Canine Cruciate Registry

Mark Morton is an RCVS Specialist in Small Animal Orthopaedic Surgery. He graduated from the University of Liverpool, initially working in general practice in North Wales. He spent the next nine years at Davies Veterinary Specialists in Hertfordshire, completing a rotating internship followed by a residency in small animal orthopaedic surgery. He remained there as an orthopaedic surgeon before joining ChesterGates Veterinary Specialists in August 2016. His research interests include common calcaneal tendon (Achilles tendon) injuries. He has developed and published a new surgical technique for these injuries using a new implant developed from a similar technique in people. Mark is the Clinical Lead for the RCVS Knowledge Canine Cruciate Registry. Working with colleagues, Mark is also developing a systematic and structured approach to obtaining and presenting clinical queries and Knowledge Summaries around cranial cruciate ligament ruptures. This will take the form of a decision support algorithm within the Veterinary Evidence journal. This framework will allow other clinicians to help answer clinical queries, the target being a complete algorithm that will provide practitioners with the best current evidence around this common condition.

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Ben Walton is a RCVS Specialist in Small Animal Surgery (Orthopaedics).

Ben has had a varied career covering mixed practice, small animal general practice, peripatetic surgery referrals, academia and private specialist-level referrals. He has been involved in orthopaedics throughout all stages of his career, and has provided training and education to all levels from undergraduates to Specialists, giving him a broad perspective of the discipline from all facets of the profession.

His primary current roles and responsibilities are:

• Director of Peripatetic Services for CVS UK Ltd:To develop and manage a national, multi-disciplinary network of peripatetic Advanced Practitioners to enhance the provision of clinical care in first-opinion practice.
• Specialist Orthopaedic and Spinal Surgeon at Chestergates Veterinary Specialists:To manage a referral caseload of challenging orthopaedics and spinal cases. To help mentor junior staff members and visiting students. Establish current clinical governance framework and committee.
• Clinical Research and Development Director at Fusion Implants: Fusion Implants is a spin-out company from the Engineering Department of the University of Liverpool, specialising in the development and production of 3D-printed metallic implants for pets. As Clinical Research and Development Director, Ben helps to supervise three PhD students and multiple masters students working on projects related to veterinary orthopaedic and neurologic conditions.

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Clare Low graduated from the RVC in 2009 she has spent 10 years working in small animal practice in the East of England. Clare gained her CertAVP in general surgery in 2019 and is currently working in a busy first opinion hospital. Clare regularly performs cruciate surgery and is excited to help to build more knowledge in this area through the cruciate registry to aid surgeons in their decision making.

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Simon is a general practitioner, owning and running a small animal practice in Berkshire. He has always enjoyed surgery, completing his certificate in general small animal surgery and becoming an advanced practitioner in 2014. Ever since mixed practice as a new graduate in North Wales in 2005 Simon have been fascinated by cruciate disease and enjoys continuing to learn and improve treatment of this complex disease. 

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Catrina graduated from the University of Edinburgh in 2014. After two and a half years in small animal, first opinion practice she completed a rotating internship followed by a period as a surgical registrar at Chestergates Veterinary Specialist. She returned to Edinburgh University in 2018, completing an internship in Soft Tissue and Oncological surgery before starting her current position as a Clinical Fellow in Small Animal Surgery at the Royal Veterinary College.

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Richard Whitelock is a RCVS Specialist Small Animal Orthopaedics and a clinically active surgeon, with over 20 years’ of experience dealing with all aspects of small animal orthopaedic disease, a high proportion of which have had cranial cruciate ligament disease. He qualified in 1989 from the Royal Veterinary College (RVC) and then spent 4 years in general practice before returning to the RVC to study radiology (Diploma in radiology 1994). Richard completed a small animal surgical residency at the Department of Veterinary medicine, University of Cambridge 1994-1998 (ECVS diploma in small animal surgery 1997, RCVS diploma in small animal surgery (orthopaedics) 1998). He was a Founding member and Director of Davies Veterinary Specialists in 1998 and Head of Orthopaedics until July 2016 then the Director of Small Animal Surgery, Department of Veterinary Medicine, University of Cambridge until July 2019. Richard was the previous President of the European College of Veterinary Surgeons (2011) and Fellow of the RCVS and now works as a Specialist Veterinary Surgeon at The Grove Referrals, in Fakenham.

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Ross qualified from Glasgow University in 2001, gained his BSAVA Certificate in Small Animal Surgery in 2014 and RCVS Advanced Practitioner status in 2015. Ross is Clinical Director of Referral Services at The Pets’n’Vets Family, Glasgow, where he leads Roundhouse Referrals surgical team. As someone who meets limping dogs every day, Ross is delighted to have joined the Advisory Group of the Canine Cruciate Registry and have the opportunity to work with colleagues from across the profession with the aim of providing clinicians with feedback to enable them to better evaluate what surgical techniques and implants lead to improved patient outcomes and minimise complications in the management of cranial cruciate ligament disease.

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Tim Parkin is Professor of Veterinary Epidemiology at the School of Veterinary Medicine, College of Medical, Veterinary and Life Sciences, University of Glasgow. He is also the School of Veterinary Medicine Research Convenor. He qualified from the University of Bristol with degrees in Zoology (1992) and Veterinary Science (1998). He immediately took up a position at the University of Liverpool and went on to complete his PhD on the epidemiology of fractures in racehorses in 2002. Since then he has worked on numerous projects with several different racing jurisdictions around the world, including the UK, Hong Kong, Japan, Australia, South America and the USA. He gained his Diploma of the European College of Veterinary Public Health in 2006 and has worked at the University of Glasgow since February 2007. He currently serves on: The Veterinary Advisory Committee of World Horse Welfare; the Scientific Advisory Committee of the Petplan Charitable Trust; the Editorial Consultant Board of the Equine Veterinary Journal. He has been Honorary Secretary of the Executive Council of the European College of Veterinary Public Health and was President of the Society for Veterinary Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine from 2012 to 2013.

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Prof Richard Meeson is Head of Small Animal Orthopaedics and Professor of Orthopaedics at the Royal Veterinary College. He graduated from Cambridge University in 2007, became a diplomate of the European College of Veterinary Surgeons in 2012, holds RCVS recognised specialist status and was elected Fellow of the RCVS (FRCVS) in 2020 for his contributions to clinical practice. He became a diplomate of the European College of Veterinary Surgeons in 2012 and is a Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons recognised specialist. Clinically, he is particularly focused on traumatology and joint surgery. Richard was the Scientific Chair for the British Veterinary Orthopaedic Association (BVOA) from 2015-2022, and has been an associate editor for BMC Veterinary Research and The Veterinary Record. He has a PhD on stem cell biology/regenerative medicine and lectures both nationally and internationally, as well as training surgical residents and teaching veterinary undergraduates at the RVC. Richard has published extensively on veterinary orthopaedics including several publications on the epidemiology and management of canine cruciate ligament rupture in dogs.

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Sarah graduated from Massey University, New Zealand (1995) and spent 5 years in mixed practice before joining University of Liverpool where she held the position of surgical resident gaining the RCVS certificate in small animal surgery in 2003, and European College of Veterinary Surgeons diploma in surgery (2007). Currently I work in private referral practice (orthopaedics and neurosurgery) where a large component of our caseload is joint disease especially that of the stifle. Hence I have performed an excessive number of surgical procedures to manage the cruciate deficient stifle, particularly the tibial plateau leveling osteotomy. Furthermore I am involved in teaching veterinarians in the management of cranial cruciate ligament disease as an Arthrex consultant and educator with CPD Solutions.

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Born in London, John graduated from University of Liverpool in 1991. He was then at the Bristol Veterinary School for 10 years where he completed his postgraduate surgery training and a PhD in ‘osteoarthritis of the canine stifle joint’ at Bristol Medical School, becoming a RCVS Specialist in 2001. At the age of 33, he was appointed Professor of Small Animal Surgery at University of Liverpool where he led the development of the Small Animal Teaching Hospital at Leahurst. John has published more than 90 peer-reviewed papers and several textbook chapters in the area of veterinary orthopaedics. The British Veterinary Orthopaedic Association’s Canine Hip Registry was established by Professor Innes. John was President of the European Society of Veterinary Orthopaedics (ESVOT) 2014-2016. John lives in Wirral with his wife and three daughters and he is based at ChesterGates Veterinary Specialists, Chester.

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Mark Morton is an RCVS Specialist in Small Animal Orthopaedic Surgery. He graduated from the University of Liverpool, initially working in general practice in North Wales. He spent the next nine years at Davies Veterinary Specialists in Hertfordshire, completing a rotating internship followed by a residency in small animal orthopaedic surgery. He remained there as an orthopaedic surgeon before joining ChesterGates Veterinary Specialists in August 2016. His research interests include common calcaneal tendon (Achilles tendon) injuries. He has developed and published a new surgical technique for these injuries using a new implant developed from a similar technique in people. Mark is the Clinical Lead for the RCVS Knowledge Canine Cruciate Registry. Working with colleagues, Mark is also developing a systematic and structured approach to obtaining and presenting clinical queries and Knowledge Summaries around cranial cruciate ligament ruptures. This will take the form of a decision support algorithm within the Veterinary Evidence journal. This framework will allow other clinicians to help answer clinical queries, the target being a complete algorithm that will provide practitioners with the best current evidence around this common condition.

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Richard Whitelock is a RCVS Specialist Small Animal Orthopaedics and a clinically active surgeon, with over 20 years’ of experience dealing with all aspects of small animal orthopaedic disease, a high proportion of which have had cranial cruciate ligament disease. He qualified in 1989 from the Royal Veterinary College (RVC) and then spent 4 years in general practice before returning to the RVC to study radiology (Diploma in radiology 1994). Richard completed a small animal surgical residency at the Department of Veterinary medicine, University of Cambridge 1994-1998 (ECVS diploma in small animal surgery 1997, RCVS diploma in small animal surgery (orthopaedics) 1998). He was a Founding member and Director of Davies Veterinary Specialists in 1998 and Head of Orthopaedics until July 2016 then the Director of Small Animal Surgery, Department of Veterinary Medicine, University of Cambridge until July 2019. Richard was the previous President of the European College of Veterinary Surgeons (2011) and Fellow of the RCVS. And now works as a Specialist Veterinary Surgeon at The Grove Referrals, in Fakenham.

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Simon is a general practitioner, owning and running a small animal practice in Berkshire. He has always enjoyed surgery, completing his certificate in general small animal surgery and becoming an advanced practitioner in 2014. Ever since mixed practice as a new graduate in North Wales in 2005 Simon have been fascinated by cruciate disease and enjoys continuing to learn and improve treatment of this complex disease. 

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Clare Low graduated from the RVC in 2009 she has spent 10 years working in small animal practice in the East of England. Clare gained her CertAVP in general surgery in 2019 and is currently working in a busy first opinion hospital. Clare regularly performs cruciate surgery and is excited to help to build more knowledge in this area through the cruciate registry to aid surgeons in their decision making. 

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Tim Parkin is Professor of Veterinary Epidemiology at the School of Veterinary Medicine, College of Medical, Veterinary and Life Sciences, University of Glasgow. He is also the School of Veterinary Medicine Research Convenor. He qualified from the University of Bristol with degrees in Zoology (1992) and Veterinary Science (1998). He immediately took up a position at the University of Liverpool and went on to complete his PhD on the epidemiology of fractures in racehorses in 2002. Since then he has worked on numerous projects with several different racing jurisdictions around the world, including the UK, Hong Kong, Japan, Australia, South America and the USA. He gained his Diploma of the European College of Veterinary Public Health in 2006 and has worked at the University of Glasgow since February 2007. He currently serves on: The Veterinary Advisory Committee of World Horse Welfare; the Scientific Advisory Committee of the Petplan Charitable Trust; the Editorial Consultant Board of the Equine Veterinary Journal. He has been Honorary Secretary of the Executive Council of the European College of Veterinary Public Health and was President of the Society for Veterinary Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine from 2012 to 2013.

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Pam qualified from the RVC in 1979 and worked in mixed practice for the first part of her career, then was a partner in a small animal hospital for 17 years. Pam joins the RCVS Knowledge QIAB having had extensive involvement with the college. She was a Practice Standards Inspector from the beginning of the BSAVA practice standards scheme and continued with the RCVS scheme, becoming Senior Inspector before moving on to become an independent veterinary investigator. Pam has been appointed Acting Lead Assessor and Veterinary Advisor since April 2015. She has been involved in assessor training, with particular focus on the consistency of assessment and welcomed the increased emphasis on clinical governance, clinical effectiveness and audit in the new scheme. She has been a member of BSAVA committees and, as a BSAVA representative on the Practice Standards Group for the last few years, she is always keen to encourage feedback from members. Pam is editor of the BSAVA Guide to the Use of Veterinary Medicines, an SQP assessor for AMTRA and still does some locum work in her spare time. Pam first got involved in clinical governance when on BVHA council when she started to look into whether clinical audit could be applied to veterinary practices. She wrote the first article published in the UK on clinical audit in veterinary practices in 1999. Pam has spoken at BSAVA Congress, BVNA congress, SPVS Congress, BEVA clinical audit workshops, CAW TP conference and on RCVS webinars about Clinical governance and clinical audit.

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Alan qualified from Liverpool Veterinary School in 1993 having also obtained a BSc in molecular biology. After a short locum in Newcastle, he completed an internship in Dublin in Small Animal Medicine. He then returned to the UK to do his PhD on the mechanisms of feline calicivirus persistence. He is currently appointed as Professor of Veterinary Health Informatics at the University of Liverpool.

Alan is a member of the European Advisory Board of Cat Disease and, since 2008, has been heading up SAVSNET, the Small Animal Veterinary Surveillance Network. SAVSNET collects large volumes of companion animal electronic health data from UK veterinary practitioners and diagnostic laboratories. These are collated centrally, and used for research and surveillance. These data can also be used to describe practice variation in a range of different measures, offering exciting opportunities for clinical audit through real-time benchmarking.

Alan was the recipient of the RCVS Knowledge Golden Jubilee Grant. The funding was used to establish VETseq, a collaboration between the Veterinary School and the Centre for Genomic Research at the University of Liverpool.

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Catrina graduated from the University of Edinburgh in 2014. After two and a half years in small animal, first opinion practice she completed a rotating internship followed by a period as a surgical registrar at Chestergates Veterinary Specialist. She returned to Edinburgh University in 2018, completing an internship in Soft Tissue and Oncological surgery before starting her current position as a Clinical Fellow in Small Animal Surgery at the Royal Veterinary College.

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Anji has worked in healthcare for over 30 years and for Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust since 2004. With a combination of clinical and administrative experience, she has been developing and running the trust’s elective orthopaedic PROMs programme since 2015.

Consenting patients are added to specialist national registries including the British Spine Registry, Non-arthroplasty Hip Registry, UK Knee Osteotomy Registry, Knee Ligament Registry, and Bone & Joint Infection Registry so Anji is experienced in using such platforms.

Additionally, she is a co-ordinator for the National PROMs Network, is PROMs and Administration Lead for the UK Bone and Joint Infection Registry,  is helping to develop an open standards electronic PROMs solution and is an Associate member of the UK Faculty for Clinical Informatics.

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