RCVS Knowledge has announced the launch of a CPD roadshow covering quality improvement (QI) for equine professionals and QI in the clinical management of hip dysplasia in dogs, starting in October.

The equine events will initially take place at Rossdales Equine Hospital in Suffolk on 22nd October and at Ashbrook Veterinary Hospital in Cheshire on 5th December.

The roadshow will see a range of speakers renowned in the fields of equine veterinary medicine and QI share practical examples of improving outcomes for equine patients. Interactive workshops, real-life scenarios and case studies will show how QI techniques can be applied in practice to help teams prevent and respond to errors.

Confirmed speakers include Professor Debra Archer, Head of Equine Surgery and Professor in Equine Surgery at the University of Liverpool, Dr Alice Bird, Senior Clinical Anaesthetist at the Animal Health Trust and Dr Rachel Dean, Director of Clinical Research and Excellence in Practice, VetPartners.

President Elect of BEVA, Tim Mair, said: "There are many challenges to being an equine vet and running a successful equine practice. Even in large practices and equine hospitals, there is a risk that we operate in our own little bubble and assume that what we are doing is best practice, whereas in reality we could often do a better job.

"Clinical governance and quality improvement are tools that allow us to critically appraise our day-to-day work and identify ways in which we can continuously improve what we do – to the benefit of our patients and clients, as well as to ourselves."

The canine hip dysplasia roadshow will begin on 9th October in Gatwick, Surrey.

The event will review the condition prevalent in dogs, how best to investigate it and the available treatment options. Case examples will be used to show how the evidence can be evaluated, explain how to measure treatment outcomes and show how the use of checklists can help minimise potential errors.

It will be hosted by Mark Morton, RCVS Specialist in Small Animal Surgery (Orthopaedics). He said: "As vets we probably all undertake bits of QI on a day-to-day basis (whether we realise it or not!) but there is so much more we can do to embed it into our clinical work. Checklists, treatment guidelines and clinical auditing significantly improve our patient care and our outcomes.

"Whilst looking at hip dysplasia and the treatment options in detail, hopefully this roadshow will show how we can apply these ideas to improve our management of this condition as well as using them elsewhere.”

For the full programme of each event and to buy tickets, visit bit.ly/RCVSKnowledgeEvents.

Anyone interested in booking an RCVS Knowledge roadshow for their region can do so by contacting ebvm@rcvsknowledge.org.

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