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

Equistro has introduced Legaphyton to its range of supplements. Legaphyton has been developed to support liver function. It incorporates a new and patented complex called Siliphos®.

Siliphos® is a complex of concentrated Milk Thistle fruit extract and phospholipids, and is a source of readily available carbohydrates important for liver support.

Milk Thistle (silymarin) extract has documented virtues in liver support and is rich in flavanoligan (Silybin), while phospholipids (phosphatidylcholine) maintain healthy liver cell membrane function and repair and are crucial for essential lipoprotein transport in the liver.

“The liver is one of the most important organs and performs more often than one realises,” said Val Day, Equistro’s product manager. “Legaphyton has been introduced to give an extra boost to the horse’s liver function and help the liver fulfil its varied role.”

Equistro Legaphyton is available in 900g packs, which is sufficient for 30 days for a standard 500kg horse. Ask your Vetoquinol representative for more details or visit http://www.vetoquinol.co.uk/

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Centaur Services has announced a new partnership with VBS Direct which will allow the wholesaler to offer USA-based K-Laser products to its customers for the first time. 

According to VBS, the K-Laser range can be used to treat a wide range of conditions. However, the company says most practices choose to buy K-Laser so they can start osteoarthritic pain management clinics and improve post-surgical rehabilitation, often using trained nurses or physiotherapists to run the clinics.

Centaur says K-Laser offers the most advanced Class IV therapy laser platform in the world, with the team of scientists and doctors at K-Laser USA having researched, tested and implemented therapy presets that are categorised anatomically and subdivided by clinical indication. The company claims that during treatment, laser energy is absorbed in water, increasing local circulation and thereby drawing oxygen and nutrients to the damaged area. This, it says, creates an optimal healing environment that reduces inflammation, swelling, muscle spasms, stiffness and pain. 

Apparently, more than 8,000 US veterinary practices and almost 100 in the UK have invested in Class IV laser therapy. 

Colm McGinn from Centaur said: "We're committed to finding innovative products and services for our customers so that we can help them to grow their businesses and succeed together.

"K-Laser, as well as being a revolutionary piece of clinical equipment, is also a fantastic revenue generator for veterinary practices and with our flexible payment options our customers are able to reap the benefits to their businesses very quickly. We appreciate that making capital investment in equipment can be a big decision and we want to fully support our customers in improving the services their practices can offer."

For more information, contact Centaur on 01963 350005 or VBS Direct on 0845 528 0336.

The snappily named Veterinary Virtual Care Association European Affiliate (VVCA-EA) has published a new map showing how virtual veterinary care is provided across 40 countries in Europe.

The map gives an overview of the regulation applying to virtual care in different countries and it shows how virtual veterinary care is regulated predominantly in Western European countries only. 

For the countries where veterinary virtual care is subject to regulation, the new map shows which countries:

• have a requirement for a physical examination prior to the provision of telemedicine services.
• allow prescriptions to be issued based solely on a virtual VCPR (veterinary-client-patient-relationship).
• only allow advice to be provided by qualified veterinary surgeons.
• require a veterinary professional providing virtual care to be licensed in that country.

https://vvca.org/resources/europe

Vets Now has this month launched a new fast track programme called 'Cutting Edge', which the company says is aimed at young, dynamic vets.

The 'Cutting Edge' initiative is apparently the first training programme of its kind in the UK and will see 40 graduates who graduated between 2006 and 2009 recruited into a 10 week fast track training programme, before they take up permanent positions in Vets Now clinics. Each recruit will get a salary package which will put them on £40k within 24 months.

Interviews and selection will be held mid-late August at a number of selection centres across the UK, with the first intake of 20 recruits commencing their fast track training programme on 4 October and taking up their positions in a Vets Now clinic in December.

A second intake of recruits to the programme will be selected during November, with these recruits taking up their positions on the fast track training late in January.

The programme is being spearheaded by Vets Now Clinical Director and experienced clinician and teacher in Emergency and Critical Care, Amanda Boag, MA VETMB DipACVIM DACVECC FHEA MRCVS who said: "This is a unique and hugely exciting opportunity for recently qualified vets to enter the field of Emergency and Critical Care. We're looking for dynamic and energetic young vets with a real passion for continuing their clinical development who feel they have what it takes to succeed in this exciting, and growing sector of veterinary medicine."

She added: "The recruits who we select will embark upon an intensive period of training over the 10 week period which will give them the necessary skills and knowledge to launch their career in ECC. They will also receive ongoing support during their first two years as a veterinary surgeon in a Vets Now clinic with a very generous CPD allowance. The initial 10 week period will be a combination of lectures and interactive seminars, practical training in our clinical skills laboratory and mentored work in our clinics. Developing clinical expertise and problem solving skills will clearly be the most significant component of the training but there will also be support and training in other vital skills including communication."

Until now, Vets Now would only employ veterinary surgeons with at least two years post-qualified small animal experience or who have completed their PDP. This new programme has been launched to attract and support young talent in making the move to this growing sector of veterinary medicine. 

Recent graduates who are interested in developing a career in ECC are invited to apply in the first instance by contacting the Vets Now recruitment team on 01383 841181 or by emailing cuttingedge@vets-now.com. 

The new initiative also has a Facebook page - www.facebook.com/vetsnowcutting edge and you can follow news and updates on the 'Cutting Edge' Twitter page at www.twitter.com/vncuttingedge.

SPVS has launched the Veterinary Business Excellence Awards, an initiative designed to honour outstanding veterinary practices that have demonstrated exceptional performance and innovation in areas that are crucial to the success of the profession.

There are four categories of award:

• Leadership Skills: Recognising practices that exhibit visionary leadership, strategic planning, effective communication, and the ability to inspire and motivate their teams.
• Team Dynamics: Celebrating practices that have a culture of collaborative teamwork, conflict resolution, and nurturing a supportive and inclusive work environment.
• Self Development: Honouring practices that prioritise continuous learning, professional growth, adaptability, and maintaining a healthy work-life balance.
• Management: Acknowledging practices that excel in resource management, financial stewardship, client relationships, and innovative practice development.

Veterinary practices who feel they have excellence to showcase are invited to submit their nominations via: https://spvs.org.uk/business-excellence-awards, highlighting why they deserve to receive the award against each of the selection criteria.

The deadline for nominations is 5pm on 31st October 2023.

The SPVS Board then will review submissions and shortlist the top 5 nominations in each category.

Shortlisted practices will be contacted by 5pm on the 15th November 2023, and invited to submit a more detailed statement of 750 words or a 90-second video, giving them another opportunity to showcase their accomplishments.

A panel of SPVS members will evaluate the final submissions and vote for a winner in each category.

Category winners will be announced before the end of the year, and will win full day + evening tickets to SPVS Congress 2024 on Thursday 25^th January 2024 for three team members, plus overnight accommodation at the Hilton Birmingham Metropole. 

The overall winner will be announced at the SPVS Congress 2024 opening ceremony (25^th – 27^th January 2024).

Petplan has been named the UK's Best Pet Insurance Provider at the Consumer Moneyfacts awards.

Voted for by over 17,000 consumers, the awards recognise the best financial products available to consumers in the UK.

Petplan, which says it has recently strengthened its policies to provide pet owners with more comprehensive cover, was chosen by consumers for its market leading policies and outstanding customer service.

Petplan Director Neil Brettell said: "The award is great recognition for the fantastic job that our team at Petplan does to keep pets healthy and owners happy.

"Our Covered for Life policies truly do what they say, they ensure that a pet can get the best possible treatment throughout its life without the owner having to worry about the cost. It's great to be recognised for the service that we've been providing to the nation's pets for over 35 years."

For information about how working with Petplan can help your practice call Vetline on 0800 316 8800 or visit www.petplanvet.co.uk

Agria Pet Insurance has announced an 'age amnesty' in May, during which time the company will quote for cover regardless of the age of a pet.

The company says it is common for the owners of older pets to have difficulties finding insurance cover for older pets, and a lack of cover may be a barrier to presenting the animal for regular health checks and disease investigations.

Agria has been offering five weeks free pet insurance plus insurance quotes without an age limit for rehomed older pets from rehoming centres and charities for a year now, in order to give prospective rehomers greater confidence to take on the additional commitment of an older pet. 

The company says that opening up the offer to all pet owners through May offers a rare opportunity to insure potentially vulnerable senior dogs and cats.

Alastair Cook, Head of Sales and Marketing, said: "It'’s a great way to reinforce to clients how much you care. “The bond with an older pet is often special and it can be very distressing when they develop a condition that is going to require treatment on an ongoing basis. We don'’t want cost to be the pet owner’s biggest worry, or for people to feel that they can'’t afford to ask their veterinary practice for help. We'’re asking practices to reach out to pet owners and let them know about this time limited offer so we can help as many pets and people as possible.”"

Agria has produced an Age Amnesty waiting room poster, available on request by calling its veterinary helpline on 03330 30 83 90 or email admin.vet@agriapet.co.uk. Practices that work with charities are also encouraged to contact the company.

For more information, visit www.agriapet.co.uk/veterinary

London-based Nicola Jane Gurrin MRCVS has been reprimanded and warned by the RCVS Disciplinary Committee after she prescribed an acne treatment for a human. 

Ms Gurrin faced two charges, the first being that she had issued prescriptions for Roaccutane tables, indicating they were for the treatment of an animal when they were in fact for a human.

The second charge was that Dr Gurrin’s conduct in relation to the first charge was dishonest and/or misleading, and took place in circumstances where Dr Gurrin was not professionally qualified to write a prescription for a human.

Ms Gurrin admitted the allegation in its entirety and the Committee therefore found it proved.

The College submitted that Dr Gurrin breached fundamental tenets of the Code of Professional Conduct and acted dishonestly and, as such, that the admitted facts amounted to disgraceful conduct.

The Committee accepted that Dr Gurrin’s conduct involved dishonesty, but took into account the context: that Dr Gurrin was seeking to help in continuing a course of medication that she understood to have been properly prescribed by a specialist physician.

Mitigating factors included the lack of artifice or sophistication in the drawing of the prescription and its presentation to the pharmacist, in that Ms Gurrin didn't invent an animal name or species, or any kind of elaboration or backstory when challenged by the pharmacist on the prescription.

In addition, there was no financial or other personal gain, it was a single isolated incident, it was a spur of the moment decision without reflection, no harm was caused or risked to any animal, Ms Gurrin had a long and previously unblemished career and lastly she showed insight into the offence.

The committee also took into account the character testimonials which showed Ms Gurrin not only to be an exceptional vet, but a dedicated professional who had nurtured a very strong team, and someone who is held in extraordinarily high regard by both her clients and colleagues.

There were no aggravating factors.

The Committee considered that the case was too serious to take no further action, but that there was no ongoing danger to the public or risk to animal health.

Kathryn Peaty, chairing the Committee and speaking on its behalf, said: “The Committee has reached the conclusion that it is appropriate to impose a reprimand and a warning in this case.

"It would serve no purpose to impose a more severe sanction of a suspension and deprive Dr Gurrin’s clients of her valuable service and to deprive Dr Gurrin of the opportunity to practise for however short a time.

"The Committee considered that it is right to recognise that this misconduct was an aberration in a fine career, which is not characteristic of this veterinary surgeon and which happened when she was off her guard and in circumstances when she was mistakenly trying to help another in what she thought was a safe way.

“The Committee therefore decided, in the particular circumstance of this case, to impose a reprimand and warning on the basis that it would be proportionate in order to maintain public confidence in the profession and declare and uphold proper standards of conduct and behaviour.”

The RCVS has announced that the first members of its reconstituted Disciplinary and Preliminary Investigation Committees have been appointed and will join the Committees from July 2013.

Beverley Cottrell and Catherine Goldie (pictured right) have been appointed to the new Disciplinary Committee (DC), and are retiring as elected veterinary surgeons on Council to take up the posts. Veterinary surgeons Jane Downes and Charles Gruchy, and lay members Stuart Drummond, Ian Green, Chitra Karve and Mehmuda Mian, will also join the DC.

The new Preliminary Investigation Committee (PIC) members will include veterinary surgeons Andrew Ash and William Reilly, plus lay members Penny Howe, Sarah Pond and Elana Tessler.

These new appointments result from a legislative reform order (LRO) made to separate the RCVS disciplinary committees from the RCVS Council. The Royal College says this will improve the independence of the disciplinary process and bring it into line with regulatory best practice.

The LRO came into force on 6 April 2013, and amended the Veterinary Surgeons Act 1966 (VSA). The VSA now requires that the RCVS PIC and DC are made up of veterinary surgeons and lay members who are not RCVS Council members, and who are appointed independently. The change to the legislation ensures that the same group of people is not responsible for setting the rules, investigating complaints, and adjudication.

The LRO also brings lay people formally into the PIC and will increase the pool of people available to investigate complaints and sit on disciplinary hearings.

RCVS Registrar and Head of Legal Services, Gordon Hockey said: "The LRO fundamentally improves the way the veterinary profession is regulated, and will help to ensure public confidence in our disciplinary processes. I am delighted by the constructive and collaborative working relationship that we had with Defra and the British Veterinary Association (BVA), which has allowed this major reform to be introduced."

To make these appointments, a long-list of lay and veterinary surgeon candidates was put together by recruitment consultants, and a shortlist was referred to an independent selection committee chaired by Sir Michael Buckley and including Christopher Laurence and Dr Joan Martin. The selection committee's choices were then ratified by RCVS Council at the June 2013 meeting.

As part of a transition phase, both committees will also include some Council members; after a two-year period, members of RCVS Council will become ineligible for membership of either committee.

Hysolv Animal Health has announced that it is offering a free swine flu laboratory diagnostic service to veterinary surgeons in the UK and Ireland.

The company will supply kits to veterinary surgeons with which to take samples from pig herds they suspect are infected with swine flu. The samples, nasal swabs or blood, will be sent direct to Germany where vaccine and biological company IDT Biologika is using a special facility to detect which viruses or antibodies against certain serotypes are present. 

The virological tests will be conducted by the Institute for Virus Diagnostics, part of the Federal Research Institute for Animal Health. Antibody titres against H1N1, H1N2, H3N2, panH1N1 and panH1N2 will be looked for. Hysolv says these tests, including histopathology, can provide the only conclusive proof of influenza infection.

Results from the test — which would normally cost 230 Euros (about £185) to conduct — will be available within a week.  IDT is believed to be the first company offering this type of test.

According to the company, the PCR test — from nasal swabs — is much more precise than previous testing regimes and will identify and type circulating strains as well as emerging strains.

Hysolv says that when swine flu strikes a farm, the signs seen are no longer just typically flu-like but a show whole range including fever, coughing, dyspnoea as well as returns to oestrus and abortions in sows. These may be in combination and concurrent with other diseases which makes accurate diagnosis difficult.

IDT will be offering the newly-branded vaccine Respiporc Flu 3 where the veterinary surgeon feels vaccination in indicated.

Hysolv director Richard Brealey said: “IDT is raising the bar in flu testing and this is a significant advance on what has been done in the past. In 2014 one-third of 1353 nasal swabs sent for testing proved positive for swine flu in Germany. In the UK the samples will help give an insight into the epidemiological status quo of the national pig herd.”