IET - Practice Feedback Needed!
The British Veterinary Association (BVA) has launched a survey to help gather information about practices' dealings with the RSPCA over the cost of initial emergency treatment (IET), to aid negotiations with the charity over the introduction of a flat fee.
Evidence has emerged, during discussions between the BVA and RSPCA over their Memorandum of Understanding, indicating confusion between the RSPCA National Call Centre and veterinary practices. As such, the BVA is launching a survey in order to collect concrete data that is representative of the costs of handling emergency pro bono cases.
The MoU covers the emergency treatment of sick or injured wildlife and stray animals, and establishes an agreement between the BVA and the RSPCA on the level of financial contribution from the latter. Constant negotiation for each case has been a source of frustration for the veterinary profession and the BVA are hoping to fix a flat fee for future IET.
Discussions are ongoing between the BVA and the RSCPA over the MoU, which was originally drawn up to clarify the relationship between the RSPCA and private vets on a variety of matters, including emergency cases. The MoU is currently in the process of being simplified and FAQs will be added to set out clearly the relationship between the vet and the RSPCA, as well as clarifying what is and what is not covered under the Memorandum.
BVA President Carl Padgett appealed for feedback from the profession, saying: "During our negotiations with the RSPCA it is incredibly useful to point to concrete evidence about what happens in practices up and down the country with IET related costs and how much the RSPCA contributes."
He stated: "We recognise that the RSPCA is a charity whose funds are limited but veterinary practice teams contribute a large amount of time and money to treating these emergency cases. This is why the Memorandum was drawn up in the first place and why we believe that the RSPCA contribution should be a flat rate of £60 plus VAT to remove the additional burden of negotiating the amount the RSPCA is prepared to contribute to an individual case."
He concluded: "To negotiate at the next meeting we need evidence, so we are asking practices to complete our survey. I encourage each practice to fill in the short questionnaire describing the most recent IET case to provide us with a more realistic idea of the cost to practices."
The survey is aimed at veterinary practices across England and Wales and is available here.
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. 
