As part of International Cat Day on Sunday 8th August 2021, Zoetis is supporting a new campaign by iCatCare to help owners get their pets to the vet.

The company points to research which showed that in the US, and despite the importance of annual health checks, 45.7% of cats did not visit a veterinary surgeon in the year the study was conducted. Of those, 41% cited the reason as their “cats did not get sick or injured.” Only 16% said they did not have the money to pay for a veterinary visit.^1,2  

Apparently, a more recent poll by International Cat Care (ICC) also found that 50% of cat owners struggle to get their cat into a carrier, which is obviously a barrier to taking their pet to the veterinary clinic.

To help more cats get to the vet, International Cat Care has developed educational materials and a range of training aids including free online training videos, podcasts, emails and giveaways. They're available at: https://icatcare.org/international-cat-day.

Dr. Michael McFarland, Chief Medical Officer at Zoetis, said: "Many cat owners find it incredibly difficult and stressful getting cats into a carrier. As a result, many are reluctant to take their cat to their veterinarian unless they have a major health issue.

“Cats are intelligent animals and we want owners to know that they respond well to training. The ICC survey found that owners who use positive training and rewards find it much easier to get their cats into a carrier, so we are delighted to support the #BeCatCurious campaign this year.

“Visits to the veterinarian and giving medicines when needed are essential if we want to keep our pets healthy and protected, for example against parasites. So, encouraging owners to be more curious and to learn something new with their cat can not only strengthen the bond between them but also make life easier and healthier for cats and their owners.

References

1. Jane Brunt DVM, “Feline Friendly Care”. Pet-Specific Care for the Veterinary Team, edited by Ackerman, Lowell J.,, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 2021 , Chapter 1.5
2. AVMA (2017–2018). Pet Owner and Demographics Sourcebook. Schaumberg, IL: AVMA.

The RCVS has launched a series of events and activities to celebrate 60 years of veterinary nursing, including webinars, podcasts, an eBook looking at the history of veterinary nursing and an online Diamond Jubilee activities area.

As well as marking the 60th anniversary of the first RCVS-accredited Animal Nursing Auxiliary training scheme, the profession has also recently reached another milestone: 20,000 veterinary nurses on the Veterinary Nurses Register.

The Diamond Jubilee events include a series of webinars covering the past, present and future of the profession, with presentations from eminent veterinary nurses, including:

• ‘Creating diamonds: A decade of progress’ – A webinar exploring the highlights of the last ten years of veterinary nursing, hosted by VN Council Member, Jane Davidson RVN.
• ’60 years on and still shining’ – Hosted by Liz Cox RVN, former Chair of VN Council, this webinar will look at what career development opportunities have been made available for veterinary nurses and what has been put in place to attract the next generation of VNs.
• ‘Creating diamonds of the future’ – Hosted by practicing veterinary nurse, Carla Husband RVN, who will be looking at the future of the profession including how VNs will engage with the recently adopted proposals of the Legislative Working Party (LWP), how they can work towards the recently established Certificate in Advanced Veterinary Nursing and what the future of the profession could look like.

The RCVS will also be running a series of podcasts with prominent members of the profession. Each podcast episode will have a different host, reflecting on an area of veterinary nursing that they are passionate about.

The first webinar and podcast episode are available to watch and listen to on the Diamond Jubilee webpage www.rcvs.org.uk/VNdiamonds.

Matthew Rendle RVN, Chair of the Veterinary Nurses Council, said: “The veterinary nursing Diamond Jubilee celebrations are a fitting way of paying tribute to veterinary nursing – a profession that does so much for animal health and welfare. The celebrations will look back on all that has been achieved by the profession and give us an opportunity to engage with RVNs to come up with ideas for how we can continue to advance and develop our amazing profession.

“I am particularly happy about the fact that, earlier this month, I was informed that we have reached the milestone of 20,000 veterinary nurses on the Register which is an amazing achievement. When the VN Register was launched in 2007 there were just over 7,000 members of our profession – the fact we have almost trebled in number since then shows just how far we have come in a short space of time as invaluable members of the veterinary team providing professional care for the nation’s animals.”

Anyone wishing to take part in the celebrations can share their memories or pictures of veterinary nursing on social media, using the hashtag #VNDiamonds

The British Hen Welfare Trust (BHWT) is launching a forum to facilitate research into the welfare of pet chickens.

According to the charity, hens have been badly neglected by the world of evidence-based academic research, with only two known papers written about their welfare. 

However, researchers are now starting to take an interest and it is hoped that the new forum, nicknamed The Coop, will pave the way for ground-breaking studies around the world into hen welfare and hen keeping.

Jane Howorth MBE, Founder of the BHWT, said: “The research about to be undertaken ranges from exploring how hens benefit our mental health to seeking good veterinary care and appropriate drugs. They will also examine how the pet hen population has grown over the years and reasons for keeping them, and which homegrown remedies are used and which work. 

One of the first bits of research to be supported by the BHWT is a study called ‘From the Backyard to our Beds’ by Jenny Mace BSc, MSc AWSEL, FHEA, Visiting Lecturer on the MSc in Animal Welfare Science, Ethics and Law at the Centre for Animal Welfare at the University of Winchester. 

The survey will collect data on the care-taking practices and attitudes towards chickens of non-commercial chicken carers, and you can take part here: https://winchester.onlinesurveys.ac.uk/from-the-backyard-to-our-beds-the-spectrum-of-care-in.  

Jenny said: “To my knowledge, this research constitutes the first quantitative study to distinguish between ex-commercial and ‘standard’ chickens. It is also the first to enquire about some niche care-taking practices, such as the use of hormonal implants as a possible means of healthcare in hens. 

“The results should be fascinating and I urge all backyard chicken keepers/rescuers to make sure their experiences are captured by filling out this survey. Thank you so much!”

The BHWT is also supporting work undertaken by Keiran Ragoonanan, a student at the Royal Veterinary College in London, who is investigating backyard chicken husbandry and feeding practices in the UK.

For more information visit: https://www.bhwt.org.uk/hen-health/take-part-in-ground-breaking-research-to-help-pet-chickens/

The Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons has published an updated set of standards that detail the professional values, knowledge, skills and behaviours that need to be met by those responsible for training student veterinary nurses.

The updated standards document applies to the awarding organisations and higher education institutions that set the veterinary nursing curricula, the centres (such as further education colleges) that deliver the courses, and the affiliated RCVS-approved training practices where SVNs undertake their placements.

The updated standards were approved by RCVS Veterinary Nurses (VN) Council in February 2021 after feedback from stakeholders.

There are six overarching standards within the framework, which also provide guidance on how the individual standards can be evidenced. The overarching standards are: learning culture; governance and quality; student empowerment; educators and assessors; curricula and assessment; and effective clinical learning.

The College says the new Standards Framework, which draws together all the previous separate guidance for awarding organisations, centres and training practices, allows greater flexibility for how training can be delivered.

Julie Dugmore, RCVS Director of Veterinary Nursing, said: “During 2020, accreditations and quality monitoring audits were conducted against the RCVS Standards Framework for Veterinary Nurse Education and Training. Feedback from all involved was positive but reflected a need for clarification in some areas and further examples to assist with evidencing compliance.

“Since February 2021, four accreditations have been conducted against the updated standards, the results of which demonstrate a positive move towards the outcomes based approach to accreditation and quality monitoring.”

The full set of standards can be read online at www.rcvs.org.uk/standards-framework-vn.

Ceva Animal Health is urging veterinary nurses to take feline blood pressure readings more often, after a study showed that 40% of cats over seven years old may be hypertensive.

The statistic came to light as a result of Ceva's Mercury Challenge¹, in which veterinary practices from around Europe took blood pressure readings from over 10,000 cats over seven years old, 4000 of which were from the UK.

The Challenge results, which were recently presented at Ceva Cat Expertise 2021 by the international feline medicine specialist, Dr Andy Sparkes, showed that more than 40% of cats enrolled in the Mercury Challenge were hypertensive, with a blood pressure about 30% higher than the blood pressure value found in healthy cats. 

Ceva says this high percentage suggests that feline hypertension may be even more common than suspected, especially in the ageing cat population, with the mean age of hypertensive cats found to be 13 years old in the Challenge.

The study also found that up to one in three cats had both hypertension and chronic kidney disease (CKD). Feline hypertension is also associated with hyperthyroidism.

Jodie Tanner, veterinary surgeon at Lime Tree Vets in Staffordshire who participated in the Mercury Challenge said: “We were surprised by how many of the cats whose blood pressure we measured as part of the Mercury Challenge were actually hypertensive and were taken aback at the number of hypertensive cats which lacked clinical signs or target organ damage. 

"These hypertensive cats would have previously gone undetected prior to us screening our older patients and they would probably have only presented when they had advanced target organ damage, such as blindness.

“Measuring blood pressure in cats is now incorporated into our bespoke preventative health care plan – The Pet Plus Membership – and our ‘Gold Plan’ is tailored to our patients over eight years of age. 

"Included in the Gold Plan are twice yearly blood pressure checks, so we can pick up hypertension cases as early as possible, and the plan also includes twice yearly urine screens and yearly blood screens to pick up other common diseases seen in older cats such as hyperthyroidism and CKD.”

Ceva has a range of resources available to support veterinary practices, including those that want to set up vet nurse blood pressure clinics. There's a digital hypertension tool kit available by registering at www.easethepressure.co.uk, where you will also find information on the Hypertension CPD Hub, an Ease the Pressure pack containing resources to support vet practices, owner communications materials and information about Ceva’s online Hypertension Ambassador CPD course.  A vet practice social media pack is also available.

For further information, visit www.easethepressure.co.uk or contact your local Ceva territory manager.

Reference

1. Mercury Challenge, 2020.  Over 10,000 cats over seven years of age including 4,000 in the UK, 1,500 in Spain, 1,300 in Italy and 1,200 in France and the Nordics.

The eminent equine vet, Dr Sue Dyson FRCVS, has been struck off for a series of dishonest statements and actions, including fabricating a letter from a fictitious Home Office Inspector, in order to have her research project published in an international publication.

The Disciplinary Committee heard that in 2018, when Dr Dyson was employed as Head of Clinical Orthopaedics at the Animal Health Trust (AHT), she completed a research project: ‘Influence of rider: horse body weight ratios on equine welfare and performance – a pilot study’, for which she had previously been given the go-ahead by the AHT’s Clinical Research Ethics Committee. The results of the study were then submitted to the Journal of Veterinary Behaviour: Clinical Applications and Research for publication.

After peer-reviewing the project paper at the request of Journal Editor Karen Overall, Dr Matthew Parker, a Senior Lecturer in Behavioural Pharmacology at the University of Portsmouth, was concerned by the lack of a Home Office licence and asked for details of the licence or an explanation of why the project didn’t need one, and for the paper to be re-submitted.

In reply, Dr Dyson then emailed Ms Overall saying: “We have a former Home Office Inspector on our AHT Ethical Committee and two current licence holders (Named Veterinary Surgeons) who are fully conversant with the current legislation ... I also sought informal advice from a current Inspector. All were fully aware of the protocols to be employed and gave me assurance that in their opinion Home Office approval would not be required”.

Ms Overall then asked Dr Dyson to obtain a letter from the Home Office to support this position.

On 24 December 2018, Dr Dyson sent Ms Overall a letter purportedly from a Home Office Inspector called Dr Butler who, she explained, had advised her during the planning phase of the project. In the letter, the fictitious Dr Butler confirmed that their advice was sought for the project and that in their opinion, a Home Office Licence was not required.

Ms Overall then sent the letter to Dr Parker for further review, who decided to contact Dr Martin Whiting, Head of Operations at the Home Office Animals in Science Regulation Unit (ASRU) to ask if he knew of Dr Butler.

Dr Whiting confirmed that the Home Office had no record of employing a Dr Butler as an Inspector and that they were in the process of making further inquiries into the matter.

After Dr Whiting’s reply was forwarded to Dr Dyson, she replied to him saying that she thought the studies’ procedures did not meet the criteria for the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986 (ASPA), but that this was questioned by peer reviewers.

She said that her decision to send Dr Butler’s letter was one that she would ‘eternally regret’ and that she was ‘an inherently honest person’.

She explained that she was under a huge amount of pressure in her personal and professional life and that she was ‘fully aware that [she] acted completely inappropriately and she requested the incident be overlooked’.

In March 2019, Dr Dyson sent a letter to William Reynolds, Head of the Home Office ASRU, in which she expressed remorse for writing the letter. Mr Reynolds subsequently raised a concern with the RCVS about Dr Dyson’s alleged behaviour. 

Dr Jane Downes, who chaired the Disciplinary Committee, and spoke on its behalf, said: “The Committee heard from Dr Dyson that she had no recollection of several events detailed in the charge, including writing the letter from Dr Butler and sending the email to Ms Overall which contained Dr Butler’s letter. She accepted that the letter was dishonest and that it should not have been sent. However, she also claimed that, as she could not remember writing the letter, she did not act dishonestly.

The Committee heard testimonials from several witnesses who held Dr Dyson in high regard, including colleagues from the AHT, who attested to her integrity.

However, there were many dubious claims made by Dr Dyson throughout the hearing, including that the Home Office Inspector that she referenced as ‘my friendly inspector’ was someone who could have given informed consent to a project as Dr Dyson confirmed that she had met the individual briefly, around two and a half years ago at a drinks reception.

In reaching its decisions, the Committee considered Dr Dyson’s previously impeccable character, the written and verbal testimonies from witnesses. They also considered that during the hearing, Dr Dyson explained that at the time she fabricated the letter, she was under a lot of work and personal pressures, including managing a workload amidst colleagues’ resigning or going on maternity leave and it being the anniversary of her dog having to be humanely destroyed.

However, it did not accept Dr Dyson’s claims that she had amnesia at this time, and considered that she had not owned up to her wrongdoing until it was discovered. Although Dr Dyson maintained her actions were not pre-meditated, the Committee considered that, in the case of the forged letter, a certain amount of planning and careful thought was involved. The Committee believed that Dr Dyson knew what she was doing at the time, but acknowledged she may subsequently have blanked out what she did.

The Committee found all but one of the allegations proved and confirmed that it “was satisfied that the writing and sending of that letter was the culmination of a course of dishonest conduct.”

Committee Chair Dr Downes said: “In assessing [the evidence of] Dr Dyson the Committee took into account the difficulty faced by any Respondent appearing before their Regulator and also the various interruptions occasioned by issues which had to be dealt with during her evidence. Whilst [Dr Dyson is] undoubtedly highly qualified and highly respected, the Committee nevertheless considered her evidence lacked credibility and was not reliable.”

The Committee found that Dr Dyson’s conduct had breached parts of the RCVS Code of Professional Conduct for Veterinary Surgeons and amounted to serious professional misconduct.

Dr Downes continued: “The Committee determined that it was important that a clear message be sent that this sort of behaviour is wholly inappropriate and [was] not to be tolerated. It brings discredit upon Dr Dyson and discredit upon the profession.

"For whatever reason, Dr Dyson chose not to respond to Ms Overall’s email on 30th November 2018 in an honest and straightforward way. Instead, she lied about the makeup of the AHT Ethical Committee in order to cloak her response with authority.

"She also lied about having received advice from a current Inspector for the same reason. In the Committee’s view, she made a conscious decision to provide a dishonest response. She no doubt believed that would be the end of the matter.

"When that did not work, she lied further in the email to her co-author, Andrew Hemmings, claiming to have a letter from her friendly Inspector. When that too did not work, she impersonated a Home Office Inspector in creating the ‘Dr Butler letter’.

"She then added a false declaration to the manuscript, which she subsequently submitted to the Journal along with an email containing yet further lies. That was all done in a blatant and wilful attempt to deceive Ms Overall ... into believing the contents of the correspondence to be true, that confirmation a Home Office Licence was not required had been obtained and all was therefore well with the submitted manuscript.

"There was no rush, or urgency to have the paper published and the actions were not done in a moment of panic. No doubt she had not planned the entire course of events in advance, but instead reacted to each new obstacle that came her way, but her overall course of dishonest conduct spanned over three weeks.

“The Committee was well aware of the impact and ramifications for Dr Dyson of any decision to remove her from the Register but had to weigh her interests with those of the public.

"In doing so it took account of the context and circumstances of the case, all matters of personal mitigation, as detailed above, Dr Dyson’s undoubted distinguished international career and reputation and the need to act proportionally.

"However, for all the reasons given above, the Committee was of the view that the need to uphold proper standards of conduct within the veterinary profession, together with the public interest in maintaining confidence in the profession of veterinary surgeons, meant that a period of suspension would not be sufficient and that the only appropriate and proportionate sanction in all the circumstances of this case was that of removal from the Register."

VN Council Chair, Matthew Rendle, talked of a bright future for the veterinary nursing profession at the RCVS AGM last week. 

Matthew's address looked at the significance of 2021 as veterinary nursing’s Diamond Jubilee – representing 60 years since the first RCVS-approved Auxiliary Nursing Assistant course.

He spoke about how this was likely to be a year of firsts for the profession, including the awarding of the first Certificates in Advanced Veterinary Nursing, the recruitment of the first VN Practice Standards Scheme Assessors and the first time there would be 20,000 veterinary nurses on the RCVS Register.

He also spoke about the planned activities to celebrate the Diamond Jubilee including webinars, podcasts and the publication of an eBook about the history of the profession.

Matt said: “For my own first podcast I interviewed Jean Turner who – I don’t think she’ll mind me saying – has been a member of the profession for a good chunk of the last 60 years.

“She’s a real professional hero of mine and I had a fascinating conversation with her about what has changed, what hasn’t changed and what really needs to change!

“Speaking to Jean reminded me that we all stand on the shoulders of giants. Where we are as a profession is down to those who came before us and we owe it to them, and future generations of veterinary nurses, to make sure we are always progressing and improving.”

Matt said that with RCVS Council’s adoption of the proposals for legislative reform in June this year, the veterinary nursing profession had a bright future ahead of it, with protection of title and a bolstered role in areas such as anaesthesia being included in any future legislation.

“I still sometimes hear my veterinary nursing colleagues refer to themselves as ‘just a veterinary nurse’. Whenever I hear it said, I challenge it.

“With the Diamond Jubilee celebrations this year I think we will be making a very big challenge to that mindset, and it will remind all veterinary nurses that we are brilliant professionals, with a long and proud history and that we are a force for good in society.”

Equine vets Kevin and Jennifer Corley have launched EquiTrace, an app which allows trainers and vets to keep track of a horse’s health and identity with a quick scan of a chip.

The app allows trainers to store and share medical records and treatment plans, identify horses and, with a Bio Thermo chip, monitor temperature non-invasively. 

In Ireland, the Irish Horse Racing Board (IHRB) requires every yard keep a Blue Book which has to be submitted monthly. In the Blue Book, every medication given to every horse is recorded, with the amounts, the name of the medication and its batch number all written in by hand. EquiTrace enables a trainer to email the blue book information direct from their mobile phone. 

Vincent O’Connor, senior vet at Sycamore Lodge Equine Hospital on the Curragh, Ireland, says he has found the app very easy to use and particularly appreciates the way it suggests stand down periods required for intraarticular medication, where injections into different joints require different numbers of days withdrawal before competition. The experience of John Oxx, whose winner I Know I Can was disqualified because of a positive test for TCA (triamcinolone acetonide) on 2 July 2020, is a case in point. Dr Lynn Hillyer, IHRB Chief Veterinary Officer and Head of Anti-Doping, stated that the minimum recommended stand down time for TCA would be 14 days but added that the stifle is a complex joint and can be associated with longer excretion times than might be expected.

Kevin Corley said: "Keeping a horse’s identity straight might seem a simple thing, but when you have a yard where staff and horses can change frequently and records are kept in the office, far away from the stables and fields where the horses are, it is not as easy as you think. I remember a time when I was called out to genetically test four two year olds, each valued at over €50,000 because their registration documents had been lost before they had been filed and no one knew which one was which."

EquiTrace has been in trials in Ireland, England, USA, Sweden and Italy and Kevin says every yard which has tested the app has kept it in operation.

EquiTrace is a subscription service, with a basic service for $1/€1 per month per horse and a premium subscription at $2/€2 per month per horse. A scanner available from EquiTrace as a one-time cost is required to operate the system, ranging in price from €250 to €400 or USA $350 to $550.

EquiTrace works with all ISO-compliant microchips but some of the service offerings are dependent on the type of chip in the horse.

EquiTrace is available on Apple and Google appstores. Establishments with over 200 horses can contact EquiTrace directly to arrange a subscription. Current clients include DK Weld in Ireland, Ramsey Farm and Three Chimneys Farm in Kentucky, USA, Kinsale Stud in the UK and Avantea in Italy.

For more information, visit: https://equitrace.app 

Animalcare is hosting a free online CPD event about breakthrough pain management, presented by RCVS & EBVS European Veterinary Specialist in Anaesthesia & Analgesia, Matt Gurney on Tuesday 13th July 2021 at 7pm (BST).

The webinar is the first of several events which will focus attention on patients owned by the estimated 80% of owners who feel that their pets with canine osteoarthritis (OA) may be suffering from off-days that can be associated with breakthrough pain¹.

During the session, Matt will explain the impact breakthrough pain has on the pet and owner and how to approach it more effectively using analgesic and rehabilitation tools and strategies. 

James Beaumont, Marketing Manager at Animalcare, said: “Veterinary surgeons have told us that they estimate that nearly half of their canine OA cases on daily NSAIDs experience breakthrough pain.²

"Additionally, a proportion of pet owners state their dogs experience off-days and believe their pet suffers as a result of the condition³."

Animalcare says that some of the main factors in osteoarthritis breakthrough pain can include variable plasma drug levels between doses, intermittent treatment protocols or poor owner adherence with the vet’s recommendation, flare-ups and disease progression.

To register for the event, visit: https://tinyurl.com/43bm8mdx. All those who register will also be able to view a recording and enter a free prize draw for the chance to win tickets to attend London Vet Show live in November.

Boehringer Ingelheim has launched a recycling programme for Aservo EquiHaler, its treatment for equine asthma symptoms.

The company points to research which found that 89% of the veterinary profession wants to play a more active role in the sustainability agenda¹.

For that reason, Boehringer says it put sustainability at the heart of Aservo EquiHaler, which uses no propellant gasses and the container for which is made from up to 50% recycled materials.

Now Boehringer has launched the first recycling programme for a prescription medicine in the UK to support the responsible disposal of the Aservo EquiHaler.

To join the programme, you need to visit: https://equihaler.uk/recycling, set up a TerraCycle account and register your practice. Boehringer says it only takes 10 minutes.

Once signed-up, a Boehringer Ingelheim Territory Manager will arrange for a collection box to be delivered, along with supporting practice display posters. When the box is full, there is a free pick-up service.

Practices that sign-up for the programme before 31st July 2021 will be entered into a prize draw, with the chance to win a year’s supply of ethically-sourced chocolate for their practice.  

Reference:

1. British Veterinary Association, Voice Of The Veterinary Profession Survey, 2019.

The RCVS Disciplinary Committee has reprimanded Anglesey-based Louise Marie Henry MRCVS for writing a letter on behalf of a client that dishonestly certified incorrect details surrounding the death of a ewe.

Dr Henry faced one charge, that in January 2020 she wrote and/or signed an undated letter confirming that a ewe had died in transit to the surgery due to dystocia and peri-parturient stress, when in fact she had euthanised the animal at the veterinary practice the day before. The letter, which was addressed 'To whom it may concern’, was on practice letterheaded paper and signed "Louise Henry MRCVS". 

The second part of the charge outlined that her conduct concerning the letter was dishonest.

The Committee heard that the ewe was lambing and brought to the practice by a client. Dr Henry was on-call at the time and advised a Caesarean section. The client agreed and Dr Henry delivered two live lambs and one dead lamb.

Dr Henry was concerned about the welfare of the ewe post-surgery because of the risk of peritonitis and advised that the ewe should be euthanised.

The client agreed to the ewe being euthanised and then asked Dr Henry to write a letter in which it was stated that the ewe had died in transit on route to the practice. Dr Henry agreed to write the letter in which she falsely certified that the ewe had died in transit. 

The letter came to light when the practice director found it in an insurance file. The practice arranged an investigatory meeting with Dr Henry where she admitted that writing the letter was an error of judgement. When asked about her conduct, Dr Henry explained that the client had subsequently been dissatisfied with the letter she had written and asked her to change it. She refused to amend the letter and told him that it was wrong of her to have written it in the first place and that she regretted having done so.

Dr Henry told the Committee that she valued integrity very highly and that she was deeply ashamed that she had been prepared to write the dishonest letter.

The Committee heard several testimonials from people who had worked with or studied alongside Dr Henry, who all attested to her skill as a veterinary surgeon and that they had no concerns about her integrity and honesty. She self-reported her actions from January to the RCVS and from the outset admitted the facts of the charge. During the hearing, Dr Henry submitted that her action of dishonest false certification amounted to disgraceful conduct in a professional respect.

Dr Martin Whiting, chairing the Committee, and speaking on its behalf, said: “The Committee considered that, in this case, the aggravating features were limited and the mitigating factors extensive. There was no premeditated dishonesty or financial gain involved, there was no actual harm or risk of harm to an animal or human and this was a single incident in an otherwise unblemished 13-year career. The Committee found that the shame and remorse expressed by Dr Henry were entirely genuine. Her conduct on this occasion was entirely untypical of her practise.

“After careful consideration, the Committee concluded that the substantial mitigating features permitted it to take the somewhat unusual course of issuing a reprimand in a case involving dishonesty. In taking this course, the Committee attached significant weight not only to the isolated nature of the event but also to the genuine insight shown by Dr Henry and the lasting impact this event has had upon her. In the Committee’s assessment, a reasonable and fully informed member of the public would, in this particular case, regard a reprimand as a sanction which protected the public interest in the profession and upheld its standards.”

The full documentation for the hearing can be found at www.rcvs.org.uk/disciplinary

Vets Now has opened the bookings for the UK’s for its emergency and critical care congress, which will take place online from 3rd to the 6th November 2021.

2021’s event will see over 70 hours of CPD across eight themes, with speakers including Megan Brashear and Helen Wilson, clinical lead for ECC at Langford Vets, University of Bristol.

RCVS President Mandisa Greene will open Congress with reflections from the past year. She'll be followed by the keynote speaker, Marie Holowaychuk, who will be sharing her knowledge and experience around health and wellbeing.

Dan Lewis – ECC specialist at Vets Now, who planned the veterinary Congress programme, said: “In 2020, the world of live events changed, and in November we delivered our first ECC virtual Congress to great success.

"Not only do we feel it is the right decision for everyone to continue our ECC Congress as a virtual event, but the format brings a huge number of opportunities for delegates, exhibitors and speakers, who joined us from all across the world.

"The interactive platform we’re using is cutting edge and it provides so much more than just webinars. Like last year, there will be live content, an interactive exhibition hall and more opportunities than ever for delegates to network and learn from some of the world’s leading veterinary experts discussing emergency and critical care. 

"Our programme again this year has been carefully tailored to provide an inclusive learning experience for vets and vet nurses no matter what stage they’re at in their career, from students through to specialists.

"All being well, we will be back in Leeds for the ECC Congress in November 2022.”
 
Full four-day tickets for delegates will range in price from £60 to £199 and ticket-holders will be able to access all the sessions on-demand for up to a month following the event.

To book your ticket, visit congress.vets-now.com