What type of complaints the RCVS can help with
The RCVS has a statutory duty to maintain a Register of veterinary surgeons eligible to practise in the UK and to regulate professional conduct.
What type of complaints can the RCVS help my constituent with?
The RCVS can only handle complaints within its jurisdiction, and has no powers to handle complaints against anybody other than a veterinary surgeon or, from 2010, a registered veterinary nurse.
The powers the RCVS holds derive from the Veterinary Surgeons Act 1966 and the Supplemental Royal Charter granted in 1967.
The Act gives the RCVS power, through the Disciplinary Committee, to suspend or remove from the Register a veterinary surgeon whose actions have been proved to amount to ‘disgraceful conduct in a professional respect’ (also referred to as ‘serious professional misconduct’) or who has been convicted of an offense that renders them unfit to practise.
A person who has registered fraudulently can also be removed from the Register.
Serious professional misconduct may arise where there is unethical behaviour on the part of the veterinary surgeon (for example, false certification or misuse of controlled drugs), or some issues of clinical practice (for example, serial incompetence, gross negligence or numerous repeated instances of negligence).
The RCVS produces a Guide to Professional Conduct that offers veterinary surgeons guidance on what constitutes professional and ethical behaviour.
You can read the 1966 Veterinary Surgeons Act and the 1967 Royal Charter here.
What about veterinary negligence?
The RCVS can only adjudicate on claims of negligence when they are sufficiently serious, or gross, that they amount to serious professional misconduct. It cannot award compensation.
Negligence can be said to be treatment of an animal by a veterinary surgeon that has fallen below the standards expected of a reasonably competent member of the profession, with a detrimental effect on the animal.
It may be possible to resolve these issues with the veterinary surgeon or practice in question without taking legal action, sometimes with the involvement of the veterinary surgeon’s professional indemnity insurers, for example, the Veterinary Defence Society.
If not, legal proceedings can be commenced in the civil courts to adjudicate on the claim of negligence and award any compensation or damages.
What about fee disputes?
In the event of a fee dispute, whether a client must pay a bill is a matter to be resolved between the parties or by the civil courts, not the RCVS.
