Promoting the best interests of animal welfare

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ePolitix.com speaks to Peter Jinman, president of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons, about government legislation and impending cuts.

What are the major aims for your tenure as president of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons (RCVS)?

One of my central themes will be to promote the idea that the College is here to assist. Many of the complaints against veterinary surgeons that the College receives are directly related to poor communication or misunderstandings. If the College can assist in streamlining communicative processes, and not just be seen as a source of disciplined regulation, then that would be a huge success for us. I am eager to enhance the enabling and advisory role of the RCVS.

I also want the College to be proactive and be of great assistance to the public and veterinary community, and to ensure that politicians, who make the laws, understand the impact of the legislation they seek to implement.

I, additionally, have a great concern that politicians understand what the role of a regulator is, as distinct from a lobbying organisation. The RCVS is a regulator but we do, as part of our remit, form opinions on particular issues where we are trying to get the best evidence to assist the debate. We seek to enable a more informed discussion and, as such, we want politicians to feel comfortable in approaching the Royal College to seek information.

Another aim is based upon roles and responsibilities. Responsibility for an animal rests with the owner. I believe that if you are going to take an animal into your life and take responsibility for its care and wellbeing, then as an owner you are responsible – not the veterinarian. The veterinary profession will support you as much as possible, but it is your responsibility. If your animal is ill at midnight and you have put no thought into what you are going to do in those circumstances, do not go to the vet and blame them! This is another area where communication is important and the RCVS is currently working on a communications campaign to help animal owners better understand how to access veterinary services out-of-hours.

What early indications have you seen of the attention the coalition government intends to pay to animal welfare and health issues?

It is difficult to know – although one is aware of what was in the respective manifestos and what has been said at the recent party conferences. Before the election I had the opportunity to meet with David Cameron and some of his frontbench colleagues, and I was encouraged by their clear views on animal welfare issues.

We are all waiting for the comprehensive spending review. We are not naïve and understand that difficult decisions will have to be made.

I am especially concerned about how scientific research and development is going to be affected. We cannot sacrifice our research base – it is easy to cut, but will take a very long time to re-build that expertise. We must not be profligate or too cavalier in disposing of the intellectual research industry.

We must seek to share research projects across Europe and across the world. We must not be too possessive of scientific research, but we do have very strong leadership qualities in this field and should play to our strengths. If we are not going to be a manufacturing nation, one of Britain’s great strengths is our ability in research. Intellectual property is a valuable commodity – we do not want to lose people, expertise or facilities.

Could you tell us a little about the new consultation from the Royal College into the proposed health protocol?

A major problem for us is that we are working under an Act of Parliament that is 44 years old. In its day it served its purpose, but now, as a modern and compassionate regulator, there is a requirement to think about what it is that we ought to be able to do. The College must work within the constraints of the current Act whilst at the same time trying to be at the forefront of modern regulatory best-practice.

We need to be able to think of the rights of individuals, who perhaps through no fault of their own find themselves physically or mentally unfit to practice. It is in no one’s interest to put such a person through a disciplinary procedure, when there may be other ways that they can be dealt with and supported, taking into account the illness or problem that they may have.

If the person in question has a dependency – alcohol or drugs, perhaps – it is better that we take that into account and decide how we can deal with that. Often it is best to keep the person in work, but with checks and balances. We hope that this health protocol will show that we are a modern regulator, and are attempting to work within an old Act, to ensure the best for general public, animal health and welfare, and veterinary surgeons.

Are amendments to the Veterinary Surgeons Act still a high priority for the Royal College?

Yes. As I have indicated the Act is old, as is the Royal Charter under which we operate. There has been a conflation that has not been well thought through on occasions and, as a result, both the Act and the Charter need to be updated.

We need to sit down with parliamentarians and discuss what is in the best interests of animal welfare. We also need to look at how we can re-design the services provided to animal owners and ensure that animal health and welfare is protected.

One particular aspect of the Act that we have long wanted amended, relates to disciplinary procedures. We have received a green light from the current minister with regard to a Legislative Reform Order to amend the Act. This will mean that we can separate the disciplinary procedures and how they are enacted. We, ideally, are seeking to separate those who make the rules from those who then judge whether the rules have been broken. It looks likely that this will be achieved relatively soon.

We hope that this will lead to more effective regulation, not an increase in regulation. It is, broadly speaking, a separation of function – a forward step in the public interest, without removing any of the current safeguards.

How has the European Working Time Directive continued to affect the service that veterinarians can provide?

The RCVS is very conscious that profession has committed to the provision of 24/7 emergency cover. Establishing how this can be achieved, without contravening health and safety restrictions or adversely affecting the health and welfare of veterinary surgeons, is of importance.

We must ensure that this does not lead to difficulties and expense. We have expressed to the relevant ministers that if the number of hours in a working week were to decrease, this would create problems for the veterinary profession. The rest periods between shifts can also be problematic for veterinary surgeons that are on call.

Adapting to current requirements is one thing, moving the goalposts again would create more of a problem.

The veterinary profession essentially comprises a mass of small businesses. We have a number who are self-employed and these are, regrettably, beginning to shoulder the burden from the employed. If more restrictive working time regulations were brought in, there might start to see major staffing difficulties.

What message would the Royal College seek to send to the government ahead of the Comprehensive Spending Review?

Firstly, I would emphasise the importance of scientific research, as I mentioned earlier in our discussion.

Secondly, we know what the cost of animal diseases is – just look at foot and mouth. We must ensure that we still have the capacity and the capability to ensure proper surveillance of diseases and a fast response to outbreak of disease.

Fundamentally, we do need food, and so increased food production needs to be taken into account. It should also be remembered that the majority of new diseases that arise are transmissible to humans – after all, the human being is just another animal. Artificial separations between human medicine and veterinary medicine lay us open to the danger of slow responses to disease.

What issues and events are of particular relevance to the Royal College, going into 2011?

We will continue with our voluntary Practice Standards Scheme. In April, we launched new upgraded scheme standards. The College is mindful that this scheme is important, so we will continue with the project.

In 2011 the University of Nottingham will have its first set of veterinary graduates. This is the first university to have a new veterinary faculty since the 1950s, and so it is set to be a highly exciting event.

We will, obviously, be working on the Legislative Reform Order and the health protocol and looking at the extent to which we can develop our role under the current Veterinary Surgeons Act, while at the same time working up proposals for new legislation.

Next year also sees the 50th anniversary of the start of the veterinary nursing training programme, and the bicentennial of the opening of the first veterinary school in Lyon, France. Both events give us an excellent opportunity to celebrate the strength of the veterinary team and, in particular, how far veterinary nursing has developed towards being a profession in its own right.

We are looking at how the College can become a better source of more informed, impartial opinion on relevant veterinary matters for parliamentarians and stakeholders. There is a need to ensure that the scientific rigours of the College can be used to inform issues of policy to governments in all of the constituent countries of the United Kingdom.

As a Royal College we have the opportunity to assist, support and influence in the fields of animal health and welfare.