People in glass houses

Re: People in glass houses

Hannah Wynne Richards — Mon, 25 Jul 2011 11:43:15 GMT

I think the difference is that where wildlife vectors are concerned the procedures are NOT in place-due to lay interference

Wynne

Re: People in glass houses

Martin Jones — Fri, 22 Jul 2011 13:02:13 GMT

[quote user="Thomas Johnson"]

Following on from the senior partner of the practice I had my first job at after qualifying:

http://www.rcvs.org.uk/news-and-events/news/shropshire-vet-suspended-for-dishonest-tb-certification/

[/quote]

"The Committee also considered that, as an OV, Mr Owen-Thomas was in a position of trust and responsibility which he failed adequately to discharge, particularly as there had been TB in the herd.

"That Mr Owen-Thomas undermined procedures in place to prevent the spread of disease was a further aggravating factor."

Procedures in place? Let's see:

- completely failing to tackle the issue of wildlife vectors (anybody who's short on starlings, I know where they might be hiding)

- bowing entirely to political pressure in the face of expert advice

- (allegedly) suppressing the outcome of VLA research, as it was politically inexpedient to follow it. Of course, we all know that one's false, with no basis in truth whatsoever.

- failure to properly fund research into vaccination and more sensitive, less subjective testing

- wink-nudge training as described above

- constant threats to take TB testing out of veterinary hands and place it with lay-testers - who are not subject to these kind of sanctions (non-veterinary owners of practices, anyone?)

- failure to think out and properly implement inter-regional movement controls (although to be fair, this would be almost impossible, seeing as how all the markets and abattoirs have been forced out of business)

- restricting detection efforts to end-hosts only AFTER they have contracted the disease. Horse. Bolt. Stable.

Procedures in place. Right.

I feel a JGW moment coming on........ here it is........ the RCVS are in cahoots with DEFRA to sully the good name of veterinary surgeons, in order to grease the wheels for lay-person testing. Watch this space for how many members of the DC end up owning TB testing agencies when the new contracts are passed under the table. Got to admit, it makes perfect sense.

Mind you, Mr Owen-Thomas does seem to have certified and charged for animals which he didn't test: Sometimes, we really do do it to ourselves

Re: People in glass houses

Bob Russell — Fri, 22 Jul 2011 12:19:55 GMT

Same again here. I have not done any TB testing for years now but I always worked on the assumption that if you had a reactor and needed the original skin thickness accurately most cattle have an opposite side that can be measured! Having said that I would measure a representative sample first time and always measured carefully all reactions.

There were some farms we knew would have very significant avian TB reactions and I always took particular care with these premises.

This may not have been by the book but I am absolutely certain that I did not miss a reactor as a result of this testing technique.

Re: People in glass houses

Alan Tevendale — Fri, 22 Jul 2011 12:01:42 GMT

We were told exactly the same thing. I also did my training at Leeds. I also remember being told that 'we know you will not measure every lump - just don't measure them from inside your land rover.' Insane quality of training. If animal health really believe that this is the level of training that is appropriate then how can they complain when a LVI doesn't complete a test properly.

Re: People in glass houses

Michael Woodhouse — Fri, 22 Jul 2011 11:42:37 GMT

When I did my LVI training in Leeds we were categorically told 'we know you'll make numbers up, just vary them a bit to make it look realistic'. There was a room of about 20 of us and I would happily go along as a witness to any of my peers disciplinary hearings (who were in that room) for making up numbers and remind the animal health staff what they told us.

Re: People in glass houses

Thomas Johnson — Fri, 22 Jul 2011 11:08:19 GMT

Following on from the senior partner of the practice I had my first job at after qualifying:

http://www.rcvs.org.uk/news-and-events/news/shropshire-vet-suspended-for-dishonest-tb-certification/

Re: People in glass houses

midlandsvet973 — Thu, 21 Jul 2011 22:03:22 GMT

I have a feeling this could happen to any LVI working in private practice. I often find myself waving the callipers in the direction of the cows neck on day 1 so that I appear to have measured but measuring accurately enough that I would totally trust my measurements would take too long (and I think I would always remeasure if there was a lump anyway). I do however always try to feel for lumps before I start and clip as far as is possible without getting my hands smashed to pieces. This is probably worse than just not bothering but at least the farmer thinks I'm doing it (roughly) by the book and I make it back in time for afternoon consults!

Re: People in glass houses

Vet2Vet — Thu, 21 Jul 2011 21:31:50 GMT

I think its a bit like driving ! If you are unlucky enough to come under scrutiny , faults can always be found . That doesn't mean that someone with an unblemished record is perfect !