Specialist vet to discuss uniting human and animal healthcare at city hospital
A renowned veterinary surgeon will meet doctors in Southampton today (Wednesday) to discuss how uniting human and animal research could improve healthcare.
Professor Noel Fitzpatrick, who features as Channel 4’s Supervet, is clinical chair and chief surgeon at Fitzpatrick Referrals, a specialist referral hospital for small animals.
He is also founder of The Humanimal Trust, the first organisation in the UK set up to advance the conversation about bringing animal and human healthcare forward through shared ideas, shared technology and research.
He will speak as part of the first Region of Oxford and Southampton Paediatric Orthopaedic Group (ROSPOG) meeting, which will also hear from orthopaedic expert Dr Unni Narayan from the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto.
Mr Mike Uglow, a consultant paediatric orthopaedic surgeon at Southampton Children’s Hospital and chair of the ROSPOG meeting, said: “As a surgeon who operates on humans, I know first-hand how many of the modern advances available to our patients have come as the result of the experimentation and testing of surgical techniques and implants in animals.
“The flow of information and experience in the reverse direction from human experience to enhance the care of animals is a natural progression in a caring society.”
He added: “Collaboration between the care givers in human and veterinary medicine should be seen as an opportunity to enhance knowledge and improve care across both professions.”
For more information on The Humanimal Trust, visit www.humanimaltrust.org.uk .