Announcement of candidates: Election to Council

Published: 11/11/2025

We are pleased to announce the candidates who will be standing in the next election to College Council, following a call for self-nominations which was issued to the membership on 15 September 2025. You can read the candidates’ statements here. 

Successful candidates will take up their positions in March 2026 and will provide a hugely important contribution to the busy working life of the College.  

Voting Information 

Eligible members will receive their ballot emails on 19 November 2025 from our election provider, Civica Election Services. Please look out for an email from RCOA@cesvotes.com. Voting closes at midday on 10 December. 

The candidates are listed below (in the order their applications were received).

Consultant Vacancies (six to elect) 

Professor Tonny Veenith - Royal Wolverhampton Hospital / University of Wolverhampton 

Dr Samantha Black - Medway NHS Foundation Trust 

Dr Simon Thomson - Mid & South Essex University Hospitals NHSFT 

Dr Felicity Plaat - Queen Charlotte's & Hammersmith Hospitals, Imperial NHS Trust 

Dr Sri Gummaraju - Robert Jones and Agnes Hunt Orthopaedic Hospital, Oswestry 

Dr Umakanth Kempanna - Humber Health Partnership NHS Trust, Yorkshire 

Dr Giovanna Kossakowska - Royal Manchester Children's Hospital 

Dr Kumar Panikkar - Buckinghamshire Healthcare NHST 

Dr Carolyn Johnston - St Georges Hospital, London 

Dr Magesh Jayabalan - South Warwickshire University NHS Foundation Trust 

Dr Roger Cordery - St Bartholomew's Hospital 

Dr Orla Lacey - Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust 

Anaesthetist in Training Vacancy (one to elect) 

Dr Babak Barzi - Chelsea and Westminster Hospital 

Dr Emma Vallis-Booth - The Queen Elizabeth Hospital King's Lynn 

Dr Alex Gerard - University Hospitals Sussex NHS Foundation Trust 

Dr Rob Waterhouse - University College London Hospital 

Dr Jackie Wu - Luton and Dunstable University Hospital 

Dr Ramey Assaf - St Bartholomew's Hospital, London 

Dr Tom Hine-Thomas - Buckinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust 

Dr Kumaran Selvarajah - University College London Hospital 

Dr Vikram Nagarajan - Royal Manchester Children's Hospital 

Dr Aaliya Gilbert - Whittington Hospital, North London 

Dr Aayushi Gupta - University College London Hospital