RCVS delays anti-parasitic ‘under care’ guidance
The RCVS agreed to delay part of their guidance, to allow veterinary practices time to amend their prescribing protocol.
The Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons (RCVS) has announced that it will be delaying the implementation of the anti-parasitic elements of its ‘under care’ guidance, after veterinary practices voiced concern about their ability to comply.
The guidance, published on 20 January 2023, came into effect on 1 September 2023. However, the implementation of the rules regarding anti-parasitics has now been extended to 12 January 2024.
The RCVS made the decision in a meeting (7 September) after discovering widespread non-compliance to an aspect of the Veterinary Medicines Regulations.
The new ‘Under Care’ guidance states that veterinary surgeons must conduct a physical examination of an animal as part of their initial consultation before they prescribe an anti-parasitic.
However, the veterinary standards organisation discovered that many veterinary practices had not been including anti-parasitics that are prescription-only medications (POM-Vs) in patient records.
This means that, in order to meet the new guidance on prescribing and remote prescribing, many veterinary surgeons will now need to physically examine a large number of animals.
There is not a specific form for prescriptions within patient records, however they should include enough information so that the person supplying against it knows what to do.
The RCVS agreed to delay part of their guidance, to allow veterinary practices time to amend their prescribing protocol.
Dr Sue Paterson, RCVS president, said: “While it has been both surprising and disappointing to learn of such widespread non-compliance with legislation that has been in place for many years, Council decided to postpone the implementation of this one aspect of our new under care guidance to allow practices additional time to bring their prescribing protocols into line with VMD rules.
“Council felt this would be a compassionate and pragmatic approach in light of the amount of additional work non-compliant practices now need to undertake to rectify their prescribing protocols, whilst at the same time continuing to provide services to the animal-owning public in a period of workforce shortages and high client demand.”
BVA president Malcolm Morley said: “The decision comes following our representations on behalf of our members for a pragmatic solution.
“Given that this issue has been a significant concern for a majority of practices, including those inspected under the RCVS Practice Standards Scheme, the extension is of utmost importance in ensuring that all vets can effectively navigate the recently introduced RCVS guidance on Under Care.”
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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. 
