FORMER colleagues have led tributes to a pioneering children's doctor who was their inspirational boss and teacher.

Dr Douglas Andrew, of Bishop Auckland, County Durham, was one of a group of paediatricians who revolutionised medical care for North-East children by creating a separate service for them in the region's general hospitals.

He qualified at St Andrews, Scotland, in 1947, working in Dundee and Inverness before moving to Newcastle in 1961.

There, he was closely involved in a landmark work, The Thousand Families Study, which charted the progress of post-war babies and their families.

When he was appointed the first consultant paediatrician in south-west Durham in July 1963, he introduced unrestricted family visiting for young patients.

During his 24 years at Bishop Auckland General Hospital, he spearheaded developments including new maternity wards and a special care baby unit.

He followed this up by transforming the children's ward, making life easier for parents by giving them better accommodation, and creating a separate paediatric wing in outpatients.

At Dr Andrew's funeral, at Durham Crematorium, former colleague Dr Andrew Cottrell spoke of him as a caring doctor and enthusiastic and supportive teacher.

Dr Andrew, he said, had forged strong links between his own department at the regional centre in Newcastle, and was an examiner with the Royal College of Physicians in Edinburgh where he became a fellow in 1971.

He also made regular visits to Libya, where he taught paediatrics for a number of years.

Outside medicine Dr Andrew, who retired in 1987, lectured on Mediterranean cruise ships on the only black Roman emperor, Septimus Severus.

Bishop Auckland GP Dr Robert McManners, a senior house officer with Dr Andrew in the early Seventies, said: "He was quite the most considerate and unassuming yet inspirational consultant I ever worked for.

"He was a wonderful physician to whom many people owe a huge medical debt. He needs to be remembered as a beacon in the medical history of Bishop Auckland.

"I and many others regard him as one of the pioneering physicians in the country.

"He revolutionised paediatrics, but to me the most important aspect of his work was that he cared about, not just cared for, his clients."