2014 Licence to Practise Fees Reduced

Transcription

1 Veterinary Council Newsletter Winter 2013 Issue Licence to Practise Fees Reduced The Veterinary Council has decided to reduce the 2014 Licence to Practise fee for veterinary practitioners and veterinary nurses. This decision was made by Council at the November meeting in recognition of the very real effects of the economic downturn on many registrants. Licence to practise fee % reduction Veterinary Practitioners % Veterinary Nurses % The fee for a veterinary practitioner 70 years or over on 1 January 2014 will be 300 and the 2015 charge will reflect the full fee which will be determined by the Council in Investment needed to continue high level of Veterinary Council governance An independent review of the organisation structure of the Veterinary Council has been completed. The assessment of the organisation structure was carried out by Tony O Brien and Associates with a view to making recommendations in relation to the skills and the level of resources required by the Council in order to carry out its range of duties and obligations in an effective and efficient manner. As part of the consultancy process all staff members were interviewed to identify the scope, functions, roles and responsibilities of their positions, and all operational matters were reviewed. The consultants considered the Council s Strategic Plan, the Terms of Reference of Committees and the Annual Reports in drawing up their recommendations. The review measured current resource allocation and work volumes, and assessed resourcing requirements in the future. The consultants noted that the Strategic Plan identified the need to further improve quality assurance in the key areas of registration; premises accreditation and Continuing Veterinary Education. The report tabulated the huge volume of activity carried out by the staff of the Veterinary Council. The table below provides a breakdown of this activity level over the most recent 12 month period Activity Approximate volume over 12 months Registered veterinary practitioners who renewed 2,372 Registered veterinary nurses who renewed 515 New veterinary practitioner registrants 105 New veterinary nurse registrants 60 Accredited CVE courses 517 Webinars 224 CVE claims processed 16,000+ Premises requiring accreditation 712 Telephone queries 7,800 s received and sent 25,164 Website visits 32,400 The key conclusion of the report was that investment in further resources will be necessary in the future in order to support and continue to strengthen the governance of the Veterinary Council.

2 Veterinary Council Newsletter Winter 2013 Issue 4 Election Results for Council The results of the election for new Veterinary Council members have been declared and six registrants have been elected for appointment by the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine. Veterinary Practitioner Eleven veterinary practitioners put their names forward for election to fill five vacancies on the Veterinary Council for The count took place on the 21 October Of the 785 voting papers received by the voting paper return date of 18 October 2013, 60 were deemed invalid due to a number of errors. Voting paper errors included: incorrect address, absence of or incorrect registration number on declaration form, absence of or incorrect registrable address and an incomplete name. A further 12 votes were excluded because they arrived after the deadline. The following five veterinary practitioners achieved the highest number of votes: William Cashman, Fergus Smith, John Magee, Raymond Finn and Morgan Lyons. These are the number of votes recorded for the eleven candidates in the 2013 Council Election. NAME OF CANDIDATE Reg No. Total valid votes BREEN, MARTIN 46/ CASHMAN, WILLIAM JOHN 14/ COLLINS, JOSEPH ANTHONY 12/ FINN, RAYMOND 19/ GAYNOR, MICHAEL COLM 49/ LYONS, MORGAN GERARD 27/ MAGEE, JOHN BRIAN 23/ MC CONNELL, KEVIN ANTHONY 39/ O BRIEN LYNCH, EDWARD M 46/ ORMSBY, AMANDA LEX 12/ SMITH, FERGUS ROBERT 62/ Veterinary Nurse As only one nomination was received for the veterinary nurse position on the Council there was no requirement for a vote. Consequently, the name of the sole candidate, Susie Walton (10063/08), has been forwarded to the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine for appointment. The Minister has been informed of the results of the election and will make appointments to the Veterinary Council under Section 16 (1)(h) and 16(1)(i) of the Veterinary Practice Act 2005 and the Veterinary Practice (Amendment) Act Each appointee will serve a four year term commencing on the 1 January These six, when appointed, will join four current elected members of Council. A further nine members will also be appointed who are nominees of the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine (4), the Minister for Education and Science (1), the National University of Ireland (2), the Director of Consumer Affairs (1) and the Food Safety Authority (1). This will bring the composition of the Veterinary Council to 19 members.

3 Veterinary Council Newsletter Winter 2013 Issue 4 24-hour service and 24-hour care obligations The Council wants to make veterinary practitioners aware of their obligations concerning 24-hour service and 24-hour care. These requirements are designed to safeguard animal welfare and to ensure that animal owners are fully informed on the levels of care they can expect. 24-hour service Veterinary practitioners must provide a 24-hour service for animals under their care. They must co-ordinate arrangements for the treatment of emergency cases, including all out of hours cases. This ensures clients can obtain help from a member of the profession with whom prior arrangements have been made and who is sufficiently close at hand to be able to provide services for that client. Referral of out-of-hours cases to other veterinary practitioners, whether in private practice or working for animal welfare charities, without their consent is unacceptable and unethical. 24-hour care It is critical that appropriate information be given to owners regarding the level of care that will be given to patients (e.g. continuous monitoring, regular inspection) as the expectation and understanding of the owner may differ from that of the veterinary practitioner. These obligations are requirements under the Code of Professional Conduct, the Premises Accreditation Scheme (PAS), the Veterinary Practice Act 2005 and the Veterinary Practice (Amendment) Act 2012 (the Act). Veterinary Nurse is a protected title Veterinary practitioners and veterinary nurses need to bear in mind that the title veterinary nurse is a protected title and can only be used by those registered with the Veterinary Council. A non-registered person carrying out any of the procedures reserved for veterinary nurses will be open to prosecution. These procedures are defined in Section 91 of the Veterinary Practice (Amendment) Act It is also an offence for a veterinary practitioner to employ a person as a veterinary nurse who is not registered with the Veterinary Council. An employer has a duty to ensure that a veterinary nurse is registered and conforms to the provisions of the Act. Employers can check the status of registrants on the Council s website via the following link Person/ or by phoning the Council offices on Ethical Ethel Dear Ethel, I am confused by all the terminology in the world of ethical veterinary medicine: animal welfare, animal rights, animal ethics, professional ethics, codes of professional conduct what do they mean? DN, Meath Dear DN, You are not alone. These terms have very precise meanings and if we don t understand the terminology it is often difficult to discuss the issues. Animal ethics is generally understood as the study of human interaction with non-human animals. Because people differ in their views about the moral status of animals (and thus how they should be treated) several strands of thought have developed in the animal ethics field: two of the more commonly known are animal rights and animal welfare. The two concepts are often confused, but they are in fact based on two distinct philosophies. Animal welfarists accept man s use of animals, on condition that our treatment does not inflict avoidable or unnecessary suffering. It is based on utilitarianism, which focuses on outcomes or consequences of actions. Animal welfare science studies the effects of animal use on their welfare. In contrast proponents of animal rights adopt a duty or rule-based approach. There is a spectrum of views within animal rights the abolitionist believes that it is morally wrong for humans to use or exploit animals in any way. However, there are other views within animal rights that will accept certain uses of animals e.g. for companionship. One of the things that set all professions apart from other occupational groups is that they are governed by codes of professional conduct or ethics. Professional ethics describes how members of a profession use their specialised knowledge and skills in serving the public. Historically, professional ethics laid great emphasis on how professionals interacted with one another (which is more properly defined as professional etiquette). Nowadays a Code of Professional Conduct generally sets out the professional ethical standards that the profession and society expect of the members of that profession. They are usually underpinned by ethical principles. By adhering to the provisions of a Code, professionals not only provide a service that maintains high absolute standards, but they are better able to account for their actions if a complaint arises.

4 VCI Newsletter December 6ppA4:Layout 1 16/12/ :31 Page 6 Veterinary Council Newsletter Winter 2013 Issue 4 Veterinary Specialists There may be veterinary practitioners who are not aware that a specialist register exists. Under the Veterinary Practice Act 2005 only registered specialists may claim specialist status and be entitled to the designation Veterinary Council of Ireland recognised specialist in the discipline approved. Specialists must have successfully completed advanced supervised training and have successfully completed examinations from an approved institution. Details of all the specialist registration eligibility requirements can be found at: The following veterinary practitioners are on the specialist register. CORLEY, Kevin Thomas Trent 110/06 BVM&S, BSc, MS, PhD, DipECEIM, DipACVIM, DipACVECC, MRCVS. Anglesey Lodge Equine Hospital, The Curragh, Co Kildare kttcorley@gmail.com Nominated Specialties: Equine Internal Medicine Equine Critical Care GUERIN, Shane 68/86 MC NALLY, Turlough 80/08 MVB, Dip ACVS, Dip ECVS, MRCVS. Anglesey Lodge Equine Hospital, The Curragh, Co Kildare igo@aleh.ie Equine Surgery MITCHELL, Natasha MVB, MACVSc, DipVCSc, CertSAO, DipECVS, MRCVS. Gilabbey Veterinary Hospital, Vicards Road, Togher, Co Cork gilabvet@iol.ie MVB, DVOphthal, MRCVS. Eye Vet, Crescent Veterinary Hospital, Dooradoyle Road, Limerick, Co Limerick natasha@eyevet.ie Small Animal Surgery Veterinary Ophthalmology LEADON, Desmond Patrick 21/75 MVB, MA, MSc, FRCVS, DipECEIM. Irish Equine Centre, Johnstown, Naas, Co Kildare dleadon@equine-centre.ie Equine Medicine MORE, Simon John 46/98 2/04 MVB, BVSc, PhD, MACVSc, FACVSc, DipPM, DipECVPH, DipEDBHM. School of Agriculture, Food Science & Veterinary Medicine, University College Dublin, Belfield, Dublin simon.more@ucd.ie Herd Health Bovine Health Management Veterinary Epidemiology

5 Veterinary Council Newsletter Winter 2013 Issue 4 Planning on opening a Veterinary Premises? If you are planning to open a new veterinary premises there are some critical steps to follow to ensure compliance with the Council s mandatory Premises Accreditation Scheme. This procedure also applies if you are moving to a new premises, changing your address or changing the classification of your premises. Step Requirement Michael Fenlon MVB, BA (Hons), MRCVS Former Registrar laid groundwork for Veterinary Practice Act Apply for a Certificate of Suitability (COS). Without it, you cannot practise veterinary medicine or veterinary nursing at or from the premises. When you apply for a COS you must complete and submit the following forms: Declaration form (VCI form No ) and the Application for COS and selfassessment questionnaire (VCI form No G) These forms must be completed by the registered person who is applying to be the COS holder and returned to the Council offices together with fee. (Section 110 of the Veterinary Practice Act 2005 (the Act)). The premises will be scheduled for inspection by one of the Council s authorised Premises Assessors. The registrant must be present on the day of the inspection to assist the assessor and discuss and agree any corrective actions that need to be addressed before your application can progress. Following this inspection, and confirmation that any corrective actions identified have been addressed, an application for a COS will be considered by Council. A decision will be made by Council as per section 112 (1) of the Act. One of three decisions is taken - (1) To grant a COS, (2) To grant a COS with conditions or (3) To refuse to grant a COS. The applicant is then informed of this decision and where the decision at step three above is either (1) or (2) a COS will be posted to the COS holder as soon as possible. The COS must be displayed in the premises. Michael Fenlon, who served as Registrar of the Veterinary Council from 1995 to 2004, passed away on 17 November Michael qualified as a veterinary surgeon in 1963 and worked in practice until 1967 in Tullamore and Keady, Co Antrim. In 1968 he began working for the Department of Agriculture in the Central Veterinary Laboratory in Abbottstown, Dublin, moving to Limerick as Senior Research Officer in the Regional Veterinary Laboratory two years later. He remained in this post until 1995 when he was appointed Registrar of the Veterinary Council where he stayed until he retired at the end of During his time as Registrar he, along with members of the Veterinary Council, oversaw the first major change since 1931 in the legislation which underpins the regulation of the veterinary profession in Ireland. This work culminated in the passing of the Veterinary Practice Act in Michael also had a major interest in veterinary education and organised Veterinary Council visitations to the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine in University College Dublin. He was also a member of the Education Committee of the Federation of Veterinarians of Europe (FVE) and attended FVE General Assemblies as one of the Irish delegates. Prior to joining the Veterinary Council he had been elected President of both the Irish Veterinary Officers Association and the Irish Veterinary Association Michael was particularly supportive of colleagues who were experiencing personal problems and many members of the profession and their families remain grateful for his intervention. It can take approximately three months to complete this four step process. Michael was a very keen golfer and committed rugby supporter both at regional and national level. Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam.

6 Contact Details The Veterinary Council of Ireland 53 Lansdowne Road Ballsbridge Dublin 4 Tel: Fax: info@vci.ie Website: