The anaesthesia team has produced a fact sheet, infographic and CPD webinar to help practices minimise the oxygen and volatile anaesthetic agent used in animals safely.
The resources can all be found at: https://vetspecialists.co.uk/oxygen-conservation
Anaesthetist Sarah Gibson will be following up the webinar with a live online Q&A on Low Flow Anaesthesia on Tuesday 7th April at 2pm; to book your place, email: CPD@vetspecialists.co.uk.
Managing Director Tim Richardson said: "By sharing our practical information on oxygen conservation, we hope we can help our colleagues safely use less oxygen during general anaesthesia and sedation, thus ensuring more of this valuable resource remains available."
Davies Veterinary Specialists' premises remain open for urgent and emergency cases. For all other cases, assistance is being provided via remote consultation, be that either telephone or video.
In common with the various other telemedicine platforms which have come to market in recent months, the app will allow veterinary professionals to give help and advice to clients and maintain a revenue stream whilst maintaining social distancing.
VisioCare is highlighting a number of features over and above standard video conferencing, including the ability for the clinician to take photos, video and produce a case file that can be added to the clinical record. The system also allows vets to access the client's smartphone and zoom into areas that need to be examined or turn on a flashlight to improve visibility.
Visiocare says it has also been able to address limitations in clarity due to poor smartphone reception.
Linkyvet includes a payment module - which will be integrated free of charge for orders taken during April - so practices can charge for services provided remotely.
Alexander Arpino, Managing Director of Veterinary Insights, said: "During the current COVID-19 situation, Linkyvet has real potential for triage, as well as enabling routine consultations, without putting anyone at risk. It's good news for patient care, staff wellbeing and also ensuring that the practice remains a viable business that's still there for everyone to return to when life returns to normality.
"Outside crisis times, the tool has ongoing value, providing a great way to generate revenue from services such as advisory consultations and follow ups provided remotely and giving clients a convenient alternative to visiting the practice."
VisioCare Linkyvet is available as a standalone tool or can be included in a bundle with other VisioCare products such as VisioCare Consult, which provides explanatory animations and videos that support clinician recommendations and the myBuddy app, which provides a secure and personalised communication channel between clinic and pet owner.
For more information, visit www.visiocareservices.com or contact your VisioCare Business Development Manager: telephone 01403 800135 or email enquiries@visiocareservices.com.
XLVets has called on experts in people development, legal, IT and HR, as well as its practice owners, managers and team leaders to develop a package of coronavirus resources. The package includes guidance and best practice, tips offered by XLVets members, expert guidance in the use of technology to support home workers, access to the XLVets Thriving in Practice wellbeing initiative and more.
To access the resources at www.xlvets.co.uk without charge or obligation, email admin@xlvets.co.uk.
Colm McGinn (pictured right), from XLVets said: "We are very good at working together to develop solutions for problems and supporting each other. This is a national challenge and while our members have faced some difficult decisions, they've been able to share that decision-making process with their peers, calling on them for ideas, guidance and support.
"It's a big ask for just one or two partners to interpret the guidance in a rapidly changing environment and to stay informed about advice from regulatory bodies and associations. We've all benefited from sharing knowledge and it's lifted some of the pressure that comes from taking individual action, while still having freedom to do what's right for your own practice and people. I can't think of a better time for us to share our learning and resources for the greater good."
For more information, visit: https://www.xlvets.co.uk/the-boss.
The weekly sessions will offer practical guidance for veterinary surgeons and nurses about how they can manage chronic cases in line with guidelines issued by the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons, the British Veterinary Association and the government.
Dechra’s Veterinary Technical Advisor Emily Casey BVM&S MRCVS will present the first webinar tackling Addison’s disease on Thursday April 2 from 1pm to 2pm and again from 7pm to 8pm. It will be available to watch again or download via the Dechra Academy.
It will include advice on how to stabilise patients and administer Zycortal while respecting government guidelines, including prioritisation of blood testing, use of telemedicine and provision of additional owner support. Each webinar represents one hour of CPD.
Dechra’s Technical Services Manager Jamie Walker said: “Since the outbreak of coronavirus began, we have received a large number of calls from practices wanting advice and guidance on how they should be managing chronic cases at this time.
"Our case management webinars will offer practical advice on a number of common small animal issues and aim to provide reassurance and support to veterinary professionals at this challenging time."
Further webinars will be held each Wednesday in April.
To register for the free webinars visit www.dechra.co.uk/events.
By offering an alternative to face-to-face consultations, VetHelpDirect's online consultation platform provides a means to continue to care for animals while protecting both clients and vet practice staff and still maintaining revenue streams.
The system can be used by clients on most smart phones or tablet devices. Clients can book online or be sent a link by the practice, and payment taken online before the consultation starts.
Transactions on the platform are subject to a 4.8% platform fee and at the end of the 3 month free period, the service costs £20 per month. In addition, to continue using the service, practices need to be registered on the VetHelpDirectory, which costs £38 per month for the first branch and £16 for each additional branch.
For more information, visit: bit.ly/VHD_registration, where you can 'self onboard'. On which note, I will disembark.
Normally only accessible by ISFM members, the channel has been opened up as a free resource to help vet nurses keep on top of CPD and includes over 40 webinars presented by internationally recognised veterinary specialists.
Topics include: anaesthesia and analgesia, behaviour, emergency and critical care, feline medicine and neurology. Each webinar is worth 1 hour of CPD and you get a certificate.
The channel includes a new webinar: ‘COVID-19 – helping cats cope’ which looks at how you can advise owners to help their cats deal with changes at home.
ISFM’s Feline Medicine Consultant, Sam Taylor said: "ISFM is committed to educating veterinary professionals on all things feline, so we are delighted to be able to bring some of our normally member-only benefits to a wider audience during this challenging time."
To register for the ISFM webinar channel, visit: https://icatcare.org/event/isfm-vet-webinars/
The annual minimum requirement for veterinary nurses will be reduced from 15 to 11 hours, while that of vets will be reduced from 35 to 26 hours of CPD. The reduction comes into force immediately.
The decision to reduce the hours was made by the new RCVS Council COVID-19 Taskforce, chaired by RCVS President Dr Niall Connell, which was set up in order to make temporary policy decisions related to the pandemic in a quicker and more agile way. The proposal had previously been considered and supported by the RCVS Education Committee, VN Council and CPD Policy Working Group.
Niall said: "A number of veterinary surgeons and veterinary nurses expressed concern that it may be difficult to undertake CPD at present and so, in order to give the professions some breathing space, we decided we would reduce the minimum hours required for 2020. We also recognise that some practices are having to make the difficult decision to reduce their CPD budgets this year in response to falling footfall.
"However, it is worth reiterating that CPD need not be expensive or require physical attendance at lectures, congresses or other events. There are many online providers of CPD and other resources such as articles and webinars, some of which may be free. The key is that the CPD is relevant to you and enhances your professional practice and so we would still encourage all our members to undertake CPD as and when they can."
The policy will be under regular review and may be extended further if the circumstances demand. Those with any questions on the policy change should contact the RCVS Education Department on cpd@rcvs.org.uk
A full range of FAQs on the COVID-19 pandemic and the impact on the veterinary profession are available to view at www.rcvs.org.uk/coronavirus
RSPCA Chief Veterinary Officer, Caroline Allen, today praised the vets and nurses who are providing essential care to animals through the crisis.
She said: “This is an incredibly challenging time for the RSPCA, trying to advise the public and keeping emergency services going with fewer staff, strained resources and in line with Government advice.
"I know this is equally stressful and challenging for vet staff too and I wanted to say a huge thank you from everyone at the RSPCA for your hard work, dedication and support you are giving the RSPCA.
"Our call centre team and officer are working hard to maintain a frontline animal welfare service, but we know there may be occasions where we are unable to attend and this may impact demand on the local vet practice."
Current guidance from the BVA defines emergency and urgent treatment as:
Caroline continued: "There are some circumstances particular to the RSPCA, such as animals that have been subject to abuse or severe neglect, or injured/unwell unowned animals, that may not initially appear to be such an “emergency” in the traditional sense, but our officers will only be collecting them if there is considered to be ‘significant impact on health/welfare and likely to deteriorate if left unmanaged’ as covered by the BVA emergency criteria. We would greatly appreciate your support in ensuring we can protect the welfare of these animals.
"Our National Control Centre will also be following the guidance from the BVA and will be limiting, wherever possible, sending members of the public to vets. However, on occasions where there is a welfare need that would justify an essential journey, we will always ask members of the public to call practices first and follow their social distancing protocols.
"For vets who provide care for our shelters and private boarders we understand the support available will be limited, we will be producing further advice for our teams around options, including remote support.
"We do understand and appreciate the current restrictions being put in place by the BVA and we do understand the very serious strain on practices and teams at this time and we hope that we can continue to work together during this unprecedented time."
VetViewer is currently used by over 400 small animal, mixed and equine practices in the UK to track their metrics.
The tool also allows users to run simulations - so for instance if the practice has had to stop offering routine consults, or has a reduced number of vets or RVNS available, they can immediately see the impact on the practice top line.
VetViewer can be used by all practices, independent or corporate, or individual branches. It can track performance for the past 18 months, allowing comparisons to be made with before, during and after the COVID-19 outbreak.
VetViewer Director, Alex Arpino, says the service usually helps practices to thrive but right now offers potential to help them survive: "Many clinics are struggling to know what to do for the best and not knowing the magnitude of the economic impact of their decisions doesn't help.
"Everyone wants to protect their staff but also ensure they have jobs to return to. We can link data from nearly every PMS in the UK to VetViewer and the practice's management team is given access to a portal where they can see the data at a glance. Right now, being able to run simulations is central to current and future planning and could help alleviate stress for many practices managers and owners."
In normal circumstances, VetViewer allows practices to look at their performance over time and the effect of any changes they might make. The company says it can also help practices evaluate where they over and under-perform relative to their region and the UK as a whole.
The data available in VetViewer includes income from food, wormers and flea treatments and other provisions that many practices might find ways to sustain in the coming weeks.
Looking forward to a time when isolation and distancing can be lifted, the tool also shows where there is potential for practices to increase income - whether that's because they are under-charging for consults compared to the regional average, or performing fewer neutering procedures, or under-utilising potential diagnostic or imaging aids.
Such information is likely to be vital to recovery, providing a clear indication of the speed of recovery and the services that are making the biggest contribution to that recovery.
The VetViewer service can be demonstrated remotely by the company's dedicated team of Business Development Managers and the service can be activated at a distance, so practices can set up their account quickly and without any costs, either to set up or maintain.
For more information, visit: www.vetviewer.co.uk / www.veterinaryinsights.com or practice owners or managers can telephone 01403 800135 to make an appointment for an online meeting or to find out more.
All existing BEVA members will have their membership automatically extended until 30 June 2020. The association is also inviting vets and vet nurses who are not already BEVA members to join as online members free of charge until 30 June 2020.
BEVA President Tim Mair said: “In this extraordinary time of global crisis our profession, as with many industries, is under immense pressure. By offering free membership we are giving equine vets easy access to a wealth of supportive resources and online CPD to help them through these dark times.”
BEVA membership includes:
The association is also looking at other ways to support the profession, which has included making all BEVA Congress 2019 webinars available to members via the BEVA online learning platform.
To sign up from Monday 30 March 2020 visit: https://www.beva.org.uk/Join-BEVA
The tool is available to all practices, free of charge.
The downloadable and printable guide chart, which has been created by a number of specialists, will help veterinary surgeons, nurses and receptionists to identify urgent, potentially urgent, non-urgent and delayable cases to help limited veterinary resources be used to best efficiency without compromise to animal health or welfare.
The chart, which can be printed and put on a practice wall or referred to as a webpage via a mobile phone or tablet, has a number of supporting resources produced by the same specialists.
Sue Paterson, BSAVA President, said: “During these exceptional and worrying times veterinary surgeons need as much practical help and support as possible.
"We are hugely grateful for the indefatigable support of an enthusiastic group of volunteers who have rapidly produced this triage tool, which we are now able to share. It should enable patient queries to be processed, reliably and efficiently, allowing for emergency patients to be seen as a matter of urgency, within the current government and RCVS guidelines."
The triage tool is free to download and share: https://www.bsava.com/TriageTool
BSAVA is working on a number of other initiatives to support veterinary professionals during the current crisis, including new guidance on obtaining consent remotely for veterinary treatment. for more information, visit: https://www.bsava.com/adviceforCOVID19
First and foremost the Association says the profession should only provide urgent and emergency care, that is treatment which cannot wait three weeks.
The Association also highlights in the importance of veterinary nurses leading by example when it comes to social distancing.
Other advice includes:
Splitting teams to the absolute minimum you need in your practice. Try and keep the same teams together to minimise cross over
Triage and take history over the phone. Consider using video calls to consult remotely.
Encourage clients to email prescription requests, give yourselves more time to achieve this – your standard 24-hour turnaround can be adapted!
If you are posting prescriptions, aim to reduce this to one postal drop off each week.
Encourage clients to wait in the car until you are ready for them to come in for their appointment and consider only bringing the pet into the clinic.
Encourage payments over the phone and avoid cash transactions where possible.
Work from home as much as possible.
Reduce the footfall of clients to your practice, protect your staff. Be responsible for encouraging the public to not come into the vets unless it is an emergency.
Practice good infection control procedures. We are nurses, we are better than most at this!
BVNA President, Jo Hinde said: "I implore all veterinary staff to follow current advice and make changes so you can do your bit to limit the spread of Covid-19. These government-imposed restrictions are non-negotiable for the next three weeks. Let’s all work together to help save lives and be a part of the solution and not the problem."
The BVNA offers further support for veterinary nurses in the form of the members advisory service, and for nurses facing financial hardship, the Daphne Shipman Benevolent fund.
On 23rd March, the Government demanded that the majority of public-facing businesses close their doors. Veterinary surgeries, however, have been exempted and are allowed to remain open.
However, the number of clients seen face-to-face should be kept to an absolute minimum and veterinary teams must insist on strict social distancing measures at all times.
In addition, the RCVS/BVA say that:
Routine treatments should not be carried out until further notice.
You may offer your clients advice and consultation services via remote means, including prescribing POM-V medicines where appropriate.
Clients and/or veterinary professionals should only travel to see animals if judged essential to do so.
Animals should only be seen in emergencies or where, in the judgement of the veterinary surgeon, urgent assessment and/or treatment is needed in order to reduce the risk of patient deterioration to the point where it may become an emergency in the near future (ie within the three-week time frame currently laid out by the Government for these measures).
Veterinary professionals should exercise judgement as to when it is necessary for you to see an animal and/or their owner in person. has updated its FAQs for veterinary professionals, which can be found here:
The College has updated its FAQs for veterinary professionals, which can be found here: https://www.rcvs.org.uk/setting-standards/advice-and-guidance/coronavirus-covid-19/
The BVA is now developing some further guidance to provide examples of what constitutes routine, urgent and emergency care.
The charity says that it had already been suffering a period of 'dire financial constraints' and the economic effects of coronavirus are now having a direct effect on funding.
The charity's Trustees and Executive Committee is still trying to find emergency funding to try and save the organisation, failing which it will close on the 31st March.
There are 13 candidates standing in this year’s VN Council elections, including two existing VN Council members eligible for re-election and 11 candidates not currently on Council. They are:
Samantha AndersonJessica BeckettKirsten CavillRebecca ClarkDorothy (Dot) CreightonLindsey DoddEmma ForemanRacheal MarshallMegan OakeySusannah PhillipsMatthew RendleClaire RobertsCathy Woodlands
Ballot papers and candidates’ details for both elections have been posted to all veterinary nurses who are eligible to vote. Voters have also been emailed unique links the secure voting websites.
All votes must be cast, either online or by post, by 5pm on Friday 24 April 2020.
All candidates were invited to produce a video in which they answered up to two questions submitted to the RCVS by members of the electorate. The videos received so far have been published on the RCVS website at www.rcvs.org.uk/vnvote20 and on the College's YouTube channel (www.youtube.com/rcvsvideos). The candidate statements and biogs, and the questions submitted by members of the profession have also been published on the vnvote20 page.
Eleanor Ferguson, RCVS Registrar and Returning Officer, said: "With all that is happening currently, we are glad to say that we have been able to continue with business as usual as far as the RCVS and VN Councils elections are concerned, albeit with some minor delays on publishing the candidate videos.
"It is very encouraging that, after a two-year absence, the VN Council elections have come back stronger with a field of 13 candidates, and we hope that this will translate into increased turnout."
Those who are eligible to vote in the RCVS VN Council election but have not received either an email or ballot paper should contact Annette Amato, Deputy Head of Veterinary Nursing, on a.amato@rcvs.org.uk
Julie Dugmore, RCVS Director of Veterinary Nursing, said: "We have been in discussion with veterinary nursing education providers regarding a number of concerns they have raised regarding the support for student veterinary nurses and the progression with their licence to practise qualifications.
"These include concerns that, under the current circumstances, student veterinary nurses would not be able to fulfil their clinical placement requirements, as well as not being able to undertake the required assessments. Furthermore, institutions offering veterinary nurse education would not be able to continue their programme of approving and quality monitoring Training Practices.
"Therefore the following temporary arrangements and guidance have been approved by both the Veterinary Nurses (VN) Education Committee and VN Council. We ask that all student veterinary nurses, veterinary nursing education centres and Training Practices read the guidance.`'
The temporary arrangements and guidance are as follows:
Clinical placements
Several universities have expressed concerns regarding student veterinary nurses’ attendance in clinical placement over the coming weeks, due to the precautions around transmission of Coronavirus. This applies, in the main, to full-time students in all years of a programme, although there are particular concerns as to the impact this will have on final-year students being unable to complete the required number of hours in order to complete their programme and graduate.
Universities and awarding organisations have requested a degree of flexibility around the RCVS VN Registration Rules and completion of the RCVS Day One Skills, in light of the Covid-19 situation. The following therefore applies:
We recognise that it should not be compulsory for students to complete clinical placements within the next eight weeks, after which the situation will be reviewed. This will apply to students in any year of their studies.
We recognise that for students in their final year of study, it may be difficult for them to make up the hours of clinical placement missed prior to graduation. Universities and colleges should continue to support students and explore alternatives, however any shortfall relative to the requirements should not be a barrier to completion of the programme.
For BSc students in years 1 to 3 of their studies and FdSc students in years 1 and 2 of their studies, we would expect that there will be sufficient time for them to make up the number of hours prior to completing the programme. However we will review this as the Covid-19 pandemic progresses.
Student veterinary nurses will still be required to complete the Day One Skills for Veterinary Nurses in their totality as these seek to assure competency at the point of registration. Where a student has completed the Day One Skills in less than the 1,800 hours, this will be assessed on a case by case basis on application to register.
Assessments
We note that accreditation standards require veterinary nursing programmes to include an OSCE or similarly robust, objective and evidence-based form of practical examination to test safe and effective acquisition of a broad range of skills and competences as outlined in the RCVS Day One Competences and Skills for Veterinary Nurses.
There has been some concern regarding the number of examiners required for OSCE assessments in light of announcements from some organisations that are not allowing staff members to attend large gatherings.
Universities and awarding organisations may need to explore alternatives to the current delivery of the unseen and Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE) used for assessment of the RCVS Day One Competences and Skills for Veterinary Nurses, as a result of measures to protect students and staff and reduce the risk of Coronavirus transmission. In this respect, the RCVS Examinations Manager and Chair of VN Education Committee will review proposals for changes to the assessment.
As universities and awarding organisation explore alternative methods, they should continue to consider the robustness of their processes in assessing practical skills.
Universities and awarding organisations will still be required to assure us, through subsequent analysis and evaluation, that all their assessments were sufficiently met Day One Competences and Skills.
Training Practice Approval and Quality Monitoring activities
The aim of the webinar is to help bring everyone together to support one another and review how the profession can continue to protect animal health and welfare whilst also helping to slow the pandemic.
Subjects covered will include:
The webinar starts at noon tomorrow. It runs for one hour and there will be time for questions. The webinar will be recorded, so those who miss it will be able to watch it later.
https://www.thewebinarvet.com/webinar/covid-19-and-the-veterinary-profession
Joii has announced that its free vet nurse consultations and £20 consultations with veterinary surgeons will now be available 24 hours a day. The out-of-hours service will be delivered by eight UK-trained vets based overseas in countries such as Australia, to ensure its UK-based staff continue to enjoy a healthy work-life balance with no interruptions from nighttime working.
Meanwhile FirstVet has announced that for the next six weeks, all consultations via its platform will be free of charge. Appointments will be available for five hours per day, from 12:00pm to 5:00pm.
Veterinary practices that wish to provide their own online consultations have a couple of options to consider: The Virtual Vet Group, and VetHelpDirect.
The College says it will, however, continue to operate as close to normality as possible, with the main support services for veterinary surgeons and veterinary nurses such as advice, lifelong learning (including qualifications and the new 1CPD platform), finance and Practice Standards available as usual over the phone, on email or via the website.
The College’s main statutory activities around accreditation, registration and regulation of the professions will also be largely unaffected, with most Committee, Sub-Committee and working group meetings held by telephone or video conference.
Apparently, however, the April meeting of RCVS Council was going to be too big to be held remotely, so it has been cancelled.
The things that were up for discussion, such as the standard of proof and the report of the Legislation Working Party, will be moved to a subsequent meeting. Should there be any urgent business to consider, Council members have been asked to remain available via email on the date originally scheduled.
The College says it will be deciding whether to proceed with forthcoming DC hearings on a case-by-case basis, to balance maintaining the health and welfare of all involved with the College’s responsibility to protect animal health and welfare and public health.
The College is having to postpone or cancel an increasing number of its events; latest updates and advice for the profession is at: www.rcvs.org.uk/coronavirus.
RCVS Chief Executive Lizzie Lockett, pictured right, said: "We have been planning for this eventuality for some time, so whilst Monday’s announcement from UK Government came a little sooner than expected, we are in a strong position to be able to operate as close to normal as possible.
"We have an excellent and highly committed team of staff and Council members at the College, who I know will continue to work hard from kitchen tables, studies and living rooms over the coming days and weeks to serve the veterinary professions and the animal-owning public.
"Whilst we are fortunate that much of our work can be carried out remotely, we fully appreciate that this is not the case for most veterinary professionals who themselves are currently facing many significant challenges in their daily work to care for the nation’s animals whilst also prioritising the health and welfare of their own teams."
The College is urging all veterinary surgeons, nurses and practices to check they have supplied it with their most up-to-date email address via www.rcvs.org.uk/myaccount so it can relay its latest advice as the situation evolves.
The sessions, which are delivered by the company's territory managers and cover things like toxicology, ophthalmology and the management of epilepsy, will now be streamed live to computers, tablets or smart phones.
Product Manager Will Peel (pictured right) said: "We know that concerns over coronavirus are affecting our customers so we want to make it as easy as possible for them to benefit from the information imparted in our Lunch and Learn sessions while normal service is disrupted.
‘We hope that these measures will also help us offer more virtual workshops in the future to make our sessions more accessible for busy veterinary staff and we are looking at the possibility of organising virtual drop ins from our sales team in the future.’
For more information visit: https://www.tvm-uk.com. To rearrange a previously booked session contact your local territory manager or email help@tvm-uk.com.
HSR, which provides emergency and routine specialist orthopaedic and neurology services, now offers video consultations with a specialist and a pet transportation service. It has also introduced strict strict biosecurity and operational preventative measures.
Clare Hamilton, Managing Director, says, “Our priority is to continue to offer gold-standard service for both routine and emergency orthopaedic and neurological cases whilst doing our utmost to limit the spread of Covid-19 as much as possible. We are to all intents and purposes, ‘business as usual’ with additional hygiene measures to protect clients and staff”.
HSR is asking clients that if there is a chance that they have Covid-19 and/or have come into contact with anyone with the virus they do not attend the hospital in person, but instead contact via email or telephone to discuss their pet’s treatment on an individual basis. Clients visiting the clinic are being asked to wait in their cars until their appointment, whereupon the animal is collected from the car by one of the team for its clinical examination. The vets are then speaking to the clients by telephone to discuss and gain consent for any further investigation or treatment.
For vulnerable clients who are self-isolating and in need of their services, HSR is offering a pet ambulance service for collection and drop off of pets. They will then have a video consultation with the specialist. Medications will be posted out and advice given over email or telephone.
Clare added: “We are doing all we can to support colleagues and clients in what are unprecedented circumstances. We recognise the strain on many practices having to reduce the number of appointments in the face of staff shortages. We want to reassure vets that we are happy to offer advice and support with cases, and continue to take referrals during this difficult period. We also have free online CPD for practices via our website as meetings are postponed or cancelled”.
The practice advises clients and referring vets to check for further developments on social media, or sign up to their email list for updates.
The review, which had been due to start in late 2019, will now start in April 2020.
Melissa Donald, Chair of the RCVS Standards Committee (pictured right), said: "Regretfully, as the scope and complexity of the review became clearer following Council’s approval of the project, it was also apparent that the original methodology, and the timetable set for it, was not going to be suitable to the task.
"Therefore, over the past few months, the Standards Committee and College staff have been working hard with the external research agency to revise the methodology and we have now reached the stage where we are confident we have got it right, and can now proceed with the review.
“While we regret the delay, as this review relates to fundamental principles about the provision of veterinary care, it is vital we get it right and that the process is as comprehensive as possible. It is better that it is right than rushed.”
Under the new methodology the review has been split into the following stages:
Melissa added: “Invitations to our regional focus group discussions, which will be selected randomly from amongst the professions by our research agency, will be going out soon and I would urge anyone who receives an invitation to come along and share their views and ideas.”
For further information, see: www.rcvs.org.uk/undercare
When you post a job advert, or a shout for assistance on VetNurse Jobs, it is emailed to subscribers immediately and fed out onto other social networks. You can further extend the reach of your post by sharing it yourself and (with "Share and reward") encouraging other members of your team to do likewise.
I have taken the decision to drop the charge for advertising because it seems very clear now that we all face a very grim few months ahead, and it has never been more important that we all pull together and support each other, both personally and in business.
Of course, removing the charge for advertising for help on VetNurse.co.uk and VetSurgeon.org is not, in and of itself, going to save anyone from going under, but I hope perhaps other veterinary suppliers might follow my lead and consider dropping their prices until such time as everyone is back on their feet.
Over the last few months, VetNurse.co.uk has been undergoing a major upgrade, and we're now within two weeks relaunching the website. When we do, I have a number of other ideas in the pipeline, all designed to help bring the profession together and support each other, which I will announce shortly thereafter.
Meantime, take care everyone.
The Association says it delayed this decision as late as possible, and whilst the most recent government advice does not prohibit large public gatherings, it recognises the importance of personal safety for Congress attendees and the need to support the profession in preserving business continuity, maintaining client services and protecting animal welfare.
Amanda Stranack, BSAVA CEO, said: "As the situation continues to escalate, the government have given a clear steer that they expect more stringent controls to come into force in the coming weeks. With Congress now only a few weeks away, we want to give all our attendees as much notice as possible, both to ensure peace of mind, and to give people adequate time and flexibility to change their plans.
"BSAVA recognises the pressures the current situation brings to bear on the veterinary community and in making this difficult decision, has the interests of the profession first and foremost in its mind.
"We would thank all those who have worked hard over the past two years to contribute to the development of Congress, a huge amount of effort goes into preparations from BSAVA volunteers, Congress participants and our staff."
Sue Paterson, BSAVA President, said: "It is with great regret that we have made the difficult decision to cancel Congress, which has taken place annually for more than 60 years. Congress is an incredibly important event in the veterinary calendar, and we were all looking forward to an inspiring agenda and saying a fond farewell to the city that has made Congress such a great success over so many years. The health and wellbeing of our attendees is of utmost importance to us, and whilst we are sorry to be making this decision, we are confident it is the right one."
BSAVA says it is aware of the impact that cancelling will have on many delegates' CPD hours, so it is now looking at other ways it can deliver Congress lectures and podcasts.
Sue added: "Whilst we won’t be able to deliver the full Congress programme, we will be working with our speakers to capture as many lectures as we can to make content available online."
The webinars, which are free of charge, are:
The webinars join 'The gastrointestinal microbiome and its effects', which is already available for free viewing via The Webinar Vet.
Product Manager Kai Crawshaw said: “We’ve received excellent feedback on the webinars from those who have already viewed them through our Learning Alliance platform. We hope that by also making them available via The Webinar Vet, we will make them more easily accessible to a higher number of veterinary professionals keen to refresh their knowledge in these important areas.”
The Animalcare webinars can be viewed here: https://www.thewebinarvet.com/webinars/animalcare