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Status of equine stem cell-based veterinary medicine in the UK

The Veterinary Medicines Directorate has released an article highlighting to vets the stem cell-based veterinary medicines available in the UK for horses. Two of which have become the first to be granted EU-wide marketing authorisation.

Read the full report here

Thursday, November 14, 2019

BEVA weighs in for antimicrobial resistance day

The British Equine Veterinary Association (BEVA), together with its official research publication The Equine Veterinary Journal (EVJ), is providing practical support and enhancing knowledge during European Antibiotic Awareness Day 18 November 2019. The intention is to encourage the continued reduction of the use of critically important antibiotics. BEVA is running a survey to find out more about antimicrobial use and antimicrobial resistance in practice and has added further practical elements to its PROTECT ME Toolkit online resources. Meanwhile the EVJ will publish a special online collection of previously published articles ‘Antimicrobials in an age of resistance’ on 18 November 2019. The survey, which was launched at BEVA Congress in September and has had 262 veterinary responses to date, aims to assess any changes in prescribing of antimicrobials in equine practice since the last survey in 2009. The results will also provide an insight on the current frequency and types of antimicrobial res ...

Thursday, November 14, 2019

Results of the Second FVE European Veterinary Profession Study

The results of the second FVE survey have been released. Conducted between November 2018 and March 2019 and answered by more than 14,5000 participants, the objective of the survey is to help understand the current situation of the veterinary profession and to evaluate what actions shall be taken to shape the future of the profession. The veterinary sector as it is today The findings suggest that the majority of European vets in the future will be female - while in 2018 58% of veterinarians of all ages were female, 82% of those under 30 were female. The study also showed that only 37% of vets feel that they are very highly or highly regarded by the general public, leading the FVE Executive Director to state that "an improved communication of what veterinarians contribute to European society is key". The survey also confirmed that the use of preventive treatments such as vaccines are increasing, whilst the use of antibiotics decreases, in line with attempts to avoid antimicrobial resistance. The future outlo ...

Thursday, November 7, 2019

Learn how to apply new observation skills when assessing horses, with new online course

A new online educational course, produced by Dr Sue Dyson and Equitopia, is giving everyone the opportunity to learn how to listen to horses and spot the early signs of pain in ridden horses. By aiding prompt detection and quick treatment the course will help improve horse welfare and performance. www.EquitopiaCenter.com The 12 part course, how to recognise the 24 behaviours indicating pain in the ridden horse, is presented by international equine lameness specialist Dr Sue Dyson. It has been produced by the US’s popular evidence-based online educational resource Equitopia and helps translate Dr Dyson’s extensive research involving six studies and 400 horses, into action. It illustrates why pain is so poorly understood, the signs to look for, how to use an "ethogram" to score pain, and what to do once you find pain. An ethogram is a catalogue of behaviours with very clear definitions. Most of the previous pain-related behavioural work related to horses has only looked at the facial expressions o ...

Friday, November 1, 2019

RCVS produces "SUPERB" checklist poster to assist vets with Schedule 3 delegation to vet nurses

The Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons (RCVS) has produced a six-point checklist poster for use in the practice setting to help veterinary surgeons remember the key things they need to consider when delegating work to veterinary nurses under Schedule 3. Schedule 3 to the Veterinary Surgeons Act provides that vets may delegate medical treatment and minor surgery (not involving entry into a body cavity) to registered veterinary nurses (RVNs) and student veterinary nurses (SVNs) under certain circumstances. Following an RCVS survey of the veterinary professions to gauge how well both vets and vet nurses understood the provisions of Schedule 3, it was clear that both groups, but especially vets, could benefit from some additional guidance and greater clarity around some of the terms and language in the Schedule. Following the publication of the survey report, the RCVS Veterinary Nursing Schedule 3 Working Party made a number of recommendations, including the production of a number of case stud ...

Friday, November 1, 2019

Latest news from Defra regarding Brexit

As you are probably aware, the UK and the European Union have now agreed an extension to the Brexit deadline until 31 January 2020. This means that the UK will not be leaving the EU on Thursday 31st October 2019. It is, however, possible that the UK could leave the EU before 31 January if the UK parliament agrees the Withdrawal Bill, and so leave with an agreed deal in place. During the extension period up to 31 January, you should continue to move equines as you do now to the EU, using all the current processes and systems in place. There will be no additional checks taking place during this time either in the UK or the EU. However, it is important that you continue to be aware of what it is that you need to do to get ready for all potential Brexit scenarios during this period. All of the relevant guidance will remain on GOV.UK and we will continue to engage with you at regular intervals over the next couple of months to ensure you can stay up to date with what you need t ...

Wednesday, October 30, 2019

Sales of veterinary antibiotics halved over the past four years

New VARSS report confirms that UK sales of all veterinary antibiotics have halved over the past four years with sales of horse-only antibiotics falling by 4.3 tonnes (64%) since 2017 and 13.6 tonnes (85%) since 2014.

Sales of veterinary antibiotics have reduced by 49% in just four years between 2014 – 2018, the Veterinary Medicines Directorate (VMD) confirmed today.

The reduction demonstrates the strong and committed approach taken by the UK’s food, farming and veterinary sectors to tackle antimicrobial resistance (AMR). The figure comes from the annual Veterinary Antibiotic Resistance Sales and Surveillance (UK-VARSS) report published today. It builds on reductions previously published by past VARSS reports.

Tuesday, October 29, 2019

Insights from NEF 2019 shape 2020 programme

Insights gained from this year’s National Equine Forum (NEF) have been used to shape the programme for the forthcoming event on Thursday 5 March 2020, to give the equestrian industry the topics they most want to hear about. This year the event organisers have used feedback from delegates, together with social media activity, live stream and podcast views to identify what the equestrian industry particularly like. Programme Convener Georgina Crossman said: “From feedback received and from what you have watched via our online streaming we are going to give you more of the same in terms of research-led presentations.” To date Dr Rachel Murray’s 2019 presentation on what cardiovascular fitness, core stability and muscle development of the horse has received more than 5,400 views on the NEF YouTube channel. In 2018 the NEF website details on Dr Sue Dyson’s Landmark pilot study on the effects of rider weight on equine performance received around 3,500 unique page visits as well as i ...

Tuesday, October 29, 2019

27th BEVA Trust Education and Welfare Castration Clinic

Now the final clinic for 2019 has successfully taken place we can now look forward to the clinics planned for spring 2020. Two clinics took place this Autumn, the first in Newark, Nottinghamshire led by Sarah Smith from Rossdales Veterinary Surgeons.

Monday, October 28, 2019

Popular online RCVS Leadership course returns next month

The Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons (RCVS) popular online leadership programme is now accepting sign-ups for the next round of the course which begins in November. The Edward Jenner Leadership Course for Veterinary Professionals, which was developed in conjunction with the NHS Leadership Academy and is hosted by the FutureLearn online learning platform, starts on Monday 18 November but those who are interested can register now. The course is open to all members of the veterinary team, including veterinary and veterinary nursing students, with the first two courses comprising the programme, which are free to access, can be worth up to 48 hours of continuing professional development. The full programme costs £77 and includes an assessment leading to an NHS Leadership Academy Award in Leadership Foundations. Since its launch last year, when the first iteration of the programme was run, there have been almost 7,000 enrolments across the programme’s modules, with participants drawn from over ...

Friday, October 25, 2019

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