Graham Gardner has launched its summer collection of scrubwear in the form updated versions of its Urbane and Easiphit Collections, with new colour combinations added to the range.
The Urbane Collection, pictured right, is designed specifically for the female form. Easiephit is a contempary unisex collection.
Simon Ward, Sales Director said: "Scrubwear is becoming a firm favourite with veterinary staff in the UK. The relaxed comfort offered by scrubs is very attractive to staff, and the smart image of colour coded garments is very well received by managers seeking a unified department look. With the increased stocks and increased colour combinations, customers can now get their hands on the new uniforms more quickly than ever before!"
Other colour combinations are still available as special imports. Non-stocked colour requests will be directed to Grahame Gardner's USA Partners and the sales team will ensure that customers are kept updated as to delivery times.
Both Easiephitt and Urbane have also increased their stocked size range. Grahame Gardner now aim to hold sizes from extra, extra small to extra, extra large.
For further information on Urbane, Easiephitt or Grahame Gardner Ltd, please call 0116 255 6326, or visit http://www.grahamegardner.co.uk/.
The Kennel Club has announced that the Crufts Best of Breed (BOB) winners in two of the high profile breeds - the bulldog and the Pekingese - failed their veterinary checks, so the breeds were not represented in the utility and toy group judging.
The British Veterinary Association says it welcomed the Kennel Club's initiative to put the veterinary checks in place for the BOB winner in the 15 high profile breeds at all championship dog shows starting at Crufts this year.
The 15 breeds have been identified as having particular health problems often due to poor conformation as a result of having been bred with exaggerated characteristics. The veterinary checks ensure the BOB winners are not suffering as a result of their conformation, such as eye problems, skin disease, lameness or breathing difficulties, which should have been identified by the judge.
Carl Padgett, President of the BVA, said: "Breeding dogs with exaggerated features must be tackled robustly. The veterinary checks are sending out a strong message that dogs with health problems will not win in the show ring, and only visibly healthy dogs will be rewarded.
"Dog showing can be a force for good for dog breeding and education but the veterinary checks on the first two groups at Crufts have highlighted the health problems that all too often affect man's best friend.
"We hope this strong action by the Kennel Club will be a wake-up call to those breeders and judges that still need to embrace the message that health should always be at the top of the agenda."
A new device call the Animalarm, which sends dog owners an SMS text message if the temperature in their car exceeds a preset threshold, has been launched this week.
Apparently, you can also ring the device to check what the temperature is inside your car.
The Animalarm sells for £108 inc. VAT from www.animalarm.co.uk.
Now all we need is a bit of sun.
Bob Martin has launched FleaClear (fipronil) for cats and dogs, which will be sold through multiple retailers and leading pet retailers for as little as £4.50 per treatment.
The company says it is backing the launch with 'considerable marketing spend', which will include TV advertising, a press campaign in women's consumer lifestyle titles, PR and social media campaigns.
According to the company's press release: "Not only is it cheaper than Frontline it can be bought off the shelf saving a costly visit to the vets."
Indeed. Not to mention the savings to be made by not having to hospitalise the permethrined cat.
The RCVS Disciplinary Committee has struck off Suffolk vet Oliver Fraser Lown after finding him guilty of five separate charges relating to the possession of extreme animal pornography and sexual activity with animals.
Mr Lown, who graduated from Szent Istvan University in Hungary and has stated that he has never practised in the UK, did not attend the Disciplinary Committee hearing but was represented by Mr Jo Cooper, a solicitor-advocate. He was accused of five charges of disgraceful conduct in a professional respect:
On the first day of the hearing, the respondent made an application to the Disciplinary Committee that the hearing should be held in private on the basis that any publicity about the case 'would offend public morality' due to the nature of the allegations and because the respondent's father suffers from ill-health, which could be adversely affected by any publicity. The Committee rejected the application on the grounds that the nature of the allegations was already in the public domain and that public justice in the context of professional regulation outweighed the private concerns of the respondent regarding his father.
On the second day of the hearing, the respondent made an application to adjourn charges 2 - 5 on the basis that he had already admitted, and received a conditional discharge, for the first charge and would, therefore, not oppose removal from the Register and an undertaking never to re-apply. The respondent also argued that the original decision of the College to register him in July 2013 was flawed because it was unfair to admit him, in awareness of his conditional discharge, apparently for the purpose of taking disciplinary proceedings against him. He also referred to the Crown Prosecution Service's decision not to prosecute him in respect of charge 4.
This application was dismissed by the Disciplinary Committee on the grounds of the gravity of charges 2 - 5 and the fact that the respondent chose to apply to join the Register and had been advised to seek legal advice regarding his conditional discharge beforehand. Furthermore, the Disciplinary Committee heard that there was no error at the time of his registration because the conditional discharge was not a conviction and therefore, under the Veterinary Surgeons Act, there was no option to refuse registration.
The respondent then made a final application to have the case adjourned on the grounds that new documentation he had received the previous day regarding his registration had led his lawyers to conclude that the decision to register him may have been unlawful. However, the Disciplinary Committee said that, in its understanding, the RCVS Registrar had no option but to register Mr Lown. The Disciplinary Committee then dismissed the application on the grounds that any challenge of the validity of registration could and should have been made within the three month time limit for judicial review and that no significant new documentation about Mr Lown's registration had come to light that could reasonably be said to have triggered a judicial review and warrant an adjournment. It also again highlighted the gravity of the charges.
The Disciplinary Committee then heard evidence in relation to charges 2 -5, including that of two officers from North Yorkshire Police who took part in the original investigation, who the Committee found to be credible and reliable witnesses, and, after reviewing the evidence, found that all four charges were proven.
The Committee then considered the appropriate sanction for Mr Lown, and took into account a number of aggravating factors including the risk of injury to animals, premeditated misconduct, sexual misconduct, misconduct sustained or repeated over a period of time and his lack of insight into the offences or his overall conduct.
Professor Noreen Burrows, chairing the Disciplinary Committee and speaking on its behalf, said: "In these circumstances, the Committee has no doubt that the respondent's conduct was of the utmost seriousness. The material found in possession of the respondent and his own conduct in charge 4 involved the abuse of animals and a total lack of respect for their welfare. In the judgement of the Committee each of the charges individually amounts to disgraceful conduct and the charges certainly amount to disgraceful conduct when taken cumulatively."
In order to safeguard animal welfare, maintain public confidence in the profession and uphold proper standards of conduct, the Disciplinary Committee directed the Registrar to remove Mr Lown's name from the Register.
The Committee's full findings and decision are available on the RCVS website (www.rcvs.org.uk/disciplinary).
More on this story: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-suffolk-28524348
Bob Martin, maker of the eponymous flea treatment for cats and dogs, has announced that it will be removing the last of its permethrin-containing on-animal flea treatments from sale in supermarkets.
The company says the decision was made following a passionate outpouring of emotion - particularly online - over the large number of unnecessary deaths of cats which have been wrongly treated with permethrin-based products for dogs.
Permethrin poisoning is one of the most commonly reported poisonings in cats worldwide. According to the company, a study carried out by the Feline Advisory Bureau and the Veterinary Poisons Information Service found that 97% of permethrin poisonings in cats have followed the application of a permethrin-containing dog-specific spot on product.
Bob Martin says it believes that most permethrin poisonings are down to mistakes at point of purchase with pet owners mixing up cat and dog products, or being unaware that you cannot use a dog treatment on a cat. For this reason, the company withdrew permethrin from its dog spot ons in 2012, replacing it with fipronil.
Nevertheless, the company continued to sell cat flea collars containing permethrin, which had become indelibly associated with the deaths seen as a result of misusing the dog spot-on.
Georgina Martin, Marketing Manager and great granddaughter of founder Bob Martin said: "Animal health is Bob Martin's top priority. We have decided to reclassify our permethrin-containing on-animal flea treatments to pharmacy-only and call for a change in licensing by the Veterinary Medicines Directorate so that they may only be purchased if advice is given about their correct use.
"This is the next step in our journey as a responsible business having already voluntarily withdrawn permethrin Dog Spot-ons a few years ago which we replaced with fipronil, the same active as used in leading spot on treatments from the vet. To ensure our customers are still able to buy a flea collar from their supermarket we will be launching a new pesticide free flea repellent collar."
Nigel Grimes, Pet Food Buyer at Morrisons PLC said: "It is important for us that our customers who own animals receive the verbal advice and reassurance on the use of permethrin-containing on-animal products. We feel that this advice is needed at the point of sale and should be provided by a suitably qualified person in a pharmacy setting. We will continue to provide pet owners with on-shelf access to a choice of affordable healthcare for their animals from the Bob Martin range."
Meanwhile, Bob Martin has launched the new 'Clear' range of animal collars, which contains margosa extract from neem oil. The company says this natural ingredient is frequently used as an alternative to synthetic insecticides, and is proven to be a highly effective flea repellent, ideal for indoor cats. The new range is now on sale, with the old product being phased out as existing stocks are sold.
The RCVS has announced that its new Royal Charter, which recognises veterinary nursing as a profession, is due to come into effect early next year once it has been signed by Her Majesty the Queen and received the Great Seal of the Realm.
The Charter, which was approved at a meeting of the Privy Council on 5 November, sets out and clarifies the objects of the RCVS and modernises its regulatory functions.
The Charter will also confirm the role of the College as the regulator of veterinary nurses and give registered veterinary nurses the formal status of associates of the College.
In addition, the Charter will also underpin other activities of the College such as the Practice Standards Scheme.
One of the key changes is that those qualified veterinary nurses who are currently on the List will automatically become registered veterinary nurses. This means that they will be required to abide by the Code of Professional Conduct for Veterinary Nurses, will be held accountable for their actions through the RCVS disciplinary process and will be expected to keep their skills and knowledge up-to-date by undertaking at least 45 hours of continuing professional development (CPD) over a three-year period.
In addition, the Charter will give formal recognition for VN Council to set the standards for professional conduct and education for veterinary nurses.
Kathy Kissick RVN, the current chair of VN Council, said: “A Charter which recognises veterinary nursing as a fully regulated profession is something that many veterinary nurses, as well as the British Veterinary Nursing Association, have been wanting for some time so I commend this development.
“This can only be a good thing for the profession, the industry as a whole and animal welfare because it makes sure that registered veterinary nurses are fully accountable for their professional conduct and are committed to lifelong learning and developing their knowledge and skills.
“Furthermore, the new Royal Charter is a significant step towards attaining formal, statutory protection of title, which would make it an offence for anyone who is not suitably qualified and registered to call themselves a veterinary nurse.”
From next autumn those former listed veterinary nurses who have become registered veterinary nurses will be expected to confirm that they are undertaking CPD and will also need to disclose any criminal convictions, cautions or adverse findings when they renew their registration.
A detailed set of frequently asked questions for listed veterinary nurses who will become registered veterinary nurses once the Charter is implemented can be found at www.rcvs.org.uk/rvn.
Although the date for signing and sealing the Charter has not yet been confirmed, once it comes into effect the College will be contacting all listed veterinary nurses by letter to outline the changes as well as putting an announcement on www.rcvs.org.uk.
Vets4Pets has announced that it is piloting a 'revolutionary' new 24/7 service at its practices in Rayleigh in Essex, Rustington in Sussex and Bournemouth in Dorset.
The company says that clients of the new 24/7 clinics will be able to have their pets seen and treated at any time by the same team, with the same level of service and at the same price as daytime treatment.
Research carried out by Vets4Pets showed that pet owners struggle to fit visits into their busy working lives, so the 24 hour practices will offer consultations up to 10:00pm and allow clients to drop pets off early in the morning, before traditional practices open.
In addition, the 24/7 clinics will see emergency and routine cases around the clock at no extra cost and will provide care for pets that need to be hospitalised overnight. Vets4Pets says that the practices are equipped with in-house surgical facilities, lab, pharmacy, digital x-ray and ultrasound, and will have a veterinary surgeon and nurse on-site at all times, so its clients will get the highest standard of care.
Clients of other practices within the group will also be able to use these facilities if their own vet feels their pet would benefit from overnight care and is within driving distance of a 24/7 practice.
Kirsty Bridger MRCVS, Joint Venture Partner at Rayleigh Vets4Pets said: “We have been telling our clients about 24/7 for the last few weeks and we have only received positive responses. The perceived increase level of service has been so well received and customers are delighted that we will be offering out of hours services with no extra charge. This is about listening to what our clients need and providing them with more convenience and excellent service however and whenever we can.”
Sally Hopson, CEO of the Vet Group said: “All of us at Vets4Pets are focused on leading innovation in the veterinary sector, and as our clients live increasingly busy lives, these 24/7 pilot practices are our way of helping them manage their hectic schedules, while also ensuring that pets in need of urgent treatment can be seen at any time. We are very excited about the potential of our 24/7 practices and our ability to offer customers extended quality, service and convenience of veterinary care.”
VetNurse.co.uk asked Vets4Pets some questions about the new 24/7 practices:
VetNurse: Is V4P going to offer an OOH referral service to other practices?V4P: As this is a pilot, initially Rayleigh will only be offering this service to other practices within the VetGroup. However, once we understand more about how the model works, we may open the service to other practices, particularly in areas where there are few or no other options for them to outsource OOH cover.
VetNurse: How is V4P able to offer OOH consultations at the same price as daytime consults?V4P: At Vets4Pets we care about offering our clients the best service we can. We believe that it's important that clients can access veterinary care at all times of the day or night without prohibitive surcharges. The 24/7 business model is built around this concept. This is clearly a significant change from the traditional way of thinking about out of hours care within the industry and we think clients and their pets will benefit.
VetNurse: How will it affect the quality of life of the vets & nurses working at the practices?V4P: We have thought carefully about the rotas that the vets and nurses will be working. We've looked at best practice within the veterinary industry and in other industries which work around the clock and we have developed guidelines based on these benchmarks which will then be flexed depending on the requirements of each individual team.
VetNurse: Does V4P think others will follow?V4P: We hope this is something that will expand across our own group once we've completed the initial pilot phase. We believe it's the right thing to do for our clients and for their pets. This is a new way of thinking about out of hours care and we're lucky to be able to work with forward thinking Joint Venture Partners who are putting their clients at the centre of their thinking. If others follow the model, that can only be a good thing for pet owners and for pets.
VetNurse: Does this threaten Vets Now?V4P: We work with Vets Now in many of our practices and we hope to continue to have a positive working relationship in the future. VetsNow have a different and well established business model. Our objective is simply to offer our clients and their pets the best levels of care that we can by being able to provide them with the same level of service at the same price at any time of day or night.
Neuro orthopaedic veterinary surgeon Neil Fitzpatrick has been having a busy old time: hot on the heels of his world-first procedure to implant a prosthetic hip and femur in an American Bulldog comes the news that he has now fitted a cat with titanium prosthetic paws in another world-first.
Oscar the cat was minding his own business, basking in the late summer sun, when a passing combine harvester chopped off his hind paws.
Unlucky.
However, Oscar's luck turned when his veterinary surgeon, Peter Howarth from St Saviour in Jersey, referred owners Kate and Mike Nolan to Fitzpatrick Referrals to investigate the possibility of giving Oscar a pair of prosthetic paws.
Kate said: "We had to do a lot of soul-searching and our main concern has always been whether this operation would be in Oscar's best interests and would give him a better quality of life". Having decided it would, the Nolans asked Noel to go ahead. And so he came to give the two-year-old cat a pair of new artificial feet in a single, three-hour surgical procedure - something he says has never been done before by any team anywhere in the world.
The revolutionary design of the feet uses custom-made implants to 'peg' the ankle to the foot and mimics the way in which deer antler bone grows through skin. These pegs, or ITAPs (intraosseous transcutaneous amputation prosthetics), were first developed by a team from University College London led by Professor Gordon Blunn, Head of the Centre for Bio-Medical Engineering at UCL's Institute of Orthopaedics and Musculoskeletal Science. Working in partnership with UCL, Fitzpatrick has pioneered the use of these weight-bearing prosthetic implants.
During the operation, the veterinary surgical team had to insert the ITAPs by drilling into one of the ankle bones in each of the back legs - an extremely delicate feat, which could have fractured the ankle joint before the procedure had even begun, and even more challenging because it had to be performed twice. These artificial implants which are attached to the bone at an amputation site are coated with hydroxyapatite, which encourages bone cells to grow onto the metal. The skin then grows over the special umbrella at the end of the ITAP to form a resilient seal against bacteria and potentially fatal infections. The ITAP itself protrudes through the bone and skin, allowing the custom-built artifical paws to be attached securely.
Following successful surgery in November last year, the focus of the veterinary team has turned to the slow process of rehabilitation and helping Oscar to learn to walk again - firstly using external scaffolding anchored to the tibia to protect the new implants until the ITAPs integrated into the bone and the skin grew onto the ITAP. Remarkably Oscar was trying to stand within a day of the operation and despite some problems with infection that had to be overcome, in less than four months Oscar could stand and bear weight equally on all four limbs. He has since been fitted with a series of prototype new paws to ensure the best possible long term fit.
What makes this procedure so complicated is that Oscar's feet were severed at the junction of the tarsus and metatarsus. Noel said: "The real revolution with Oscar is because we have put a piece of metal and a flange into which skin grows into an extremely tight bone, with very narrow tolerances in the region of nanometres, rather than millimetres. We have then successfully managed to get the bone and skin to grow into the implant and we have developed an exoprosthesis that allows this implant to work as a see-saw on the bottom of an animal's limbs to give him effectively normal gait. Oscar can now run and jump about as cats should do.
Noel Fitzpatrick and the team at Fitzpatrick Referrals are the focus of a new six part documentary series: The Bionic Vet to be broadcast on BBC 1 at 10.45 pm every Wednesday starting on 30 June 2010. The programmes will focus on the multi million pound state-of-the-art vet practice in Surrey as well as the ways in which Noel is pioneering revolutionary new surgical techniques.
So, after months of speculation, the Panorama documentary: It shouldn't happen at a vets' finally aired last night. Early reaction from most of the profession seems to be one of mild relief that by focussing so heavily on Medivet, the documentary has left everyone else more or less unscathed.
There's also a great deal of sympathy for those hard-working and professional vets and nurses who work at Medivet. They're the biggest losers in all of this, tarred by the indefensible behaviour of a very small number of colleagues, and by the very nature of most of the filming in the documentary (give me a fish-eye lapel camera, and I could make even Mother Theresa look like a crack dealer).
But can everyone else really sit back, think 'not my problem', 'sensationalist rubbish', or 'it'll blow over in a week' and move on?
If you consider only the more headline-grabbing elements of the documentary, any of those would be a reasonable position to take. But look beyond 'Vet Makes Fraudulent Insurance Claim', and it seems the producers might accidentally have hit upon some big challenges facing the profession. Might now be a good moment to reflect on and debate some of these issues?
The first story covered by the documentary was that of an owner who'd found their cat 'weeing blood', taken it to Medivet and been quoted £815.05 for a bank of tests. They'd left in disgust, and visited another practice. This one gave a diagnosis without tests, the bill for which came to 75 quid, including £28 worth of food.
Veterinary costs were a recurring theme throughout the documentary. At the start, Jeremy Vine pointed out the £20,000 lifetime cost of owning a dog, and the £15,000 cost of owning a cat. He said vet bills have trebled in a decade. Mid-way through the programme, the voice-over read: "Veterinary medicine is increasingly high tech, and increasingly expensive. The new generation of vets is taught that working up to an accurate diagnosis may involve extensive tests. More veterinary work means more costs. And later in the documentary, Alex Lee, the reporter, was said to have found evidence of two clients that had spent over £100,000 on their pets over a ten year period.
At the end of it all, the real issue is not about the disparity between one vet's bill and another's, but whether the profession is becoming over-qualified or over-equipped for the job, and consequently at risk of pricing itself out of the market.
Commenting on state-of-the-art care, Professor Innes from the University of Liverpool said in the programme: "We would never push clients into procedures that are unnecessary, but if people want to access the best healthcare for their pet, that's up to them."
Surely every pet owner wants to access the best healthcare for their pet? Of course, Professor Innes is right, there is a market for complex procedures and diagnostic tests. But there's a very fine line between 'pushing' a client into a procedure, and recommending a procedure (to someone who feels emotionally duty-bound to do the best for their cherished pet).
For me, it was ironically one of the Medivet staff who seemed to hit the nail on the head when she said: "The 'Medivet Way' is to work it up to find out why straight away, so... And people can't afford it now really, you know."
Is the word 'Medivet' in her quote interchangeable with a growing list of practices? Does something need to give? Is it time to call a halt to the development of increasingly complex procedures and diagnostic tests developed to save the life of what is, after all, just a cat or a dog?
Or is it a question of veterinary surgeons ceasing to recommend any particular treatment above a certain cost, and instead simply laying out the options available to the client: "Mrs Jones, you've got three options here. Option one is my best guess, and I might be wrong. Option two is my best guess plus these tests, which will help confirm whether I am right and will cost x. Option three is referral to the world's leading expert, who is based in Dallas, but that'll give time for the MRI on board the specially chartered 747". I'm being flippant, but my point is a serious one: as more expensive treatment and diagnostic options become available, so it becomes ever riskier recommending them, rather than simply informing the owner of their choices.
The next story was an important one too. It was the one where a student nurse and the unqualified reporter were tasked with catheterising a dog unsupervised. They struggled. As did the dog. Thanks to the hidden camera, and the reporter interjecting: 'What a nightmare', it made for dramatic TV. But as many have commented in the VetSurgeon forums, a difficult to catheterise dog is not exactly out of the ordinary. And who thinks this was the first time the procedure has been done by lay staff?
More interesting was the polar opposite interpretations of the law on this issue expressed by Medivet on the one hand, and Professor Sandy Trees for the RCVS on the other. In response to the question of whether a trainee should be placing a catheter, Jeremy Vine read from a statement in which Medivet insisted that everything it allows its trainees to do is legal, and that there was no definitive list of procedures that could be carried out by trainees. Two minutes later, and we had Professor Trees appearing to contradict Medivet's statement.
Then we see the reporter and a student nurse taking a blood sample from a cat, before the arrival of a vet. Medivet says: "This procedure was completely legal, normal and was carried out at the direction of a vet. This means that the vet does not have to be present at the time. [The tasks] were not illegal. The trainee veterinary nurses were properly trained and experienced. RCVS inspectors have never raised this as an issue, and it is common practice." But when Jeremy Vine then asked Professor Trees: "Would it be OK for a student veterinary nurse to take a blood sample before a vet arrived into the practice", the answer is no. When pressed: "So supervision means that the vet has to be in the building", Professor Trees hesitates before delivering his more ambiguous reply: 'I would say so, yes'.
How on earth did that happen? How did one of the biggest veterinary groups come to be at loggerheads with the regulator on TV? Remember that Medivet would have had some time to prepare its response, and presumably had it checked by a team of lawyers first. Professor Trees may or may not have had the luxury of as much warning. Still, if el Presidente himself cannot give more than a personal opinion in answer to such an important question, something is amiss. After all, people's careers are at stake here.
The issue here is whether regulation needs to become more prescriptive. For example, is it fair that the responsibility for defining precisely what is 'minor surgery (not involving entry into a body cavity)', and therefore able to be performed by a qualified veterinary nurse, currently rests with the individual veterinary surgeon. And if it comes to it, the only way the veterinary surgeon is going to know whether he or she made the right call is if and when it comes to be tested in court.
Talk about closing the stable door after the horse has bolted.
Surely it is time now, particularly in the (like it or not) increasingly corporate and less personally accountable world we live in, for the profession and everyone in it to have clearer leadership in terms of what is and what is not acceptable.
I won't dwell on any of the other stories covered by the documentary, because I don't think any of them are individually revealing of very much.
A student nurse struck a dog. 'Walloped' according to the reporter; 'smacked' according to an onlooker. There's a difference. Either way, a difficult one to defend.
Then a member of staff (and I couldn't work out whether it was the vet or the nursing assistant) started playing with an anaesthetised kitten as if it were a puppet. That was damning for the lack of humanity it showed.
Next we saw a new grad trying to intubate a cat. For some reason, it didn't go as smoothly as it should. Some speculation in the VetSurgeon forums as to whether she applied the local anaesthetic correctly or not, but the cat was fine. Mistakes happen.
Next we saw a dog that had a condition which made it susceptible to cuts. A 'new girl' says she thinks she must have accidentally cut its pad as she closed the kennel door. Not the end of the world, except we then see the staff plotting to tell the owner that it happened before the dog arrived at the practice, and that they would need £13 worth of Fuciderm. Again, it isn't what you would call the crime of the century. But it was nevertheless a damning piece of film for the lack of honesty shown by the staff.
Then we had the case of the dodgy insurance claims, where the practice allegedly split what should have been one claim into three 'by accident', so that they could effectively increase the total amount the owner would be able to claim. Difficult to get really het up about this one. I mean, I know it's wrong. But it wasn't exactly in the same league as Lord Brocket taking the oxyacetylene torch to his car collection. And as far as I could see, the unwitting beneficiaries of this one were the dog and its owner. No, the real problem was that in the same breath as Medivet proclaimed its innocence, its employee was there in technicolor explaining exactly how and why the deed was done.
Guy Carter, one of the Medivet partners was next on the rack. The Panorama reporter alleged that he instructed staff to bill a client for a monitor that wasn't used. The company says it was. So it's their word against hers. Unfortunately, the company's word wasn't looking that good by this stage in the proceedings.
As I said earlier, these things don't individually tell anyone much. But collectively, I wonder whether they don't highlight another important issue, which is the apparent 'disconnect' (hate using the word like that, just can't think of a better alternative at this time of night) between what the public wants (i.e. a close, trusting relationship with an accountable James Herriot-type-figure, personified in the film by Bob Stevenson), and what the corporates can realistically deliver.
I was chatting about this with a locum vet this afternoon. His experience is that in small practices where the owner is present, there is always a better atmosphere. Staff take more pride in their work, and deliver a higher standard of care than in the corporates.
Isn't that really what the documentary showed? Yes, they were especially excruciating examples of how people behave when they don't have a real sense of ownership in a business. But isn't a lower, less personal standard of care an inevitable consequence of corporatisation?
Incidentally, my apologies for labelling Medivet a corporate rather than a partnership, but like it or not, that's the public perception of a chain.
Finally, the star of the show made his grand entrance. Kfir Segev, charged with recommending £2200 worth of MRI scan for a dog that was obviously dying. Now that is despicable. He's found guilty of unprofessional conduct, and struck off. I suppose 'vet commits fraud, is found out and punished' is not the stuff of which great documentaries are made, so Panorama tried to make something of the fact that he continued to work for 28 days whilst deciding whether to exercise his right to appeal. And? Perhaps sensing they still had a bit of a non-story on their hands, they tried to make an issue out of the fact that he'd continued to work as a practice manager after being struck off. It was all a bit lame, really.
Still, not as lame as the finale, which was the 'revelation' that Medivet collected blood from rescue dogs, in return for donations of food and supplies. Panorama claimed the blood was sold at a profit. Medivet claimed it is subsidised. Does anyone actually care either way?
Since the documentary was broadcast last night, Medivet has issued a further statement in which it does the honourable thing, and takes responsibility for everything it needed to. Medivet will recover from this. If the professionalism of the response is anything to go by, it will emerge stronger. Still, the big questions remain. How to address the spiralling costs that accompany the latest advances. Can the profession afford, any longer, to leave so much to the discretion of the individual, or is it time to demand a more prescriptive regulatory environment? And finally, how can the corporates deliver the kind of service that the public seems to want? Doubtless there will be some who'd like them to fail in this regard. But as we've just seen, it does nobody any favours if they are allowed to do so in a way that threatens to bring the whole profession into disrepute.
A cat which was lost eight years ago has been reunited with his owner thanks to the RSPCA, and the fact that the animal had been chipped.
'Bigga' went missing at the end of 2002 from his home in High Wycombe. His owner Lorna Fothergill launched a desperate search to find him. She offered a reward, knocked on doors and put up of posters in the hope that someone would recognise him and bring him home. But after weeks of looking she thought all was lost, and gave up the search. She eventually moved away from the area.
Last month however, Bigga was picked up by RSPCA animal welfare officer Julie Britnell. It is believed he had been living feral for some while. His coat was extremely matted, and he looked as though he had been in a few scrapes along the way, but he was well-fed and in good spirits. Thanks to the fact Mrs Fothergill had him microchipped all those years ago, and some dedicated detective work by the RSPCA, Bigga has now been reunited with his long lost family.
Mrs Fothergill, 40, who is a new business director and singer in the band Northsyde, said: "We just couldn't believe it when we got the call from the RSPCA to say they had found our cat. It's unbelievable and I was just astonished and so relieved that I had him micro--chipped all those years ago. We just can't thank the RSPCA enough for how they have managed to reunite us with Bigga, it's so wonderful."
Is this a record? Do you know of any pets that have been lost for longer, and reunited thanks to a microchip? Comment below.
The recently-published RCVS List of Veterinary Nurses Incorporating the Register of Veterinary Nurses 2010 will be reprinted and re-issued towards the end of May, due to printing errors.
Although the data held on the RCVS List/Register is accurate, an error occurred when it was handled at the printers, which caused the names of at least 70 listed or registered veterinary nurses to be omitted. There were also errors with respect to restoration dates appearing next to the entries for some nurses.
Libby Earle, RCVS Head of Veterinary Nursing said: "We apologise for the inconvenience caused to those whose names have been omitted, and appreciate that this is frustrating. The publication is being reprinted and will be mailed to all listed/registered veterinary nurses during the week beginning 17 May. In the meantime, the most up-to-date information is available online at www.rcvs.org.uk/VNlist."
The WikiQuiz project - a free online question and answer tool which enables vets, vet students and vet nurses to test their knowledge - is now online thanks to £4,770 of funding from the RCVS Trust.
WikiQuiz is a new resource to enable vets and students to structure and direct their learning, and links directly to information on WikiVet, the free research and academic collaboration resource put together by over 40 academics, veterinary surgeons and students from the Universities of Cambridge, Edinburgh and Nottingham, and the Royal Veterinary College (RVC). However, unlike its namesake Wikipedia, WikiVet is designed to be an accurate, peer-reviewed source of information for the veterinary profession and tailored to the undergraduate veterinary curriculum. Some of the material is also of interest to veterinary nurses, in particular those pursuing advanced professional qualifications.
Nick Short, Head of E-Media at the RVC said: "WikiQuiz is purpose-built for vets and students to structure and direct their learning. The questions and answers in WikiQuiz will help vets and veterinary students and work out what topics they might need to study, and link them directly to relevant information published on WikiVet.
"The Wikipedia concept is familiar and popular with students and vets; however, the information on the site can lack quality and relevance", he continued. "In creating WikiVet, we've used the look and feel of Wikipedia - but by making WikiVet available only to veterinary students, surgeons and nurses, introducing a peer-review system and appointing an editorial board to oversee the site, we can ensure the information published is relevant and accurate.
"We are hugely grateful to the RCVS Trust for supporting this project."
Cherry Bushell, RCVS Trust Director said: "Veterinary undergraduates and veterinary surgeons alike need to be able to assess where there are any gaps in their knowledge as part of planning their learning and development. The WikiQuiz resource helps them to do this.
"Using good quality online tools and information can save vets and students valuable time - which is one reason why we chose to support WikiQuiz. The WikiVet project also fits very well with the online Library services provided to vets, veterinary nurses and students by the Trust."
Veterinary surgeons, students and nurses can apply for a free log-in to WikiVet at http://www.wikivet.net/.
You probably know that just reading content on www.vetnurse.co.uk can count towards the 5 hours of undocumented Continuing Professional Development RVNs are allowed to undertake each year. What you may NOT know is that other activities on the site can now count towards the requirement for 45 hours (on average) of documented CPD, without restriction. Best of all, it's free!
To count towards your CPD requirement, your activities on VetNurse must be part of a documented process of appraisal and development. In other words, you must keep a record of your activity and how it has contributed to your professional development.
By default, VetNurse.co.uk keeps a record of your activity on the website, which provides an auditable trail. To view your activity, click My Account (main menu) > View My Profile > View all activity. If no activity is displayed, checked that you have activity logging enabled in the 'Display Options' under 'Edit My Profile'.
Currently, there are three main VetNurse.co.uk activities you can take part in which can count towards your annual CPD requirements:
Participating in forumsIf you post a question on VetNurse.co.uk and receive a reply, you may count the time spent posting your question and reading the answer as CPD. You should keep a note of what you learned.If you post a reply to a question, and needed to research your answer, the time you spend researching and posting your answer also counts as CPD. So, if you can answer the question in your sleep, that doesn't count. But if the question made you think, and you need to check your facts, that does.To count towards your CPD allowance, your forum posts must concern a subject which can reasonably be argued to advance your knowledge and proficiency as a veterinary nurse (so RCVS-bashing posts won't qualify!)
Publishing content on VetNurseVetNurse offers a number of additional opportunities to self-publish on the site, and any time spent researching and publishing qualifying content (which can reasonably be argued to advance your knowledge and proficiency as a nurse) can count towards your documented CPD. For example, Practical Nursing Tips (http://www.vetnurse.co.uk/blogs/veterinary-nursing-tips/default.aspx) is a newsfeed in which members can publish clinical tips; the time you spend researching and publishing a tip would qualify.
Documented readingAdditionally, time spent reading the site where you document specifically what you have read and what you have learned can also count towards your documented CPD.
Further information about CPD requirements is available from the RCVS website, click here.
A Lincolnshire couple desperate to find an alternative to Elizabethan veterinary collars, after their dog Tess suffered a traumatic experience, have invented a new range of wound coverings called Cozi-fit.
According to Terri and Dave Ward from Skellingthorpe near Lincoln, who designed the new product, Cozi-fit is the clear alternative to Elizabethan or Buster collars. It comes in five different sizes, and the couple say that Cozi-fit is already going down well with vets and pet owners alike.
The idea for the Cozi-fit came about after the Ward's dog Tess had a hysterectomy. Dave said: "The hysterectomy was stressful enough, but Tess then had to wear a collar to stop her licking the wound. We also had to isolate her from our other dogs and she quickly became depressed and stopped eating.
"We were so worried about her that I decided to try and make a replacement using a pillowcase which we attached to her collar and fastened round her torso and hindquarters. As the wound was covered she could be around our other dogs and her movement wasn't restricted in any way.
"I was so delighted with the result that I decided to refine my design and took it to our local vet to get his opinion and it kind of grew from there. The wound coverings now come in five different sizes to suit all dogs and cats and are made from durable cotton fabric.
"We now supply over 30 veterinary surgeries including a number of Companion Care vet surgeries as well as the RSPCA and are currently in negotiation with retailers up and down the country."
Peter Munro from Whitegates Veterinary Practice said he was impressed when Terri first came to him with her initial idea: "Cozi-fit wound covers have proved to be a great benefit in protecting abdominal and castration wounds from self-trauma, especially where collars are not well tolerated and we've had some really positive feedback from our clients."
Although the product has been well received since coming on the market Dave says there are still thousands of vets, breeders and pet owners who are unaware of Cozi-fit.
"Vets perform over three million operations every year in the UK, many of which will be neuters, caesarean sections or other types of abdominal surgery, and Cozi-fit is ideal for these types of procedures.
"It is easy to fit, allows free and natural movement at all times and is a more pleasant experience for both the animal and their owner."
For more information about Cozi-fit please visit http://www.cozi-fit.com/.
Pfizer Animal Health has announced that its Dental Leadership programme is now available on-line at www.dental-leadership.co.uk.
The course is offered under the 'Pfizer Academy' umbrella and has previously been available in hard copy for over five years. Almost 1000 vets and nurses have tackled the course since inception and it is anticipated that the on-line version will prove to be equally successful.
Annelies Hall is the AntirobeTM Product Manager at Pfizer Animal Health. She said: "High quality CPD can sometimes be difficult to fit into a busy schedule. We recognised that the open learning format was attractive to vets and nurses because it was flexible and could be fitted around a demanding job. The teaching of dentistry to students has become much higher profile lately but many older graduates feel it is an area where they can learn more, and due to the prevalence of dental disease, can immediately put their learning into action."
A separate course is available for veterinary surgeons and veterinary nurses and the course contributes 10 hours of CPD time. Learning is assessed through an on-line multiple choice examination and a certificate can be printed off when the pass mark is achieved. The course was developed by Pfizer Animal Health in association with Norman Johnston BVM&S, Dipl.AVDC, Dipl.EVDC, MRCVS, American & European Specialist in Veterinary Dentistry and covers topics such as anatomy, preventative treatment, periodontal disease, the dental workplace, equipment, radiography, economics and marketing veterinary dentistry.
Lisa Milella, President of the British Veterinary Dental Association said: "Dentistry is one of the most important aspects of veterinary healthcare alongside vaccination and medical care. Dental procedures should contribute 25% of the daily operating list in every small animal practice but unfortunately less than 5% of clients realise that their pet has a problem, leaving the onus on their veterinary practice to pro-actively identify dental disease."
The course is free of charge and those wishing to enrol are asked to visit www.dental-leadership.co.uk. For any further enquiries call 0870 0056554. The dental leadership website also contains details of the 2009 Pfizer Dental Bursary for veterinary nurses wishing to study for the BVNA Certificate in Dentistry.
Nurtured Pets has launched the Anti-Lick Strip PreventTM, ProTM and Pro CTM, billed as an alternative to the clumsy and uncomfortable e-collar.
The Anti-Lick Strips deter animals from licking, biting or chewing of hot spots, granulomas and surgical sites. According to the company, they are also an effective deterrent to prevent such behaviours brought on by anxiety, boredom or even insect bites.
Hayley Booth, product manager at Nurtured Pets said: "The UK pet market has been crying out for products like these for years. The unique bandages have medical grade adhesive on one side and all-natural active ingredients on the other. The combination of cayenne pepper, lemon powder, clove oil and oregano delivers a natural deterrent to the animal's nose and tongue to prevent it from interfering with the affected area.
"The Pro and Pro C are made exclusively for vets; the Pro can be used for direct application onto the pet's fur, ideal for securing IVs or catheters, the Pro C has a stronger adhesive and is ideal for over-wrapping gauze and cast materials.
"The Prevent then provides a profitable over the counter version for take home use. The preventative nature of these pet plasters may help promote healing and lessons the chance of infection, inflammation or re-opened wounds. In clinical trials, pets avoided the Anti-Lick Strip over 90% of the time proving these unique bandage strips really do work.
"The innovative features and benefits of the products themselves combined with extensive retail marketing support and highly visible point of sale display materials mean they're a must have for every vet practice."
For more information or a product sample, visit www.nurturedpets.co.uk or call 02476 302 222.
Unite, the largest trade union in the country, has announced that up to 17,000 members of the UK veterinary profession could become members within the next five years, following the establishment of the British Veterinary Union (BVU)The union says it will be able to give veterinary surgeons, veterinary nurses, practice managers, support staff and students in all disciplines, the additional muscle to tackle employment problems in the workplace, such as pay, contracts, bullying and professional development.Unite's General Secretary, Len McCluskey said: 'As a progressive trade union, Unite warmly welcomes BVU into the Unite family. The fact that a highly-regarded profession is looking to Unite for support in employment matters is an indication of the validity and relevance of trade unions in 2011 Britain.' Dr Shams Mir, Chairman, Professional Advisory Committee, British Veterinary Union in Unite said: 'Our biggest challenge will be to change the mindset of our profession to address the deep-trenched problems of working conditions and terms of employment for vets and nurses, and safeguarding their professional status. But, most importantly, we have to overcome the sense of fear amongst veterinary professionals in raising legitimate employment issues.''Veterinary professionals face the same problems in their working lives as any other health professionals, but never before have vets had a trade union to support and represent them. BVU in Unite is a great opportunity for the profession to develop and expand, and is a goal that many have aspired to for years. We believe that up to 17,000 veterinary professionals could join BVU in Unite in the next five years.'Dr Mir said that research has revealed that vets suffer from much higher levels of anxiety and depressive symptoms and they are five times more likely to have suicidal thoughts and four times more likely to commit suicide compared to the general UK population.
He said: 'Sadly, according to the most recent Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons' survey of the profession, nearly half of the responding vets and nurses said that if they had their time again, they would choose a different profession.' 'This is a wake-up call for our profession and we must act to address all the underlying problems leading to this situation.'
Further information is available at: www.bvu.org.uk and www.unitetheunion.org/bvu
Ceva Animal Health has launched two iPhone Apps for veterinary professionals and cat owners.
The 'Metoclopramide' iPhone App calculates both the daily fluid requirements and the volume of metoclopramide to add to the fluid bag for a dehydrated, vomiting cat or dog.
The 'Cat Stress' App helps pet owners to measure the stress levels of cats by asking questions about their home environment; this will help evaluate the effect that modern living has on feline stress levels which may, in turn, encourage owners to take action to help prevent cats developing stress related behavioural or medical problems in later life.
The 'Metoclopramide' iPhone App is available to download from the iTunes store here.
The 'Cat Stress' iPhone Apps is available to download from the iTunes store by searching for 'Cat Stress'.
For further information, please contact your Ceva Animal Health representative or call the veterinary support team on 01494 781510.
The aim of the webinar is to help bring everyone together to support one another and review how the profession can continue to protect animal health and welfare whilst also helping to slow the pandemic.
Subjects covered will include:
The webinar starts at noon tomorrow. It runs for one hour and there will be time for questions. The webinar will be recorded, so those who miss it will be able to watch it later.
https://www.thewebinarvet.com/webinar/covid-19-and-the-veterinary-profession
Elanco Animal Health has launched Vulketan, a POM-V sterile topical gel developed to encourage the healing of equine wounds.
Vulketan contains ketanserin - a serotonin-S2 antagonist.2 Elanco says that although serotonin is more widely known as a neurotransmitter in the brain, it is also found in platelets and released during platelet aggregation where it can have negative effects on wound healing.4, 7
Managing equine wounds is an everyday occurrence in equine practice1 and can be difficult and time-consuming, with many potential complications such as infection or the development of proud flesh which could delay healing or lead to reduced functionality. Repeated dressings can be a hassle for owners, and if used inappropriately can lead to their own complications.5
Elanco representative Kirsty Prudon said: "Vulketan gel is easy to use and is designed to be applied to undressed wounds, although it has been demonstrated that wounds may be dressed, if required, without affecting Vulketan's efficacy 2,6.
Elanco also points to studies which it says demonstrate that Vulketan has been shown in client owned horses to be highly effective in preventing the formation of hypergranulation tissue and may facilitate the control of secondary infections.2,3,6. In addition, owners expressed satisfaction with Vulketan in over 90% of cases.6
Practising equine vet Linda Belton MRCVS said: "Vulketan is easy to use, well tolerated by horses and produces an excellent end cosmetic result and return to function. With the reduction in the need for dressings and proud flesh control Vulketan has proven to be an advantageous product which owners value."
Vulketan is suitable for use in all horses including pregnant and lactating mares. It is supplied in 75 gram tubes and should be applied twice daily.
For more information, contact your Elanco territory manager call Elanco on 01256 353131.
References
The article points towards the corporatisation of the profession, with 51% of practices now owned by private equity groups and 67% belonging to a group of three practices or more, as the main driver for an increase in vets' fees of over twice the rate of inflation between 2015 and 2020.
However, what the article focuses on, which is the issue of complex and very expensive treatments for pets, is a multifactorial problem which cannot be entirely blamed on corporatisation.
At its heart lie advances in science which now allow vets to offer ever more complex treatments and diagnostics which, when used in human medicine to prolong a human life might sometimes seem expensive, but when used to prolong the life of a dog, can seem frankly a bit bonkers.
Indeed the article does point towards over-treatment being partly driven by 'celebrity vets advocating increasingly complex surgeries'.
Then there's the fact that both parties to the transaction are often heavily invested in the idea of doing whatever can be done to save the dog: the pet owner, who has anthropomorphised their pet since they first collected it, and the vet, who's entire career has been dedicated to doing their best for the patient in their care.
Then of course there's the inflationary effect of insurance on treatment.
After all, if the animal is insured, why wouldn't you throw the kitchen sink at it?
Things are complicated by the difficulty in estimating the cost of veterinary treatment at the outset, when so much depends on the unknown outcome of diagnostic tests, the progression of disease and the success or failure of treatment. It's not like quoting for a new exhaust system.
There's also the inflationary effect of the increasingly litigious and socially litigious world we live in. It would be no surprise if veterinary surgeons have become more likely to test for everything, when the consequences of missing something is soul-destroying trial by social media.
And finally, there's the subjective value of money.
Nevertheless, the Daily Mail has a point.
Selling any product or service is about meeting clients' and customers' needs.
If you keep increasing the price of your product range until all you can offer is a Rolls Royce, sooner or later you're going to price yourself out of the market.
One other lesson for the profession from that article: 'No comment' is not a good look for a caring profession.
The proposals put to Council by the Education Committee included six key recommendations for changes to CPD policy:
To change the CPD requirement – as stated in the Codes of Professional Conduct – to 35 hours per calendar year for veterinary surgeons and 15 hours in the same period for veterinary nurses, from the start of 2020. This replaces the previous requirement of 105 hours and 45 hours of CPD over a rolling three-year period for veterinary surgeons and veterinary nurses respectively.
Making the use of the new CPD platform (currently in development) for recording learning and development mandatory from 2022.
Giving veterinary surgeons and veterinary nurses who, upon renewing their registration, have confirmed their compliance with the requirement, the opportunity to download a certificate demonstrating this.
The introduction of an administration fee (which is currently yet to- be determined) that will be charged to any veterinary surgeons or veterinary nurses who continually (defined as two or more years in a row) fail to confirm their compliance with the requirement and/or fail to respond to requests from the College for their CPD records.
Changing the words of the Codes of Professional Conduct to include the fact that CPD should be ‘regular’ and ‘relevant’.
The continuation of the RCVS CPD Referral Group, which meets to consider what further steps should be taken in cases of veterinary surgeons and veterinary nurses who continually fail to comply with CPD requirements and/or respond to requests.
RCVS Council agreed, by a majority vote, to approve the above recommendations.
RCVS Council member Dr Sue Paterson (pictured right), who introduced the paper and is the incoming Chair of the Education Committee, said: "While the majority of both veterinary surgeons and veterinary nurses do recognise the importance of continuous learning and development for their professional practice, their clients and, ultimately, animal health and welfare, it’s clear that there has been a cohort of people in both professions who take a more lax view of undertaking CPD.
"The changes to our CPD policy are intended to tighten up our processes and are targeted at those who, when challenged about why they have not undertaken sufficient CPD, say that they will meet the requirement one or two years down the line as part of the rolling three-year system. The administration fee also recognises the amount of time and effort spent by staff in the College in contacting and chasing up those people who aren’t compliant.
"However, we also recognise the fact that some members of the profession may have personal circumstances that means they are unable to meet their CPD requirement in a given year – whether that’s because of parental leave or other caring responsibilities, or long-term sick leave. So we will be retaining flexibility within the system and will be considerate and compassionate when taking into account individual circumstances when considering non-compliance.
"Furthermore, in light of the fact that the majority of vets and vet nurses do meet the requirement but also often go above-and-beyond it, we also thought it would be a good idea to introduce a downloadable compliance certificate in recognition of their achievement. This could be displayed, for example, in the practice and would be particularly useful for Practice Standard Scheme assessments.
"Over the coming months we will be fine-tuning the details of these policies and will be making further decisions about how they will work in practice in due course."
Veterinary surgeons and nurses who feel they will struggle to complete their CPD requirement within a 12-month period due to personal circumstances can contact RCVS confidentially at any time to discuss their difficulties on cpd@rcvs.org.uk
For full details about the decision, you can download the RCVS Council paper at: www.rcvs.org.uk/document-library/rcvs-council-papers-13-june-2019/
Publishing Editor Arlo Guthrie said: "I've lost count of the number of nurses who remark that all veterinary recruitment adverts say that there's a 'happy working team' or a 'supportive environment', or 'all the latest toys' and it's only when they arrive at the practice that they discover that everyone's at each other like ferrets in a sack, and the practice's idea of 'all the latest toys' is a 1972 Goblin Teasmade."
VetNurse Jobs now includes the ability for advertisers to display in their advert links to the VetNurse profiles of other employees at the practice who are prepared to have an informal chat with candidates about what it's like working there.
Using the messaging system on VetNurse.co.uk, the potential applicant and the employee can then arrange a time for a chat, without revealing the employee's email address, after which the candidate will hopefully feel far better placed to decide whether it's the job for them.
Arlo said: "Of course, no advertiser is going to display the name of an employee who is going to say bad things about the practice, but it still offers the chance for candidates to ask questions and make their own mind up before applying for an interview."
Aside from that, just the fact that a practice shows that it has the confidence in its employees to put them in touch with potential candidates says something very positive about those practices which use the feature.
To use the new feature, job advertisers need to enter the email address of another employee at the practice who is also a member of VetNurse.co.uk and has agreed to talk to candidates, when they place their advertisement. When it goes live, the advert will then contain a direct link to the employee's profile, under the title: "Talk to other employees of this practice."
Entries to the international website awards came from 52 countries around the world. Each entry was assessed by three judges from a panel of industry leaders who are told the site's mission statement and target audience. They then visit the site, assume the role of a target user and judge according to seven criteria: design, innovation, content, technology, interactivity, copywriting and ease-of-use.
VetNurse.co.uk Editor Arlo Guthrie said: "In fact, the award was won by VetSurgeon.org after it was entered by our team of developers at 4Roads Ltd. But VetSurgeon.org and VetNurse.co.uk run on exactly the same software platform we developed for both communities, so I see this as a shared win for both sites.
"I didn't even know the developers had entered the awards, so it came as a very nice surprise. Particularly when you consider that other winners of a Standard of Excellence Award included the BBC, Leica, Mitsubishi Electric, Cisco, Dell, Deloitte and Philip Morris. That's very illustrious company to be in!"