Special interest in farm assurance, infectious disease management and knowledge transfer to dairy farmers.

COVID-19 Clinical Case Worker with NHS Professionals

Independent veterinary consultant with extensive experience in disease surveillance, livestock disease management and farm auditing within the UK Industry.

Regional Director for CVS (UK) Ltd working with Farm & Mixed Animal Practices in Scotland and Northern England. Responsible for 10 farm and farm/companion animal veterinary businesses in Scotland and N. England. • Together with the Divisional Accountant I set individual practice budgets and a combined regional annual sales target in excess of £10 million. Worked with practice managers to regularly monitor financial performance in relation to local targets, directing changes as appropriate. • I held direct line-management responsibility for 15 Clinical Directors and Practice Managers. • Provided strategic direction and leadership for the practices within the region. Drove the introduction of new products and services to maximise sales, whilst working to maintain the highest clinical quality and care standards as recognised through RCVS practice accreditation.

Working within the Zoetis Ruminant business unit I acted as a technical consultant to veterinary practitioners, farmers and SQPs in Scotland. This role involved me in pharmacovigilance support of the Zoetis portfolio and in providing technical training and assistance to veterinary professionals and livestock producers. Cattle health areas of particular interest include respiratory disease, mastitis prevention and treatment and beef and dairy fertility. For both cattle and sheep I have particular interest and experience in the sustainable control of internal and external parasites. I maintain a long-standing interest in sheep health and production. Recent areas of particular interest are caseous lymphadenitis (CLA) and lameness control in this species. I am a holder of the RCVS Certificate in Sheep Health and Production and a Diplomate of the European College of Small Ruminant Health Management.I have recently acted as a teacher and external examiner of veterinary undergraduates at the Scottish Vet Schools.

I managed the Regional Diagnostic Surveillance Centre in Perth, Scotland. This laboratory had at that time a staff of nine and carried out diagnostic and surveillance work on behalf of Scottish Government and local veterinary practitioners. The work here included postmortem examination of carcasses, clinical pathology, serology and biochemical testing principally in farm animals. During this time I represented the College at governmental and industry meetings in the capacity of small ruminant specialist. I was also involved in a number of knowledge transfer initiatives for SAC. These required the production of written materials and presentations at farmer and veterinary meetings. Projects of this type included the Bluetongue Vaccination in Scotland campaign and Liver Fluke Awareness campaign. I also developed and managed the SAC Caseous Lymphadenitis (CLA) Monitoring Scheme.

Working predominantly in ruminant disease diagnostics, this role involved the examination and reporting of submissions to veterinary surgeons and farmers. The first diagnosis of caseous lymphadenitis (CLA) in the Scottish Borders in 1996 led to 15 years of research into this emerging disease, culminating in a doctoral thesis.

Working as an assistant in a busy rural mixed veterinary practice I discovered that my main interests lay in the area of farm animal medicine.