Dr Rakesh Panchal

Dr Rakesh Panchal is a Consultant Respiratory Physician at Glenfield Hospital, University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust, where he also serves as Lead for the Pleural Disease and Bronchoscopy Services. He holds an Honorary Associate Professorship in Medical Education at the University of Leicester. He has been practising medicine since 2003 and is recognised for his expertise in pleural disease, interventional pulmonology and the management of complex respiratory conditions.

Dr Panchal graduated with Honours from the University of Leicester in 2003, where he ranked first in his year and was awarded the Faculty of Medicine Gold Medal. He became a Member of the Royal College of Physicians in 2006 and completed his specialist respiratory training in the East Midlands. In 2010, he undertook a Darzi Clinical Leadership Fellowship focused on tuberculosis screening and prevention in the UK, which led to a Master of Research degree and publication in the journal Thorax. He subsequently gained accreditation in respiratory medicine in 2013 and was elected Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians in 2018.

Appointed as a consultant in 2013, Dr Panchal established and leads tertiary pleural and interventional pulmonology services at Glenfield Hospital. He runs a sought-after Interventional Pulmonology Fellowship that trains doctors from across the UK and abroad. His expertise includes thoracic ultrasound, chest drain insertion, medical thoracoscopy, indwelling pleural catheters and advanced bronchoscopy including EBUS. He has also trained internationally in medical thoracoscopy in France and interventional bronchoscopy in Germany.

His clinical interests cover the full spectrum of respiratory medicine, including asthma, COPD, emphysema, bronchiectasis, lung fibrosis, sarcoidosis, tuberculosis, pleural effusion, pneumothorax, pneumonia, unexplained breathlessness, and lung cancer. He is active in research and has presented at major conferences in the UK, Europe and the USA.

Alongside his NHS role, Dr Panchal practises privately at Spire Leicester Hospital and Nuffield Health Leicester Hospital. He is a member of the British Thoracic Society, European Respiratory Society, World Association for Bronchology and Interventional Pulmonology, and the British Thoracic Oncology Group. He is also co-founder of the East Midlands Thoracic Society, sits on the regional specialist training committee, and contributes extensively to undergraduate and postgraduate education.