Adam Mugford

Adam graduated from the Royal Veterinary College in 2007 and completed an internship at the Queen Mother hospital for animals which at the time had the only specialist Emergency and Critical Care (ECC) service in the UK. It was here that he found that ECC was the area he wanted to specialise in, dealing with emergencies and critically ill pets in intensive care (ICU).

He then spent two years in general practice in central London including sole charge night work in a RCVS accredited hospital. Adam returned to the RVC and completed his residency in ECC, becoming a diplomate and gaining a master’s degree the same year. He then returned to the practice in central London as Group Head of Emergency and Intensive Care helping four hospitals and overseeing out-of-hours provision to over 50 sites in and around London until 2017, ultimately helped establish the first specialist ICU in central London as part of London Vet Specialists. He then established a ECC service and was the clinical board chair of a large specialist hospital and Vice chair of the group’s clinical advisory committee helping to support over 400 general practices and 3,000 vets and nurses with clinical protocols and guidance.

Adam was also appointed an Honorary Lecturer of the University of Liverpool in 2014 and teaches and examines for advanced certification for several organisations including BSAVA. He became an RCVS Recognised Specialist in Emergency and Critical Care in 2015.

Adam joined AMVS in 2021 and enjoys supporting all the other teams in giving the best ICU care to patients across the hospital, using his prior experience and expertise. He still finds stabilising the emergency patient when rapid decisions are needed and managing critically ill patients through ICU care to finally be discharged home to a loving family the most rewarding part of the job.

In his spare time, he volunteers for several organisations including: The British Association of Veterinary Emergency and Critical Care (BAVECC) since 2013, has been the representative on the RCVS Practice Standards Group since 2017, is a member of the central organising committee for European Veterinary Emergency and Critical Care (EVECC) conference and is a member of the American College of Veterinary Emergency Critical Care (ACVECC) education committee developing a competency framework for post graduate ECC education for North America.

Through BARTA (British Animal Trauma Care Association) he also volunteers as a clinical advisor to contribute to best practice guidelines for incidents involving animals and the UK emergency services. As the chair of small animal clinical governance a recent project was highly commended and ‘one watch’ in the 2023 RCVS Knowledge Awards for Quality Improvement showcasing the implementation of Quality Improvement techniques which drive improvement within the profession.

He is proud to have contributed to the BSAVA expert panel as the 2^nd author of the National Guidance for dogs and cats for triage of cases during the covid pandemic and its subsequent translation to multiple languages.  He is a subject matter expert to the Linnaeus national clinical board for transfusion and haematology. He has mentored Specialists in training (ECVECC Residents) of the ECC program of the University of Liege Veterinary School in Belgium. Adam was awarded a fellowship of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons in 2022 for meritorious contributions to clinical practice in recognition of an outstanding contributions to the profession.

Adam’s clinical interests include all aspects of Emergency and Critical Care with interests in trauma, sepsis, toxicology, renal disease, respiratory failure (including ventilation), transfusion medicine and CPR. Adam is a ‘RECOVER’ instructor able to train and certify colleagues in basic and advanced life support CPR techniques.