RCVS publishes recording of ‘under care’ webinar
The RCVS is making available a range of resources explaining the new 'under care' guidance.
The Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons (RCVS) has published a recording of its recent webinar on the new ‘under care’ guidance to help explain what the changes will mean for veterinary professionals.
The webinar, which took place on Thursday, 15 June, gave an overview of the key changes. It also looked at how the guidance will be enforced and explored issues around prescribing prescription-only veterinary medicines (POM-Vs) to animals ‘under care’ remotely.
To further explain the changes, the RCVS has also published a collection of practice-based scenarios to help veterinary professionals understand how to apply the new guidance in a variety of different circumstances.
Under the new rules, it will no longer be a requirement for a veterinary surgeon to conduct a physical examination before prescribing POM-Vs to an animal under their care. The changes will come into force from 1 September 2023.
RCVS president Melissa Donald chaired the webinar, and was joined by a panel comprising standards committee chair Linda Belton, RCVS registrar Eleanor Ferguson, and RCVS head of standards Gemma Kingswell.
The webinar proved so popular that it was over-subscribed. A second webinar on the topic is planned for Monday, 17 July, with priority for attendance being given to those who wished to attend the June webinar but were unable to get a place in the audience.
Ms Ferguson said: “Thank you to all those members of the professions who took part in this very well-attended event in order to find out more about the new under care guidance and its implications in terms of the remote prescribing of POM-Vs ahead of its implementation from 1 September this year.
“We have also now published a range of practice-based scenarios to help explain how the new guidance should be followed in various circumstances, and in relation to different species. These scenarios cover a variety of different situations, including how the guidance applies to two or more practices with mutual clients, consultancy services and the prescription of long-term controlled drugs.”
Both the recording of the webinar and the scenarios are available to view on the RCVS website.
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. 
