A new five-year Strategic Plan for the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons (RCVS), that revolves around four key ambitions and sets a blueprint for how the College will work on behalf of all its stakeholders, was approved by RCVS Council at its January 2020 meeting. The new 2020–2024 Strategic Plan has been in development since the end of 2018. To inform the development of this plan, over the last 12 months the RCVS undertook research amongst veterinary surgeons and veterinary nurses (through the Surveys of the Professions), stakeholders and the public. Members of the professions and stakeholder organisations felt that the direction of travel was a positive one, with improvements noted by stakeholders in clarity of mission and purpose, transparency, openness and collaboration, and in the nature and speed of the College’s communications, since the last such research, in 2013. Members of the profession also rated the College highly on professionalism, international relationships, having p ...

A Recognition Order for the University of Surrey’s veterinary degree has been approved by Privy Council meaning that, from late next month, the degree will be formally accredited by the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons (RCVS). The Order was laid before Parliament for approval on Monday 27 January, having previously been approved by the Privy Council on Monday 20 January, and will come into force on 18 February 2020. From this date, students who graduate with the University of Surrey’s veterinary degree will automatically be able to join the Register of Veterinary Surgeons as Members of the RCVS and to practise veterinary medicine in the UK. The university’s Bachelor of Veterinary Medicine and Science (BVMSci Hons) degree will enter the College’s cyclical accreditation process and be subject to annual monitoring for quality assurance. Accreditation of the degree, had previously been agreed by RCVS Council at its October 2019 meeting. This followed a five-year process during which ...

Yesterday, 27 January 2020, marked the launch of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons’ (RCVS) new learning and development platform 1CPD.   1CPD has replaced the Professional Development Record (PDR) as the means of planning, recording and reflecting on veterinary professionals’ continuing professional development (CPD).    The launch of 1CPD accompanies and facilitates a number of other CPD policy changes, including the introduction of the new outcomes-focused CPD model which was introduced in 2020 and becomes mandatory from 2022. A key element of this new model is reflection, and 1CPD encourages veterinary professionals to reflect on the quality, relevance and impact of the CPD they undertake through the incorporation of the ‘plan, do, record, reflect’ cycle of CPD on the platform.   “Although the outcomes-focused element of these changes won’t become mandatory until January 2022, we recommend that you incorporate reflection in your cycle ...

The Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons (RCVS) Council has approved the direction of travel for a number of reforms aiming to update and improve the education and support of veterinary students and new graduates. A series of recommendations were put to RCVS Council at its meeting on Thursday 23 January 2020 which came out of the Graduate Outcomes Project, a wide-ranging consultation launched in 2018 to gather the views of the profession in four key areas: ·         Day One Competences – the skills and attributes required by veterinary graduates to work safely and independently upon entering practice; ·         The Professional Development Phase (PDP) – including an identified need for a more structured PDP programme for new graduates and what this could look like; ·         Extra-mural studies (EMS) – including how EMS placements should ...

On a personal note on December the 20th December, 2019 a large scale fire tore rapidly through the Adelaide Hills and took my sisters's farm at Woodside. ... the 7 ponies and horses were still on the farm and I am not sure how they are still alive. It was an incredibly distressing afternoon wondering what state they would be in and as soon as the fire had gone through we drove up. It was like Armageddon and not something I will forget in a hurry. My sister lost fencing hay sheds, chicken coops, garden, tack room, diesel generator, water electricity and she was one of the luck ones. She only got her 3 kids out of the house 2 hours before the fire hit. Something I will never forget.  Horses in general across Aus have been mostly either alive or dead / requiring euthanasia, with not much in between. They are clever things if you give them a change to escape the fire - in my sisters case a dam and open internal fencing with a lot of dirt on the ground.    Many people evacuated horses so th ...

The Privy Council has approved a rise to the current annual renewal fees charged by the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons (RCVS) of £24 for those practising in the UK, £12 for overseas-practising members and £4 for non-practising members in order to continue to fund a number of ambitious projects and make sure the College is fit for the future. The approved fee rise will apply to the 2020-21 annual renewal fee for veterinary surgeons, including overseas-practising and non-practising veterinary surgeons and temporary registrants. These are due to be paid by 31 March 2020. Increases will also be applied for those registering on or after 1 April 2020, including the restoration fee for those applying to re-join the Register. In addition to being approved by Privy Council the fee rise had previously received approval from Lord Gardiner of Kimble, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Rural Affairs and Biosecurity at the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs, who recom ...

It is with great sadness that we report the passing of Chris House BVetMed MRCVS, on the 11th November 2019, aged 65.   Chris was brought up in South East London, and was prone to leading his siblings, and friends, into the wilderness of North Kent on long hikes and adventures. As a child he commuted across south London to a grammar school in Battersea, and he was their first pupil to go to vet school.  It was at the Royal Veterinary College where he met Jane Jackson, his soul and teammate; he was chef d’equipe when the RVC won the international inter-Vet School riding competition - Jane was amongst the team.    After graduating in 1978, and following a stint in rural equine practice and a crash course in small animals at Elizabeth Street Blue Cross, Chris, and his now wife Jane, founded their own veterinary practice in Blackmore, Essex, in November 1980.  Surgery took place in the downstairs cloakroom of Janes parents house, until the ether fumes became too much. Under the ...

It is with great sadness that we announced the passing of Bob Ordidge on 22nd December aged 74. A pioneer and true legend in the equine veterinary field over the course of his 50-year career, he was particularly known for his contribution to the field of equine surgery. The racehorse, hunting and general horse owning fraternities hugely benefited from Bob’s pragmatic and intelligent approach and in the years, which saw the huge expansion of surgical capabilities within the equine veterinary field Bob took a leading role. Always interested in new techniques, self-effacing about his own incredible surgical skills and ready to push boundaries, Bob set up and grew the now Rainbow Equine Hospital from its humble beginnings as Ordidge and Pritchard in Rainbow Lane, Old Malton , North Yorkshire. A part of the team here at Rainbow Equine Hospital all through his life, Bob will be sorely missed by all who had the privilege of working with and alongside him throughout his amazing career and we know that his legac ...

National pet charity Blue Cross is hoping 2020 will be a Happy New Year for 12 deserving horses in its care. The group came from a private home where circumstances beyond the owners’ control sadly meant that they could no longer give the horses the time and care they needed.  They took the brave step of asking the charity for help, to give them a safe future. Some of the horses were incredibly nervous on arrival at Blue Cross Rolleston’s rehoming centre, making catching, handling and leading them almost Impossible.  Some also had complex training needs. The charity’s horse team have been working hard to overcome these challenges in order to be able to give the horses important health checks, vaccinations and foot care.   “Most of the horses weren’t used to having their legs and feet handled regularly,” said Maria Kavanagh, horse rehoming manager at Blue Cross Rolleston. “Their hooves were overgrown and in desperate need of treatment from the farrier. ...