BVA welcomes RCVS decisions on 24/7 emergency care and postgraduate postnominals
The British Veterinary Association (BVA) has welcomed the commitment to provide clarity on the obligation on veterinary surgeons to provide 24/7 emergency care, agreed by the veterinary regulator yesterday.
The Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons (RCVS) announced that changes to the supporting guidance to the Code of Professional Conduct will place greater emphasis on animal owners’ legal responsibilities for their animals and an obligation on veterinary surgeons to provide more information on clients about their out of hours emergency service.
RCVS Council also agreed that guidance will be provided to assist vets to decline to attend an animal away from the practice when unnecessary or unsafe.
The proposed changes to the supporting guidance were announced following a comprehensive review and call for evidence, to which BVA contributed both written and oral evidence.
Commenting on the changes, BVA President Robin Hargreaves said:
“The willingness of veterinary surgeons to provide 24/7 emergency care is one of the main reasons that the public places its trust in our profession. But BVA has argued that the delivery of that obligation has to be realistic and public expectation must be managed.
“We therefore welcome the College’s commitment to highlight owners’ responsibilities alongside those of veterinary surgeons. We also welcome the recommendation that the College better supports vets by making it clear that out-of-hours costs are generally more expensive and that vets are not obliged to carry out substantive treatment for which the owner cannot pay.”
On the recommendation that the RCVS help and empower vets to decline to attend an animal away from the practice, Mr Hargreaves said:
“We recognise that this change will not be welcomed by those who wanted to see a complete removal of the obligation to attend animals away from the practice, but we do see it as a helpful and pragmatic way to ensure animal welfare whilst protecting the veterinary surgeon’s right to make a judgement.”
Mr Hargreaves added:
“The College should also be congratulated for the way in which the review was carried out and the work that was put into trawling through a tremendous amount of written and oral evidence in order to develop the approach.”
RCVS Council also voted yesterday to overturn a decision made in June 2012 to remove all postgraduate postnominals from the Register of Veterinary Surgeons. Commenting, Mr Hargreaves said:
“It is commendable that RCVS Council has listened to the disquiet amongst veterinary surgeons about the decision to remove all postgraduate postnominals from the Register.
“Whilst we support the principle of rationalising the plethora of postnominals and clarity for both the public and veterinary surgeons, we did not support the complete removal of postnominals and so we are pleased that they will look again at this issue.”
