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VPMA launch Member Assistance Programme
Julie Beacham
Julie Beacham, VPMA Honorary Secretary.
Programme provides a 24-hour confidential helpline for VPMA members

A new Member Assistance Programme was launched at the recent VPMA-SPVS Congress.

VPMA say that the programme was created to fill a needs gap for managers with somewhere to go for help on a range of issues from personal to professional.

The programme will provide a 24-hour confidential helpline for VPMA members, backed up by a Wellness portal where they can access range of support tools.

The need for such a scheme was stressed by VPMA Honorary Secretary, Julie Beacham:  “It’s very difficult for some practice managers, who find themselves in a limbo-situation between providing direction and support for employees, while trying to comply with their responsibilities towards their practice principal or employer.

"We’d had many reports of managers really struggling with no-where to go to find help for themselves. So, working with a provider, we came up with a package that gives each of our members, and their immediate families, support for both work-related issues such as financial and legal support, as well as personal issues such as stress and family matters.”

Senior vice-president Helen Sanderson added: “Our members are our central focus – and along with the CPD and networking opportunities that VPMA provides, we wanted to support well-being. We hope that through the programme, practice managers will feel that they are not alone."

The Member Assistance Programme is available free of charge to all VPMA members. For further details, contact the VPMA Secretariat on 07000 782 324. Non-members wishing to join the association and access the programme should email the secretariat at secretariat@vpma.co.uk. 

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Practices urged to audit neutering data

News Story 1
 RCVS Knowledge has called on vet practices to audit their post-operative neutering outcomes.

It follows the release of the 2024 NASAN benchmarking report, which collates data from neutering procedures performed on dogs, cats and rabbits.

The benchmarking report enables practices in the UK and Ireland to compare their post-operative outcomes to the national average. This includes the rate of patients lost to follow-up, which in 2024 increased to 23 per cent.

Anyone from the practice can submit the data using a free template. The deadline for next report is February 2026.

Visit the RCVS Knowledge website to complete an audit. 

Click here for more...
News Shorts
RCVS pays tribute to well-loved equine vet

The RCVS and the Riding Establishments Subcommittee has paid tribute to well-loved veterinary surgeon and riding establishment inspector, Rebecca Hamilton-Fletcher MRCVS.

Linda Belton MRCVS, RCVS President, said: "I, along with my colleagues on the RESC, RCVS Council, RCVS Standards Committee, as well as RCVS staff, was very saddened to hear of the sudden death of Rebecca, or Becca as we knew her, last week.

"She was a true advocate for equine welfare and in her many years on the RESC worked to continually improve the quality and consistency of riding establishment inspections, all in the interests of enhanced horse welfare and rider safety."