Veterinary Surgeons
Our team of veterinary surgeons includes some of the most highly qualified in the country, with certificate holders, diplomates and specialists. This allows us to treat many conditions that might otherwise require outside referral.
Richard Killen BVSc MRCVS
Veterinary Surgeon, Partner
Richard joined Highcroft as an associate vet when he qualified from Bristol Veterinary School in 1984.
He became a partner in the practice in 1992 and a senior partner in 2001. He has also acted as an external examiner for veterinary nursing students at the Bristol Veterinary School since 1989. More recently, Richard has become an inspector of veterinary practices for the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons.
Richard has been nominated many times for the annual Vet of the Year award.
Robert Dawson BVMS MRCVS
Veterinary Surgeon, Partner
Robert also joined Highcroft as an associate vet when he qualified from Glasgow University in 1990. He became a partner with practice in 1996.
Robert's areas of interest are orthopaedics, radiology and endoscopy. He has been significantly involved in developing the keyhole surgery skills for the practice and more recently arthroscopic surgery.
Robert has been nominated seven times for the annual Vet of the Year award.
Juliet Pope BVSc CertSAS MRCVS
Veterinary Surgeon, Senior Assistant and Clinical Director
Juliet qualified from Bristol Veterinary School in 1993 and joined Highcroft in 1996.
Juliet holds a Certificate in Small Animal Surgery. She is a highly qualified and experienced surgeon, performing a wide variety of soft tissue and orthopaedic procedures.
She has a particular interest in surgical and medical oncology (cancer) and laparoscopy (key hole surgery) and is a member of The British Veterinary Association, The British Small Animal Veterinary Association, The British Veterinary Oncology Study Group and The Association of Veterinary Soft Tissue Surgeons.
Juliet is also enrolled in the Royal Veterinary College Surgeon's Diploma in Soft Tissue Surgery and is a resident at Oakwood Veterinary Referrals in Hartford, Cheshire.
Polly Cornwell BVSc MRCVS
Veterinary Surgeon
Polly qualified from Bristol Veterinary School in 1997 and joined Highcroft in 1999.
She has a special interest in exotic species and a COAPE Diploma in Small Animal Behaviour. In July 2006 Polly gained the General Practitioner Certificate in Exotic Animal Medicine and holds regular clinics for exotic species such as rabbits, guinea pigs, ferrets (and other small mammals), all non-venomous reptiles and birds.
Polly is a member of the British Veterinary Zoological Society and Veterinary Advisor to Bristol City Council.
Nick Macdonald BVetMed MVM CertSAS MRCVS
Veterinary Surgeon
Nick joined Highcroft in 2011 as a highly qualified surgeon to lead our orthopaedic referral service at the Whitchurch hospital.
Nick has a RCVS Certificate in Small Animal Surgery and enjoys all aspects of orthopaedic surgery, with a particular expertise in arthroscopy.
Marit Jynge BVSc MRCVS
Veterinary Surgeon
Marit qualified from Bristol Veterinary School in 1998 and joined Highcroft the same year.
She is currently enrolled on, and working towards, the RCVS Certificate in Ophthalmology. Marit runs regular clinics, with internal referrals, for pets with eye complaints.
Isabel Heal BVSc MRCVS
Veterinary Surgeon
Isabel qualified from Bristol Veterinary School in 1994 and joined Highcroft in 1998.
Isabel works at our Whitchurch and Brislington surgeries. She has a special interest in dermatology and runs regular clinics for pets with skin complaints.
Lorraine Smith BVetMed MRCVS
Veterinary Surgeon
Lorraine qualified from the Royal Veterinary College, London in 1998 and joined Highcroft in 2004.
She is currently studying for a MSc in Oncology (cancer) and has a special interest in medicine.
Oliver Garrod BVSc CertVC MRCVS
Veterinary Surgeon
Oliver qualified from Bristol Veterinary School in 2002 and joined Highcroft in 2004.
Oliver gained his Certificate in Veterinary Cardiology in 2010 and runs regular cardiology clinics at our Wells Road Hospital. He is also a key member of the veterinary cardiology referral team at Highcroft Veterinary Referrals and works closely with Luca Ferasin, our visiting European Specialist in Veterinary Cardiology.
Rachel Mason MA VetMB MRCVS
Veterinary Surgeon
Rachel qualified from Cambridge in 2000 and joined Highcroft in 2005, working at our Keynsham, Whitchurch and Ashton surgeries.
Her special interest is small animal medicine.
Alex Sterritt BVSc MRCVS
Veterinary Surgeon
Alex joined us as a new graduate from Bristol Veterinary School in 2006.
She is particularly interested in Feline Medicine and is studying for the General Practice Certificate in Small Animal Medicine.
Hanne Mohan BVetMed MRCVS
Veterinary Surgeon
Hanne qualified from London in 2002 and joined Highcroft in 2006.
She is currently studying for a Certificate in Small Animal Medicine and has a special interest in endocrinology, immune mediated diseases and ultrasonography.
Hanne is a member of the British Veterinary Association.
Joe Fox BVetMed MRCVS
Veterinary Surgeon
Joe qualified from the RVC London in 2002 and joined Highcroft in 2008. His interests include joint disease, arthroscopy and fracture repair.
Joe is currently enrolled on the RCVS Certificate in Small Animal Surgery.
Isabel Evans BVMS MRCVS
Veterinary Surgeon
Isabel qualified from Glasgow in 1980 and joined Highcroft in 2006 having run the Charlton Veterinary Surgery in Keynsham for many years.
Isabel has a special interest in Small Animal Medicine.
Jemma Young BVSc MRCVS
Veterinary Surgeon
Jemma qualified from Bristol University in 2007 and joined Highcroft in 2009. In February 2011, Jemma gained the GP Certificate in Exotic Species, her area of special interest. She is an important member of our Zoo and Exotic Species referral team at the Whitchurch hospital, where she sees a range of species from small mammals to birds and reptiles.
Caroline Blakeney MA VetMB MRCVS
Veterinary Surgeon
Caroline qualified from Cambridge in 2005 and joined Highcroft in 2009, working at our Whitchurch Hospital and Surgery.
Caroline also holds a General Practictioner Certificate in Small Animal Medicine, which is her area of special interest.
Rebecca Gibb BVM&S MRCVS
Veterinary Surgeon
Rebecca qualified from Edinburgh University in 2006 and joined Highcroft in 2010 having worked with us as a locum vet beforehand.
Rebecca is based at our Whitchurch Hospital and has a special interest in small animal medicine.
Vim Kumaratunga BVSc MRCVS
Veterinary Surgeon
Vim qualified from Bristol University in 2005 and hasn't left Bristol since! He worked at another large practice in Bristol for almost 5 years before joining Highcroft in January 2011.
Vim is currently enrolled on, and working towards, the RCVS Certificate in Ophthalmology and also has a strong interest in Exotic Species Medicine.
He is involved with many animal welfare charities in his native Sri Lanka and is also keen to contribute to the education of future generations of vets, both in the UK and in Sri Lanka. He is keen on educating and informing the public on animal health issues through the media.
Vim holds regular clinics for ophthalmology and exotics both at the main Whitchurch hospital and at the Brislington branch surgery.
Justin Ainsworth BVSc MA MRCVS
Veterinary Surgeon
Justin joined Highcroft in December 2010 as an out-of-hours veterinary surgeon ensuring that we have a vet on-site 24 hours a day to deal with emergencies and look after the in-patients at the hospital.
Justin qualified from Bristol University in 2001, after which he worked in several small animal out-of-hours emergency centres as well as exotic and small animal referral practices in the UK and Norway.
Veterinary Consultants and Specialists
Luca Ferasin DVM PhD CertVC DipECVIM-CA (Cardiology)MRCVS
Veterinary Cardiac Specialist
Luca is our visiting RCVS and European specialist in veterinary cardiology.
He runs referral clinics at our Whitchurch Hospital supported by Oliver Garrod MRCVS and Sarah Knowlson VN.
Margaret Costello MVB DVR DipECVDI RCVS
Veterinary Diagnostic Imaging Specialist
Maggs is our visiting RCVS and European specialist in ultrasound. She is one of the very top ultrasound veterinary surgeons in the country.
Maggs runs clinics at our Whitchurch Hospital, where she sees referrals from veterinary surgeons all over the Bristol area, as well as our own.
Jim Carter BVetMed DVOphthal MRCVS
Veterinary Ophthalmology Specialist
Jim Carter is our visiting ophthalmology (eye) specialist, the only Ophthalmology Diplomate in the South West.
Jim runs referral clinics at our Stockwood surgery on Mondays, where he sees pets that have been referred to him from veterinary surgeons all over the Bristol area, as well as our own.
He is also a panellist for the BVA Eye Scheme which means that breeders can come to him for hereditary eye disease testing.
Michelle Barrows BSc BVMS DZooMed (Avian) MRCVS
Zoological Medicine Consultant
Michelle qualified from Glasgow University in 1998. She obtained her RCVS Certificate in Zoological Medicine in 2003, and her Diploma in Zoological Medicine in 2011. Michelle has always worked in zoo and exotic animal practice and spent 7 years at Johannesburg Zoo in South Africa, before taking up her current position as Head of Veterinary Services at Bristol Zoo in October 2010.
Michelle has a particular interest in avian and reptile medicine.
Rowena Killick BVM&S MSc DZooMed MRCVS
Zoological Medicine Diplomate
Rowena is a RCVS Diplomate in Zoological Medicine and therefore one of the most highly qualified veterinary surgeons in her field in Europe. She runs referral clinics at our Whitchurch Hospital, with our exotic species team, Polly Cornwell MRCVS, Jemma Young MRCVS, Kati Heddington VN and Janine Fletcher VN.
Rowena holds the RCVS Diploma in Zoological Medicine and the MSc in Wild Animal Health and is currently working as the Staff Vet at Bristol Zoo Gardens, responsible for the care of over 350 species (mammals, reptiles, birds, fish and invertebrates).
Richard Saunders BSc (Hons) BVSc MSB CBiol DZooMed (Mammalian) MRCVS Referral Vet, Zoo and Exotic Species
Zoological Medicine Diplomate
Richard qualified from Liverpool University in 1994, obtained his Certificate in Zoological Medicine in 2001 and his Diploma in Zoological Medicine in 2010.
Having previously worked in small animal, avian and exotic first opinion practice, Richard is currently the RWAF Senior Clinical Training Scholar in Zoo and Rabbit Medicine at Bristol Zoo and Langford, University of Bristol. Richard has lectured and written articles on rabbits and exotics, co-authored "Notes on Rabbit Internal Medicine" and has a particular interest in chinchillas, rabbits and birds of prey.
