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Andrea Jeffery talks VN Council
Re-election hopeful wants vet nurse title protected

Surgical veterinary nurse Andrea Jeffery has a history on the VN Council since it first began in 2002, and was even the first veterinary nurse to chair the council. She is now standing for re-election.

Mrs Jeffery, who is largely involved in the education of veterinary nurses, hopes to find a way of protecting the veterinary nurse title, to prevent those who are not registered or listed from calling themselves a veterinary nurse.

She said: "Protection of the title of veterinary nurse to those who are on the register or list would be a huge step forward, in particular, for clarity to the public who assume that all those in uniform and calling themselves veterinary nurses are on a professional register."

Mrs Jeffery explained that this is one of the rules she would like to see added to the VN Bye-laws, if this was agreed by the RCVS Council under its royal charter powers.

As her manifesto states, Mrs Jeffery would like to raise public awareness of the veterinary nurse's role. Part of this involves making it clear who is registered and listed, and who is not.

"[The VN Council] has clearly shown itself to be a council that has animal welfare and public confidence in the professional role of veterinary nursing at the forefront of all decisions it has made," Mrs Jeffery commented.

She added that, over the last 10 years, the council has self-regulated, made CPD compulsory and introduced VN Preliminary Investigation Disciplinary Committees.

For this reason, Mrs Jeffery believes the RCVS already shows its commitment as a regulator. She also explained that as veterinary nurses are part of a team alongside veterinary surgeons, it is sensible to be regulated by the same house.

"I would have to be convinced of the argument to have a separate Royal College of Veterinary Nurses."

When asked why members should vote for her, Mrs Jeffery commented that her experience on council and as part of the RCVS for a number of years now means that she has a clear understanding of the role of council and its position within the RCVS.

"Having a diverse group of nurses on VN Council will provide it with a breadth an depth of experience to help with the decision making that needs to take place."

She added: "I would like to see veterinary nursing continue to grow as a profession."

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Practices urged to audit neutering data

News Story 1
 RCVS Knowledge has called on vet practices to audit their post-operative neutering outcomes.

It follows the release of the 2024 NASAN benchmarking report, which collates data from neutering procedures performed on dogs, cats and rabbits.

The benchmarking report enables practices in the UK and Ireland to compare their post-operative outcomes to the national average. This includes the rate of patients lost to follow-up, which in 2024 increased to 23 per cent.

Anyone from the practice can submit the data using a free template. The deadline for next report is February 2026.

Visit the RCVS Knowledge website to complete an audit. 

Click here for more...
News Shorts
RCVS pays tribute to well-loved equine vet

The RCVS and the Riding Establishments Subcommittee has paid tribute to well-loved veterinary surgeon and riding establishment inspector, Rebecca Hamilton-Fletcher MRCVS.

Linda Belton MRCVS, RCVS President, said: "I, along with my colleagues on the RESC, RCVS Council, RCVS Standards Committee, as well as RCVS staff, was very saddened to hear of the sudden death of Rebecca, or Becca as we knew her, last week.

"She was a true advocate for equine welfare and in her many years on the RESC worked to continually improve the quality and consistency of riding establishment inspections, all in the interests of enhanced horse welfare and rider safety."