On 2 November we held our Annual General Meeting. With the most members ever in attendance, it was a successful, lively meeting, that saw the election of our new president, Susan Farwell, and two council members. Austin Plunkett was re-elected, while Glynis Fox was newly elected. We are delighted to welcome Glynis to the iO Council.
Susan Farwell, an osteopath of over twenty-seven years, has a wealth of knowledge and experience that stretches back to 1983 when she was GCRO Council member to more recently as a trustee of the Sutherland Cranial College of Osteopathy. We congratulate Susan on the appointment and are excited to work with her term as president.
At the meeting, we also said thanks to Ben Katz, who steps down as president. With a deep commitment to osteopathy in its widest sense and described by iO Chief Executive Maurice Cheng as having “an ability to heal communities as well as patients,” Ben has shown us a clear vision for what osteopathy should be in the foreseeable future through his tireless groundwork.
Susan said of Ben’s tenure: “On behalf of the whole profession, I would like to express our gratitude to Ben for the contribution he has made over the past two years as President of the iO, and over the last six years as a council member. Ben has played a key part in successfully steering us through tricky waters. His work towards the proper establishment of osteopathy has always been and will continue to be, carefully thought out and generous.”
We also said goodbye to iO Council Member Jonathan Grice. While no longer on council, Jonathan will remain an important member of the iO Audit and Risk Committee.
Glynis Fox and Austin Plunkett were elected and re-elected, respectively, to the iO Council; two of seven candidates competing for a place on Council.
Glynis, from Edinburgh, brought a fresh, witty approach to her application and articulated clear aims for her time on Council: “My vision is that every osteopath has access to the support they need throughout their careers. I would like to inspire more osteopaths to be more involved in the iO. Working within the Council means I will be part of a team, inspiring the whole profession to work together more collaboratively and encourage greater involvement with the iO, in order that osteopaths take a major role in health care throughout the UK. I believe this is imperative if in Scotland – and the other nations of the UK – [we] are going to become Allied Health Professionals and be increasingly visible to the public.”
Serving his second term on Council, Austin said: “I am a practising osteopath, a researcher at the National Council for Osteopathic Research, and a Ph.D. student at Queen Mary University London. During my previous three years serving on Council I’ve learned a lot about the issues facing the profession, and the role the iO can play. In particular, I look forward to the Brand Osteopath and Compendium projects, both of which emphasize how we can communicate effectively with the public and other professions. I am also heading the iO’s Digital Working Group to look at how osteopathy can respond to digital health care. The next three years will be full of challenges, and I believe the iO is well-placed to tackle them.”