New President for the RCVS

RCVS Day - the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons’ AGM and Awards Day - saw the investiture of the new President, Mrs Jill Nute, on 4 July 2008, at One Great George Street, London.

Mrs Nute graduated from Liverpool University in 1970 and initially assisted in mixed practice in the Lake District, Droitwich and Leominster. In 1976, she established a mixed practice with her husband Geoff, a fellow Liverpool graduate, in Wadebridge, Cornwall.

The practice is now an eight-veterinary surgeon concern, a veterinary nurse Training Practice, an RCVS Accredited Tier 2 Small Animal General Practice and Farm Animal General Practice, and an equine practice accredited to Tier 1; it is also a Meat Hygiene Service approved contractor.

Mrs Nute has been an RCVS Council member since 1993, serving on all of its committees. She has chaired many of these committees and additional working parties, including the Advisory and Public Affairs Committees. She served on the Officer team as Treasurer for three years, from 1996-1999, and is currently Chairman of the Practice Standards Group.

Spending several years on the Councils of the British Veterinary Association and the Society of Practising Veterinary Surgeons (SPVS), she was elected President of SPVS in 1991.

RCVS Day also brought other changes to the RCVS Officer team: Dr Bob Moore, outgoing President, became Senior Vice-President, and Professor Sandy Trees took up the role of Junior Vice-President.

Professor Sheila Crispin stood down as Senior Vice-President, with Dr Moore commenting that: “The veterinary profession is privileged to have such a knowledgeable and committed advocate.”

Retiring Council members included David McDowell, Debby Reynolds, Neil Smith and Wendy Harrison. New lay observer to the Preliminary Investigation Committee, Catherine Harvey, will replace retiring observer Diane Mark.

The President paid particular tribute to long-standing Council member and past-President Stephen Ware, who retires from Council but will remain active in veterinary politics as Vice-President and Treasurer of the Federation of Veterinarians of Europe, he also remains Chairman of the RCVS Trust.

As part of the AGM, newly-elected Council members Richard Stephenson, Charles Gruchy and Bertie Ellis were welcomed. A fourth new member, Catherine Goldie, was not present.

It was also announced that Professor Michael Herrtage and Professor Duncan Maskell have been reappointed for further four-year periods by the University of Cambridge, and Professor Sandy Tress has been reappointed for the same term by the University of Liverpool.

Dot Creighton was re-elected to the Veterinary Nurses Council and Katherine Kissick was elected for the first time. New lay member Penelope Swindlehurst and appointed veterinary surgeon Helen Torrington were also welcomed to the VN Council and the President thanked retiring VN Council members Diane Guinan, Donna Hunter and Neil Smith.

President Dr Bob Moore conferred a range of awards, including an Honorary Associateship upon Petplan and Petplan Trust founders Mrs Patsy Bloom and Mr David Simpson who, he said, have had a “remarkable effect on the veterinary profession, animals and their owners.”

Honorary Associateship was also awarded to Mr Geoff Davies, who has dedicated his 30-year career at the University of Bristol Veterinary School to the training, support and development of future veterinary surgeons.

He has also served as a valued member of the RCVS Extra-Mural Studies Committee for many years. “It is his enormous contribution in supporting and encouraging the students that is being recognised today,” said Dr Moore.

Honorary Fellowships were awarded to Mr Gary Clayton Jones, Professor Paul Flecknell and Dr Christine Gibbs, and the Dame Olga Uvarov Award, a cash prize for a researcher under the age of 40, was awarded on behalf of the RCVS Trust to Dr Harriet Smythe (in her absence)

Veterinary and veterinary nursing diplomas were also awarded on a range of subjects.

The President then made his address, in which he paid tribute to the hard work of the staff of the College, “much of which is unseen by the profession or those outside of the College”.

Much of College business this year has been geared towards making the organisation and its activities more accessible to vets, veterinary nurses and members of the public. Sympathising with the workload of staff, he observed: “It sometimes seems that everything we do to make life easier for our members and nurses makes life a little more difficult for our staff!”

He also touched on the year’s political events, including the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Select Committee’s inquiry into the need for a new Veterinary Surgeons Act.

Although he admitted that this had been a low point, he was: “Heartened by Council’s subsequent decision to set up a new group to find a way forward and by discussions we have had with MPs, Peers and others.”

Above all, the outgoing President said that his greatest pleasure during the year had been welcoming new graduates to the profession.

Guest speaker at the event was TV presenter and veterinary surgeon Steve Leonard, who made a presentation entitled: “Right time, right place: how veterinary science took me around the world.”

Fully expecting to follow his father and brothers into large animal practice in Cheshire, Mr Leonard did indeed end up working with large animals in the countryside, but hippos and lions instead of dairy cows.

He explained how his veterinary degree had enabled him to work with an amazing variety of animals around the world, including sheep on the foothills of Mount Everest, penguins on icebergs and orang-utans in Borneo.

Extremes of temperature and dealing with venomous and dangerous animals had kept him on his toes, but ultimately Mr Leonard valued his practice life: “If I had to give up one of my roles – TV presenter or small animal vet – the TV work would have to go, no question,” he said.