College to consult on recommendations set out in the Legislative Working Party Report.
The RCVS has announced a landmark consultation on legislative and disciplinary system reforms of the veterinary professions.
Open to veterinary professionals and the public, the 12-week consultation covers the recommendations set out in the RCVS Legislation Working Party (LWP) report, approved for consultation by RCVS Council in June.
It also covers proposed interim reforms to the disciplinary system that would bring the RCVS closer to regulatory best practice without the need for primary legislation.
The LWP Report was developed over three years in response to concerns that current legislation - the Veterinary Surgeons Act 1966 – is overly burdensome, prescriptive, and therefore no longer fit-for-purpose. Among the key recommendations include:
- embracing the vet-led team
- enhancing the veterinary nursing role
- assuring practice regulation
- introduce a modern ‘Fitness to Practise’ regime
- modernising RCVS registration.
Professor Stephen May, LWP chair and former president of the RCVS commented: “I believe we truly have a set of historic recommendations in this report and this has been reflected in the long process taken to reach this point, taking the last three years, over the course of 12 meetings, to explore over 50 proposals for reform. The recommendations range from the relatively minor to the really significant, of which the fitness to practise and vet-led team proposals are among the most significant.
“Most importantly, I firmly believe that this new regulatory framework will provide greater assurances to the public of the high quality and safety of veterinary services, as well as providing individual veterinary surgeons and veterinary nurses with the empowerment and support they deserve.”
The RCVS will also be seeking views from veterinary professionals and the public on three specific proposals to reform the disciplinary system. These are:
- a change to the standard of proof used in deciding whether or not the facts of a case are proven from the current criminal standard (‘beyond all reasonable doubt’) to the civil standard (‘on the balance of probabilities’)
- the introduction of a ‘Charter Case Protocol,’ under which cases that meet the threshold for a full Disciplinary Committee hearing, but which might be likely to attract a low sanction, may be concluded without a public hearing
- to end the current system of initial review of complaints via a Case Examiners Group with the more complex of these cases then reviewed subsequently by the Preliminary Investigation Committee.
The consultation will run until Wednesday, 27 January 2021.
Veterinary practices are being urged to help owners safely dispose of any unused and expired pet medicines - not just antibiotics - during November's Animal Medicines Amnesty. 
