CVS response to the ‘Under Care’ review held by the RCVS
Following an article in the Vet Times last night, we are publishing our statement below on our view on the Under Care Consultation and providing a link to our full response to the consultation.
“CVS submitted a full response to the survey along with a detailed recommendation letter as part of the Under Care Consultation process held by the RCVS. We recommended that, in order to protect animal welfare, an increased governance on remote prescribing was required and that certain categories of drugs ought to require stringent controls and reporting. Our view focuses on the importance of the Vet Client Patient Relationship (VCPR) as being fundamental to protect the public interest.
We recognise that the RCVS have listened to and considered much of our profession’s concerns in the recently approved amended guidance. It is reassuring that the requirement to physically examine a patient remains a key part of taking an animal under your care as a veterinary surgeon, however, we believe that inclusion of the stronger concept of the VCPR would enable the guidance to better serve clients and protect animal welfare. Although it is disappointing that this framework was not adopted, the VCPR is fundamental to the way CVS operates its practices and we remain committed to maintaining that valuable client and patient relationship at the core of our animal care. CVS would like to see further amendments to the guidance to strengthen the governance of remote prescribing practices to specifically include the VCPR concept along with restriction and monitoring of remote prescribing of antimicrobial and controlled medications.
We look forward to further guidance and legislative developments to protect our professional responsibilities. As highlighted in our consultation response, we remain concerned that the updated guidance does not address the regulatory challenges we identified around the detection and reporting of inappropriate prescribing behaviours that may be detrimental to the public interest in the reputation of our profession. We urge the RCVS to continue to review this process and we would welcome the opportunity to contribute to future consultations to ensure legislative reform appropriately protects our professional responsibilities.”