Confidential election of College JVP/Who will the next President be?

RE: Confidential election of College JVP/Who will the next President be?

Iain Richards — Mon, 12 Apr 2021 18:52:58 GMT

Vote for Jo!

Oh, she's not standing this year...

RE: Confidential election of College JVP/Who will the next President be?

Jo Dyer — Mon, 12 Apr 2021 09:23:59 GMT

[quote userid="2100" url="~/001/nonclinical/f/off-duty-discussions/29742/confidential-election-of-college-jvp-who-will-the-next-president-be/229644#229644"]despite seeing some really interesting and I think very well-motivated young candidates, including Danny himself (and Jo Dyer springs to mind),[/quote]

Haha, thank you Arlo, you made my day

Although we've met so you know that 'young' may apply to Danny but it definitely doesn't to me!

[quote userid="2100" url="~/001/nonclinical/f/off-duty-discussions/29742/confidential-election-of-college-jvp-who-will-the-next-president-be/229644#229644"]it is argued that you vote for people who are representative, not to represent, which slightly defeats the point. [/quote]

I have always felt that I am there to represent the profession. But if we are there to be 'representative' then it is even more important to vote for first-opinion practitioners where possible. FOPs make up the vast majority of the profession, so in order to be representative then we need as many as possible on council, especially when elected members only make up a narrow majority of those present at meetings.

I can forsee a day when there are no practitioners on Council and I think it could be disastrous if those setting the standards and making decisions on behalf of the profession have no idea what is going on at the coal-face.

RE: Confidential election of College JVP/Who will the next President be?

Arlo Guthrie — Fri, 09 Apr 2021 08:03:50 GMT

[quote userid="20100" url="~/001/nonclinical/f/off-duty-discussions/29742/confidential-election-of-college-jvp-who-will-the-next-president-be/229613#229613"]Are we lossing our traditional or the interest in this council elections.?[/quote]

Hi Coopers Wamae - I think as much as anything, sharing manifestos here and engaging with candidates was kind of driven by me. I was working behind the scenes, getting the RCVS involved, contacting the candidates and getting them to come and post.

If I am honest, it always seemed a bit of a thankless task. Not least because it is argued that you vote for people who are representative, not to represent, which slightly defeats the point.

[quote userid="20100" url="~/001/nonclinical/f/off-duty-discussions/29742/confidential-election-of-college-jvp-who-will-the-next-president-be/229613#229613"]I have rearly seen the usual campaign messages even for Danny chambers?[/quote]

Some time ago, I suspended his account. I am slightly embarrassed to admit (because I should have been above it) but it was a tit-for-tat thing. He started censoring pretty innocuous posts from me on Veterinary Voices, so I thought ... "Well, if you're going to censor me, then don't be too surprised if I do it back". On top of that, he agreed with all my arguments about the failings of Facebook for clinical discussions, seemed to agree that it would be a good idea to direct clinical stuff here, and then didn't. So in the end I decided it would be better to just put Facebook out of my mind and concentrate on what I do here, rather than worry about what is going on over there.

I have found that has improved my own mental health considerably! Honestly, I found it absolutely soul-destroying to be censored by a Facebook group for a profession I have spent most of my career trying to serve (I don't want to sound too hard done by, because of course it has been a reasonably lucrative career).

Must say, it also strikes me that over the years, despite seeing some really interesting and I think very well-motivated young candidates, including Danny himself (and Jo Dyer springs to mind), plus ça change. By which I mean that it strikes me that the College still has a rep for unnecessary amounts of secrecy, and is still dogged by controversy, such as the loss of the last JVP. It doesn't seem to matter who gets elected. Perhaps that, in turn, IS due to the fact that you don't elect people to represent, and therefore there is perhaps a loss of accountability.

RE: Confidential election of College JVP/Who will the next President be?

Coopers Wamae — Thu, 08 Apr 2021 15:23:18 GMT

So we are currently voting in new council members. Just wondering do we have any subscribers listed on www.rcvs.org.uk/.../ as members of VetSurgeon.org except for Danny chambers who is a vocal member here.

It has been our traditional when we go voting each contenders must sale there manifestos here including answering questions.I have rearly seen the usual campaign messages even for Danny chambers?

Are we lossing our traditional or the interest in this council elections.?

RE: Confidential election of College JVP/Who will the next President be?

Bob Russell — Fri, 26 Mar 2021 09:33:54 GMT

I know that the RCVS has always been a bit like this. Bob Partridge had fight after fight and that was years ago.

Sadly the lack of interaction at voting time seems to have allowed this secrecy to develop. The RCVS will never be a first rate regulator until it becomes more open about its processes. It has shown little interest in doing that.

Sadly a second or third rate regulator, regulating a near first rate profession.

I think this is all silliness rather than created by a hidden agenda.

RE: Confidential election of College JVP/Who will the next President be?

Chris Barker — Fri, 26 Mar 2021 08:22:06 GMT

Failing to indicate that the election was contested is one more aspect of decreasing communication from Council For those who try to keep an eye on what is currently happening within the College, Council papers are increasingly uninformative. So much of its business is either 'Confidential' or else subject to 'Oral report', which means the published papers contain no details of what will be said, and the minutes tend to contain the merest of detail of what was actually said or of comments subsequently made. Very much a case of 'you had to be there....' . And since returning to Council Richard Stephenson has not resumed his post-council commentaries; he has been busy elsewhere with his informative Facebook posts on Covid, which have become essential daily reading, but presumably there is so little he can 'release' concerning Council's discussions

The choice of electing the-President-after-next before sorting out the coming year is an interesting way of proceeding. But it does at least mean that Melissa Donald can further the Under Care review as Head of Standards Committee before she has to give up that role to become President. A fortunate outcome of the voting process...

But what to do next year? Someone is to be elected in April to take on the Presidency in July with only 3-4 months of Officer 'experience' before ascending to the high chair. Mandisa Green could be asked to stay on, but I would guess she has a need, and every right, to return to normal family life. Whoever is chosen will need to be well versed in current initiatives, on message, and popular with other Council members. Melissa Donald would have been the obvious choice, but process has engineered her non-availability. So I'm not sure who will put themselves forward, but I've doubt that those that stand (will it be contested...?) will not rock the RCVS boat.

RE: Confidential election of College JVP/Who will the next President be?

Iain Richards — Wed, 24 Mar 2021 11:00:27 GMT

The colege has a very odd attitude towards confidentiality that is not compatible with the desire of being a first-rate regulator. It helps no-one, least of all the college. It's very disappointing that we cintinue to state this. The only matters before council that need to be confidential are those affecting staff, any internal disciplinary matters and finaincial matters where there is eg a tender in progress.