A FACIAL surgery consultant who helped introduce a TV link between accident and emergency departments and specialists across Lancashire has been recognised by the British Medical Association.

John Lowry, a consultant oral and maxillofacial surgeon, based at Blackburn Royal Infirmary, helped pioneer the introduction of a telecommunications link between casualty units in Burnley, Bolton and Bury with the specialist department in Blackburn.

The state of the art system was the first of its kind when set up two years ago with money from the government's modernisation fund and hospital trusts, and gives consultants the chance to diagnose a patient's injuries before they are transferred.

Mr Lowry's input into the pioneering scheme has helped his inclusion in a Who's Who of the country's most pioneering consultants by the BMA, in the document 'Pioneers in Patient Care: Consultants Leading Change'.

The link means that when a patient arrives at one of the A & E departments with a facial injury, pictures can be beamed to the telemedicine base at the infirmary for assessment.

Mr Lowry said: "Before we had the link, we relied on hasty conversations about a patient suffering trauma, with huge potential problems if we made the wrong decision.

"Specialist facilities for treating face and jaw injuries are very limited, so you do not want to refer patients unnecessarily but you do want to organise prompt attention for those who need it."

He said that the link meant that diagnosis could be much more accurate, despite the patient not being examined by a specialist, and it had improved patient care. Specialists could discuss the injuries with a casualty doctor via the video link and look at injuries and x-rays.

Mr Lowry added: "The pressure is huge, the frustrations mount but job satisfaction is enormous. When you rebuild a patient's face and jaw, you help them rebuild their life after a traumatic, potentially fatal injury or illness".

Dr Peter Hawker, chairman of the central consultants and specialists committee, which compiled the list of the top 82 consultants, said: "Against all the odds, consultants are pioneering new approaches to patient care".

"Far from resisting change, consultants are at the leading edge of innovation in the National Health Service. We are keen to seize the positive agenda and work constructively with the government, with national and local organisations and with our patient to achieve change."