John Innes announced as new Fellowship Chair

Professor John Innes FRCVS is today (Thursday 19 September 2019) being announced as the new Chair of the RCVS Fellowship Board after he was elected to the position by his peers.

As Fellowship Board Chair Professor Innes replaces Professor Nick Bacon FRCVS, who comes to the end of his three-year term as Chair.

His responsibilities as Fellowship Chair include making sure that the Fellowship progresses towards fulfilling its strategic goals (see notes to editor), determining its ongoing strategy and objectives, and reporting to the RCVS Advancement of the Professions Committee on developments within the Fellowship.

Professor Innes will be formally welcomed as Chair of the Fellowship Board at the RCVS Fellowship Day this Friday (20 September).

The election for Fellowship Chair, the first such election held by the Fellowship, took place in August this year and all Fellows of the RCVS were contacted by email or post and asked to cast a vote for their preferred candidate. Four candidates stood for the position: Dr Robert Huey; Professor John Innes; Professor Liz Mossop; and Professor Ian Ramsey.

The results of the election, in which 228 votes (representing 59% of the Fellowship) were cast, were as follows:

• Dr Robert Huey – 17% of votes
• Professor John Innes –33% of votes (ELECTED)
• Professor Liz Mossop – 25% of votes
• Professor Ian Ramsey – 25% of votes

Professor Innes graduated from the University of Liverpool in 1991 and was then at University of Bristol Vet School for 10 years, completing his postgraduate surgery training and a PhD at the Rheumatology Unit of the Bristol Medical School, and becoming an RCVS-recognised Specialist in 2001.

He was appointed Professor of Small Animal Surgery at University of Liverpool and was Head of Department for Musculoskeletal Biology in the Faculty of Health and Life Sciences from 2011 to 2013. He joined CVS in 2013 as Referrals Director.

Speaking of his election to Fellowship Chair, Professor Innes said: “I am delighted to have been elected as Chair of the Fellowship Board and, as stated in my manifesto, I look forward to helping the Fellowship in its mission to become the bedrock of science and ethics within the profession. The expansion of the Fellowship has been very welcome and I look forward to seeing the new vibrancy within our community continue to develop.”

Joining Professor Innes on the Fellowship Board will be two new members – Professor Tim Greet FRCVS and Dr Mary Fraser FRCVS – who, as Board Members for Projects and Engagement, will be responsible for increasing the Fellowship’s visibility within the profession and more widely.

They will also have responsibilities for overseeing and guiding the activities and work streams that contribute to the delivery of the Fellowship’s wider objectives and outreach activities.

Professor Greet is a 1976 Glasgow graduate, who was awarded a Master’s Degree for work carried out in its surgery department. At the Animal Health Trust, he obtained a Fellowship of the RCVS for work on equine respiratory disease.

In 1982 he joined Dr Peter Rossdale’s Newmarket practice, becoming a partner in 1984 and is now senior and managing partner. A RCVS and European Specialist in equine surgery, his interests are in general and minimally invasive orthopaedic and soft tissue surgery.

Dr Fraser qualified from Glasgow in 1994 and went on to work in mixed practice. She completed the RCVS Certificate in Veterinary Dermatology and a PhD in Canine Atopy, then moved to veterinary nurse lecturing in 1999, co-developing two City and Guilds qualifications for vet nurses (exotics and emergency care).

She has published over 80 papers, book chapters/books and lectures on Glasgow University’s Veterinary Nursing MSc, on Research and Evidence Based Veterinary Nursing.

Outgoing Chair Professor Nick Bacon added: “Thank you to Dr Robert Huey, Prof Liz Mossop, Prof Ian Ramsey and Prof John Innes for putting their names forward for the position of Chair of the Board. I was very pleased to see such engagement in the future of the Fellowship and I would like to thank the large number of Fellows who voted in this, our first, election. Thank you also for the RCVS for organising what was a very smooth process.

“Congratulations to John for his new appointment and the Board is looking forward to working with him going forward in this second phase of the new Fellowship. Mary Fraser and Tim Greet are also joining as Projects and Engagements Officers. Welcome all.”

More information about the Fellowship Board can be found on the dedicated Fellowship webpage.