Vet laws face shake-up
THE LAWS governing veterinary surgeons is due to be shaken-up in a wide-ranging review of the current laws prior to new laws being framed by the Government.
The Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons (RCVS) is seeking the views of the animal-owning public, together with veterinary surgeons, veterinary nurses, MPs and other interested parties, on its proposals for updating the Veterinary Surgeons Act 1966.
As the statutory regulator for the veterinary profession, the RCVS undertakes the responsibilities set out in the Veterinary Surgeons Act 1966, i.e. to maintain a register of veterinary surgeons eligible to practise in the UK; to regulate veterinary education in the UK and to regulate professional conduct. The Act also defines the composition of the RCVS Council and committees, which implement the provisions of the Act, and what constitutes the practice of veterinary surgery (the procedures primarily reserved to veterinary surgeons).
The Act, which is nearly 40 years old, is based on an out-dated model for professional self- regulation and the RCVS believes that it needs to be brought into line with what is more appropriate for a professional regulatory body in the 21st century.
Over the last few years, the Government has stated more than once that it wishes to modernise the Act, and the RCVS Council wants to be prepared with its proposals when the Government makes parliamentary time available.
The review of the Act has been prompted - at least in part - by a growing number of complaints made against individual vets in the past decade and pet owners’ frustration at the RCVS ‘policing’ itself - with very few disciplinary measures taken against offending vets.
The RCVS has been accused by the members of an action group of running a cosy, secretive ‘closed shop’ that tolerates serial malpractice by “Harold Shipmans of the vet world”.
The Action Group Against the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons has long since wanted to see the Veterinary Surgeons Act 1966 overhauled to make it made easier for pet owners to complain and for bad vets to be struck off. It is feared that hundreds of pets a year die from unauthorised surgery and cruelty by vets.
“Vets rely on the dumb good nature of their patients,” said Janet Mahoney, a founder of the action group. “The animals can’t speak, of course. So some vets get away with terrible neglect.” She says the action group has 4,000 supporters. “We have had to stop taking personal testimonies because the stories were too horrific.”
Roger Eddy, chairman of the RCVS working party which will develop the new proposals stated: “Although there have been no Shipman-type cases in the veterinary sector, we believe it is better to learn from the way that circumstances have forced the medical and other professions to change their regulation.
“We are therefore taking proactive steps before such challenges arise in the veterinary field. Via a new Act, the RCVS seeks to make the process of regulation for veterinary surgeons, and potentially other veterinary service providers, more open, transparent and acceptable.”
Since 1966, the way that veterinary services have been delivered to animal owners has changed a great deal. The role of the veterinary nurse has strengthened and other groups have developed. Currently some services provided by non-veterinary surgeons are unregulated, but the proposed revisions would mean the animal-owning public would benefit from a ‘one-stop-shop’ that they could contact to complain or seek advice about someone providing a service to their animal.
The public would also be assured that the procedures for ensuring veterinary surgeons and, potentially, other veterinary service providers are fit to practise would be fair and open.
“A particular area of concern is the current procedure for regulating professional conduct, which is somewhat out of step with both the expectations of the general public and the needs of the profession,” added Mr Eddy. “The Act also needs revising in light of the Human Rights Act 1998, which suggests that standard-setting must be independent from adjudication on those standards.”
In addition, the current provisions are reactive to complaints, whereas current regulatory practice suggests that the emphasis now should be on proactive measures such as making sure standards are in place to help prevent things going wrong.
In order to keep pace with changes in the way that veterinary practices are owned and managed, it is also now necessary to regulate the delivery of veterinary services through the registration and inspection of practices themselves, whether owned by veterinary surgeons, corporations, charities or other bodies. These are the areas in which the RCVS is seeking reform, before such reforms may be foistered upon them by the Government.
In 2003, the RCVS received 717 complaints. There are 11,549 general practice vets in Britain. In the past five years, only one has been struck off for malpractice involving pets.
Avril Critchley, a pet owner from Sheffield, said: “Most vets work tirelessly for the animals placed in their care. They should not have their reputations tarnished by bad vets who are shielded by a weak system. The college has shown that it is incapable of disciplining its members. Its powers should be removed.”
Mrs Critchley, 68, a retired head teacher from Sheffield, has previously raised the issue personally with David Blunkett, the former Home Secretary, who has a guide dog.
“He must understand the sorrow of losing an animal from ill health or old age. When the loss occurs through the negligence or incompetence of a vet, it is unbearable. Vet cruelty causes terrible distress not just for animals but also for bereaved owners.”
As previously reported, the Government’s planned changes will include appointing more lay people to the RCVS’s 12-member disciplinary body and give pet owners a right to appear at appeal hearings, according to a senior official at the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.
The un-named official said: “We feel that there is a case for updating the procedures. The Veterinary Surgeons Act dates from 1966 and is in need of reform.”
Fat cats chaos - and fat dogs too!
But North West Pets Are The Fittest
WHILST THE obesity epidemic threatening the health of the nation continues to give cause for concern, the trend has spread to family pets, a leading animal charity revealed this week.
Dogs, cats and even smaller animals such as rabbits, gerbils and hamsters are suffering from heart disease and diabetes because, like their owners, their diet is poor and they do not get enough exercise.
In Scotland, where heart disease rates are among the highest, cats are more likely to be diabetic than anywhere else in the country and Scottish dogs come second in the national pet league for heart disease.
Welsh cats and dogs fare better and are the least likely to suffer from heart disease or diabetes, according to a survey by the People’s Dispensary for Sick Animals (PDSA).
Meanwhile, for heart disease and diabetes hot spots shows that in England, dogs and cats in the south east were most prone to both diseases while the north west saw the lowest scores for either disease.
The survey, which looked at 245,000 pets in hospitals run by the PDSA, found that one in 22 dogs and one in 43 cats has heart disease and that one in every 169 pets suffers from diabetes. One dog in 100 and one cat in 182 is diabetic.
Just as obese children are becoming the victims of diseases more commonly seen in middle aged and elderly people, pets are also suffering the effects of modern living.
Pets tend to share a family’s lifestyle, so in households where sweet and savoury snacks abound and exercise is virtually non-existent, dogs are eating too much and getting too fat.
While cats usually eat only when they need to, those who are shut in flats and houses have less opportunity to exercise and also put on weight, according to the PDSA.
The survey, based on the medications prescribed to sick animals by the charity, involved 156,395 dogs and 70,901 cats. The remaining were rabbits, hamsters, gerbils and guinea pigs.
Rabbits and hamsters are also prone to overeat in some households and can suffer both from heart disease and diabetes, although these conditions are still rare in smaller animals.
“We do see elderly hamsters with heart disease. They get out of breath on their wheels.’ We would usually tell the owner to take the wheel out when they have a hamster that goes blue,” said Elaine Pendlebury, a senior veterinary surgeon at the PDSA.
“But you have to be careful with diets. A sudden reduction can cause liver disease in little animals,’’ she added.
Miss Pendlebury said: “Diet is really important for a healthy pet.
‘’Too many people are killing the pets they love with kindness.’’
