RCVS council backs ‘under care’ reform proposals

RCVS councillors today (19 January) overwhelmingly approved reforms to “under care” guidance for veterinary professionals.

Members voted 20 to 3 in favour of the revised measures during a meeting at the University of Nottingham’s vet school this morning.

In a separate discussion this afternoon, council decided the new guidance would be implemented between 1 June and 31 December 2023 – subject to review at March’s council meeting.

Postpone call

Earlier, council member Jo Dyer had called for a decision on “under care“ to be postponed until it became clear how the VMD intended to proceed with an anticipated review of the Veterinary Medicines Regulations (VMRs).

Although she welcomed moves to require vets to have 24-hour physical examination or premises visit capabilities available, she argued the time and money spent considering the issue should not compel members to make a decision now.

She added: “If we take a decision that is not robust, we’re not going to be able to forget it. We’ll go on paying for it in the future.”

Show leadership

However, others urged the council to show leadership and press ahead, based on the depth of the work done on the subject to this point.

Lay member Linda Ford said: “There has to come a moment where it’s good enough to get out there and do the job it was meant to do.”

Danny Chambers stressed the guidance could be reviewed in future, adding: “It’s not set in stone forever.”

Balance

Stephen May said the guidance had managed to balance professional and ethical issues with “societal progress”, though he did voice concerns about the potential for inadvertent messaging around remote prescription.

He said: “Where we have got to is a superb example of a self-regulating profession.”

Many opponents of the college’s stance have urged them to adopt the vet-client-patient relationship model as a basis for future guidance.

UK’s needs

However, the meeting was told the college had not dismissed the idea, instead incorporating some of its ideas.

Louise Allum said: “It would be very easy to cut and paste someone else’s guidance, but it didn’t feel like it was going to fit the UK’s needs.”

Meanwhile, Will Wilkinson said there was nothing in the guidance to stop individual practices from adopting the model if they chose.