Dr Abbas Khushnood

Dr Abbas Khushnood is a consultant paediatric cardiologist at Freeman Hospital and moved to Newcastle in 2018. He has over 15 years’ experience in treating children with heart conditions specialising in the management of children with heart failure and need for heart transplantation.

In his current role, Dr Khushnood has undertaken key leadership and quality improvement positions both at regional and national level. He was made Network director for Paediatric Congenital heart disease Network (NENC-CHDN) in 2019 and successfully expanded cardiac services in the region. He is Clinical Lead for cardiac imaging and governance within his department. He is also Associate Clinical Lecturer at Newcastle University and member of several professional societies.

Dr Khushnood was appointed as the Lead for National Congenital Heart Disease Audit, NICOR in 2020 and responsible for national annual reports highlighting clinical outcomes and quality improvement recommendations within CHD domain.

Covid-19 pandemic can have profound impact on children, affecting their heart and circulatory system in a variety of ways. As cardiologists, we have seen children present with acute Covid-19 and PIMS affecting their heart function and also receive referrals to review and assess children living with Long Covid symptoms like chest pain, generalised body ache and fatigue, palpitations, low blood pressure and reduced exercise capacity to list a few.

Dr Khushnood is keen to work with Long Covid children and support them with the best possible recovery. He has a 14-year daughter and loves to travel with his family. A bit of an adrenaline junkie, he enjoys sky diving and bungee jumping.