Nominated for Consultant Hero Award
Works at Royal Devon University Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust – EASTERN
It has been a privilege to have been supervised and mentored by Richard in various capacities. I learnt a great deal clinically and personally from him, and he is an outstanding doctor, trainer, and critical thinker. We have worked multiple shifts together on the general paediatrics ward, in the emergency department, and in the community. As a paediatric generalist, he always encourages staff of any background to understand the principles and foundation of delivering high-quality care to patients of different ages, no matter the complexity and challenges they present with. I believe if doctors, nurses, and allied professionals emulate his style and manner, then optimal care will always be provided to patients and their families.
Richard has a unique skill of separating out acute from chronic issues, and setting clear expectations of those around him, including the team of healthcare professionals, patients, and their families. From him, I learned how to frame interactions in the acute and non-acute setting within the team, and how to communicate with parents about challenges their child faces, including long-term disability and death.
He always challenges trainees and those around him, including their understanding of a topic, and encourages learning together, even on topics that he is well experienced with. He demonstrates such a high degree and standard of clinical curiosity – his thirst for knowledge is such an asset to his character, and he has an inquisitive mind and ease in the way he converses that makes it a joy to talk to him about all things medical- and non-medical. He teaches those around him so much about life from his own experiences and anecdotes.
Dr Tomlinson is always a pleasure to work with. He is keen to help support trainees to learn and will often observe us review patients on ward round as a way to support our learning. He has a lovely manner with patients and families as well as the whole team. He is always keen to help the junior team find ways to improve their work and for example has helped us make several improvements to Epic. He is one of my favourite consultants to work with on PAU as he is thorough and also pragmatic in his approach. I always enjoy my shift with him and learn a lot from him.
PAFTAs 