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Dr Katherine Spinks

Dr Spinks is a consultant in respiratory medicine who joined the Trust in 2016.

MRCP, MA, DTM&H, MBBS

Training and education

  • MBBS (medical degree) - St Bartholomew's Hospital Medical School, University of London, 1995
  • MRCP (membership of the Royal College of Physicians) - London, 1998
  • DTM&H (professional diploma in tropical medicine and hygiene) - School of Tropical Medicine & Hygiene, Liverpool University, 2002
  • MA medical ethics and law - Keele University 2007
  • CCT (certificate of completion of training) respiratory and general medicine - Wessex Deanery 2008

Experience

Dr Spinks is a consultant in respiratory medicine who joined the Trust in 2016. She specialises in the treatment of interstitial lung diseases (ILDs), conditions that affect the tissue supporting the air sacs in the lungs. Previously, she worked at Queen Alexandra Hospital in Portsmouth for seven years. 

Dr Spinks usually works at the Lymington New Forest Hospital, where she is a consultant in respiratory and general medicine. She’s also part of UHS’s regional service for patients with ILDs. One ILD Dr Spinks is involved in treating is idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), and she prescribes anti-fibrotic therapies (treatments that prevent scar tissue building up in the lungs) to treat it. You may be referred to Dr Spinks for initial diagnosis or follow-up appointments.

Dr Spinks is part of a regional multidisciplinary team for ILD. The team recruits patients for clinical research studies in ILD, and is also collecting data on familial ILD for the 100,000 Genomes Project.

Along with Dr Sophie Fletcher and other colleagues, Dr Spinks set up the WILD (Wessex interstitial lung disease) patient support group. She’s co-written information for patients and carers, and this is used regionally and also by the British Lung Foundation. Dr Spinks runs a regional network of doctors and multidisciplinary team members who meet twice a year to work on improving care for ILD patients in the Wessex area.

Key achievements

  • Setting up and running the WILD patient support group.
  • Obtaining early access to novel treatments for local patients with IPF.
  • Member of the BTS IPF Registry steering committee.

Research

Dr Spinks' publications include:

  • Fletcher S, Jones MG, Spinks K, Sgalla G, Marshall BG, Limbrey R, Richeldi L. The safety of new drug treatments for Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis. Expert Opinion Drug Safety 2016;15:1483-1489.
  • SV Fletcher, MG Jones, E Renzoni, H Palfrey, R Hoyles, K Spinks, M Kokosi, A Kwok, C Warburton, V Titmuss, M Thillai, N Simler,T Maher, F Chua, A Wells, L Richeldi, LG Spencer. Nintedanib for the treatment of Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis – initial experience in a UK cohort. BTS poster session, December 2015. 10.1136/thoraxjnl-2015-207770.146.
  • Wallis A, Spinks K. The diagnosis and management of interstitial lung diseases. BMJ May 2015;350:h2072.

Contact

You can contact Dr Spinks via her secretary Hayley King - call 023 8120 6228 or send an email.