RCVS issues apology for overspend
The president of the RCVS, Dr Jerry Davies, has at last formally apologised to the entire veterinary profession for the overspending revealed in the McKelvey Report at the end of last year.
The investigation by Professor Bill McKelvey and the subsequent McKelvey Report reprimanded the RCVS for overreach by the Planning and Resources Committee and a general lack of open, challenging and transparent governance. At the time, Dr Davies labelled the report 'regrettable', but there was a notable lack of apology.
Now, in response to the reaction of members of the veterinary profession to the decision not to publish the report in full, a copy of the presentation made by Dr Davies to the BVA Council meeting in December has been published, in which the RCVS president made an apology.
He said: "I would like to emphasise that I, as President of the RCVS, am sorry for what has happened, but I hope you will appreciate that steps are being taken, in particular the setting up of the Audit and Risk Committee, to strengthen governance within our College."
The apology was first made to the meeting of the BVA Council on 7th December 2011. The RCVS has stated that they were under the impression that the apology would be widely promulgated immediately, but reissued it when it became apparent that this had not taken place.
The full extent of the controversial McKelvey Report remains unpublished. Only the Recommendations have been published, and a request under the Freedom of Information Act to release the entire report which contains the findings upon which Professor McKelvey based his Recommendations failed. Professor Davies reiterated the College's statement that external legal Counsel had advised that to publish the entire report would be unlawful under the Data Protection Act due to the presence of personal information.
Professor Davies' full presentation is available from the RCVS website and the BVA Council Meeting is expected to be reported in more detail in The Veterinary Record in due course.
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. 
