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<>newly appointed Co-chair of the Global Pain Council
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Could you introduce yourself and your new role to our members?
I’m an anaesthesiologist at a large, new multidisciplinary referral hospital in the UK. I’m really excited about the opportunity to lead the Global Pain Council towards its goal of improving pain management in small animals around with the world, working with my Co-chair Dr Paulo Steagall and our committee.
Could you summarize your career to date?
I graduated from the University of Bristol, UK, in 1994, then took up an internship in anaesthesia, followed by a junior clinical fellowship in anaesthesia and a PhD in equine anaesthesia.
I moved to the University of Utrecht, The Netherlands, as a lecturer in anaesthesia and spent four years working outside the UK where I continued to do clinical research in the field of anaesthesia and analgesia. In 2005, I undertook a two-year post-doctoral fellowship in analgesia-related research in New Zealand. I enjoyed the opportunity to focus on research in a variety of species. I returned to the UK in 2007 as a senior lecturer in anaesthesia back at the University of Bristol. In 2018, I made the move into private practice and am enjoying my role as an anaesthesia and analgesia clinician at Bristol Veterinary Specialists.
What spurred your interest in pain management?
As an anaesthesiologist, pain management is central to our role to ensure the wellbeing of our patients. I enjoy the challenge of ensuring appropriate analgesia in every patient, but particularly in cats, because, for them, the balance of giving adequate analgesia without leading to overdose and side effects is more difficult than in dogs. I love seeing patients recover well after surgery as this reflects good pain relief.
I also run a chronic pain clinic where I enjoy meeting owners and their pets and working with a multidisciplinary team to get a good outcome for patients with chronic pain whose quality of life could be severely compromised without our intervention.
You’ve been involved with the WSAVA for some time as a member of the GPC – what do you enjoy about it? 
I value the opportunity to influence pain management throughout the world through my contributions to initiatives such as our new online Pain Management Certificate and Global Pain Management Guidelines.
It’s great working with other members of the GPC as they have different experiences with pain management depending on where they are working. I enjoy the rigour of some of our scientific discussions.
You must be delighted at the positive response to the recently updated WSAVA Global Pain Management Guidelines?
Yes! It’s been fantastic to see the response and to know that they have already been so widely downloaded. They are up-to-date and evidence-based so, if they can positively influence pain management practices worldwide then the hard work involved in producing them was definitely worth it!
If our members could do one thing to support the effective pain management of their patients, what should it be?
Recognizing and quantifying pain is pivotal to effective pain management. Unless you understand the problem, you can’t solve it! During the last ten years, validated and robust tools have been developed to quantify pain in dogs and cats and I urge our members to use these tools in their daily clinical practice.
What do you enjoy doing outside work?
I enjoy going to the theatre and cinema and swim regularly.
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