New Year Honours 2022
The New Year Honours list recognises the accomplishments and service of extraordinary people across the UK. Three members of staff across King’s Health Partners, and one former member of staff, have been recognised this year.
Rt. Hon Prof Lord Ajay Kakkar PC KBE
Rt. Hon Prof Lord Ajay Kakkar PC [pictured below] was awarded Knights Commander of the Order of the British Empire (KBE), the second highest honour in the UK’s annual New Year Honours List.
Lord Kakkar was appointed Chair of King’s Health Partners in 2021, bringing a wealth of high profile experience in healthcare, having previously served as Professor of Surgery at University College London and Chairman of UCLPartners Academic Health Science Partnership, and is Director of the Thrombosis Research Institute London.
The KBE citation recognised his dedicated services to Healthcare and Public Service, stating:
Lord Kakkar has distinguished himself in public and voluntary service through his membership and chairmanship of a range of public and charitable bodies, as well as through his services to the medical field. He was appointed as an independent crossbench peer in 2010 and from 2013-18, he served as Chair of the House of Lords Appointments Commission, taking charge of the recommendation of new crossbench life peers. He was appointed Chair of the Judicial Appointments Commission in 2016, leading a group of 14 other lay and judicial commissioners. An outstanding and valuable advocate for public health and clinical research, he has served on the Science and Technology Select Committee and an ad hoc Committee on the future of the NHS.
Prof Sir Shakeel Ahmed Qureshi
Prof Shakeel Ahmed Qureshi [pictured below], Professor of Paediatric Cardiology, Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust (GSTT) was awarded a Knighthood (Knight Bachelor) for services to Paediatric Cardiology and Charity.
Professor Sir Qureshi is a globally respected consultant paediatric cardiologist working at Evelina London. He joined GSTT in 1988 and, frustrated by the lack of appropriate specialist equipment for operating on children with congenital heart defects, he co-invented the Tyshak balloon catheter which is now used worldwide. It allows many children and adults to have their heart defect treated without open heart surgery. In 2013, he came up with the paravalvar leak device and has been at the forefront of using and evaluating new valves, which allow specialist doctors to treat leaky valves. He has also organised teaching and educational conferences for paediatric cardiologists worldwide for more than 20 years.
On receiving the Knighthood, he said:
When I got the email I read it several times before I responded because I thought it was a scam. It was a shock and I still haven’t got over it. To have somebody appreciate your work, values and contributions is an amazing feeling, especially when I look back at where I started. My parents moved from Pakistan to the UK in the 60s and it is their hard work and sacrifices and my specialty that got me here.
Vanda Fairchild MBE
Vanda Fairchild [pictured below], from Horsforth in Leeds, was made a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) for her services to the NHS and to women’s martial arts. She retired from GSTT earlier this year having been a nurse for 37 years.
Vanda spent the last 18 years working in the Trust’s transplant, renal and urology team. She became a clinical nurse specialist in 2013, and has supported young kidney patients and their families through the transition from paediatric services to adult kidney care.
Vanda said:
The nomination came as a complete surprise. When I opened the letter I laughed out loud and then burst into tears. I felt overwhelmed that someone had taken the time to nominate me. I accept the award for myself and on behalf of all the nurses who have given so much of themselves to their roles in the NHS.
Over the last 40 years Vanda has been a keen amateur sports woman practicing Tomiki Aikido. Until her departure from Grove Park in south east London to Horsforth, she ran a successful aikido club in Rotherhithe teaching children and adults of all ages and abilities.
Dr Malur Sudhanva OBE
Dr Malur Sudhanva [pictured below], Consultant Virologist, South London Specialist Virology Centre, King's College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust (KCH) was awarded an Order of the British Empire (OBE) for services to Healthcare Science particularly during COVID-19.
Dr Sudhanva has been a Consultant Medical Virologist at KCH since 2004. In 2020, he was seconded to the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) as Lead Clinical Advisor for the Lighthouse Laboratories, and local advisor for the NIHR UK Biocentre based in Milton Keynes. The Lighthouse Laboratories were established as part of the UK’s efforts to help stop the spread of COVID-19 by establishing community-based mass testing.
Dr Sudhanva’s OBE is recognition for his efforts during the pandemic, both as a consultant and member of staff at KCH, and for his role with UKHSA and Lighthouse Laboratories. Responding to the news, Dr Sudhanva said:
I am honoured and humbled by this recognition. This honour is dedicated to all my fellow laboratory-based clinical virologists, clinical microbiologists, clinical scientists, biomedical scientists, senior assistant technical officers, administrative staff, volunteers, managers, IT and procurement teams across UK, whose magnificent behind-the-scenes efforts have been such a crucial part of the UK’s COVID-19 response.
I arrived in the UK from India 25 years ago with a hunger for knowledge. Wherever I’ve trained or worked, I have met so many people who have encouraged me to aim high, get work done, and let the result show for itself. Finally, I would like to thank my wife and son, for supporting me during the long hours I spent working.
During his career to date, Dr Sudhanva has also held multiple roles with the Royal College of Pathologists, as well as with a number of other clinical and academic organisations. He is also the current Chair of the Panel of Examiners in Virology at the Royal College of Pathologists.
The New Year Honours List includes 1,122 recipients, many of whom have been leading figures of science and medicine during the COVID-19 pandemic. This year’s Honours List was also the most ethnically diverse honours list to date with 15.1% of recipients from an ethnic minority background.