Dr Dave Watkins, Executive Director of Medicine

Dave was appointed as the Trust’s Medical Director from 1 September, 2022. Prior to this he was Divisional Medical Director for the Women, Children and Families Division from September 2015.

In his role as Medical Director, Dave acts as professional lead for medical staff across the Trust, and as medical advisor to Trust Board. His particular areas of responsibility include governance and patient safety, medical education and pharmacy services.

Dave completed his undergraduate training at Edinburgh University in 1991, and undertook his paediatric training between Manchester and Belfast, including the award of MD from Queen’s University in 2001 for research into cardiovascular risk in teenage children with the NI Young Hearts Project. He completed his specialty training in 2003, subsequently joining the Antrim Hospital team as a Consultant Paediatrician in January 2005.

Dave has continued to enjoy the varying challenges of general paediatrics through to the present time, and has also practised subspecialty interests in paediatric respiratory medicine and paediatric allergy, setting up with dietetic and nursing colleagues the Trust’s children’s allergy service in 2006. He also set up a multi-disciplinary children’s obesity service in 2008 and was an integral part of the Trust’s Managed Obesity Network at its inception in 2010. Clinically Dave has also attained postgraduate qualifications in Sports Medicine, and has worked as team doctor for both Manchester City FC’s youth academy and the Northern Ireland Under-21 football team.

As a Consultant, Dave has had a strong interest in education and training, with roles as a Foundation Programme Educational Supervisor, Advanced Paediatric Life Support Instructor, Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health examiner, and has taken an active role in regional paediatric development via representing the Trust in the NI Child Health Partnership since its inception in 2017.

He has taken on leadership roles starting as Clinical Lead for Antrim Paediatric Department in 2009, moving to the role of Clinical Director in 2012 before taking up the post of Divisional Medical Director in 2015.