): an organisation employing 13,000 doctors and dentists and public health trainees throughout the UK. MWL is the largest single employer of doctors in the National Health Service (NHS) in England. Andrew has specific responsibility for the development and management of processes surrounding doctors and dentists in difficulty, including the disciplinary procedure and full multi-agency liaison with partners, for example the police, local authorities, defence organisations, regulators and NHS Resolution. Andrew has completed advanced media training and advanced negotiation skills training.

Clinically, Andrew has been a Consultant Paediatrician since 2009, registered as a subspecialist with the UK General Medical Council (registration: 4715636). He also holds full international registration with the Medical Council of Cambodia (registration: 30). Andrew has clinical and academic interests in children’s rights, law, and advocacy; and child health research with a focus on safeguarding vulnerable people. For over six years Andrew was the sole Consultant in Children's Emergency Medicine within The Pennine Acute Hospitals NHS Trust and he took pride in being involved in the setup of a brand-new children’s emergency department at North Manchester General Hospital.

AWARDS
In 2014 Andrew was awarded a prestigious Fellowship (for life) by The Churchill Fellowship and in 2016 he won the Pol Roger Prize for his Fellowship: Living on a Railway Line. In 2017 Andrew was awarded the Association Medal by the British Medical Association in recognition of his distinguished service to the Association and his contribution to medicine. In 2019 Andrew was awarded the Gold Decoration of Honour by the European Union of Medical Specialists to recognise his dedicated work for European Medical Specialists. In 2021 Andrew became one of only 89 people thus far to be awarded Senior Fellowship of the Faculty of Medical Leadership and Management. The 2023 Andrew became the Officer for Child Protection at the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health and also was one of ten people to receive a University of Nottingham Alumni Award in 2023.

Areas of Research

Children's Advocacy
Safeguarding vulnerable people
Children's Rights Laws
Children's Rights
Humanitarian paediatrics | global child health

Areas of Supervision

Safeguarding vulnerable children
Early warning scores in children's emergency medicine
Children's rights
Children's health and social care and safeguarding in Cambodia
Heath assessments of unaccompanied asylum seeking children
Health assessments of Our Children (Looked After Children)
Determining the optimal bereavement support for families following the sudden and unexpected death of a child (SUDC)

Qualifications and Recognitions Publications

Qualifications and Recognitions

Qualifications

  • Doctor of Philosophy (Children's Rights, Law, and Advocacy)

    2014 - 2020

  • Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery (with Honours)

    1995 - 2000

  • Bachelor of Medical Sciences (with Honours in the First Class) [BMedSci (Hons)]

    1995 - 1998

Recognitions

  • Officer for Child Protection (Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health)

  • Senior Fellowship of the Faculty of Medical Leadership and Management

  • Gold Decoration of Honour from the Union Européenne des Médecins Spécialistes | European Union of Medical Specialists (UEMS)

  • The Association Medal of the British Medical Association

  • Chair of the Board of Trustees of SicKids charity (1164131)

Publications

Publications

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