FVC SMART goals tool - launch event

Kitty is head of the surveillance division, and head of AMR, at the Veterinary Medicines Directorate (an executive agency of Defra). She is a vet whose background spans veterinary practice, epidemiology and government policy and regulation. Kitty’s work focuses on reducing the unnecessary use of antibiotics in animals and embedding a culture of cooperation, transparency and responsible antibiotic use in the UK and internationally. Having risen to the challenges set by the UK’s AMR strategy 2013-2018 and the recommendations of the 2016 O’Neill Review on AMR, Kitty’s AMR team is an integral part of the UK cross-government ‘one health’ approach to tackling AMR, delivering the UK’s ambitions in the UK 5 Year National AMR Action Plan 2019-2024 and 20 Year Vision.

Chris has been immersed in the livestock sector throughout his career and has practical experience from being a farmer in his own right in that time. He spent 16 years working for the National Sheep Association and during that time was awarded a Nuffield Scholarship to study the developing technologies in the sheep industries of South Africa, Australia and New Zealand.

He joined the Beef and Lamb levy board (EBLEX which became AHDB) in 2003, and established the Better Returns Programme (BRP) as an engaging approach to delivering farmer focused technical messages.

In 2017 he was awarded the prestigious George Hedley award by the NSA for his contribution to the sheep industry. When he left AHDB in 2017 he was the Director of Knowledge Exchange across all of the levy sectors. He then took up post as the RUMA Secretary General, a role which gives a unique insight to the responsible use of medicines across the UK livestock sectors. RUMA lead the Targets Task Force (TTF) which established antibiotic use targets for each of the livestock sectors in 2017. The second round of TTF targets announced in November 2020 will run until 2024.

Fiona Lovatt is RCVS Knowledge’s Clinical Lead for Farm Vet Champions. Fiona runs the sheep veterinary consultancy business, Flock Health Ltd, which works with vets, sheep farmers, processors, retailers and pharmaceutical companies in the UK and abroad. She is a past president of the Sheep Veterinary Society, Chair of the Sheep Antibiotic Guardian Group, a member of the RUMA Targets Task Force, and a clinical associate professor at the University of Nottingham.

As founder of the Flock Health Club concept, she is passionate about enthusing farm vets to actively engage with sheep farmers through principles that embrace best practice preventative measures and responsible medicine use.