Catherine Goldie
As soon as the McKelvey report was published, Council have already moved to act on its recommendations. At the last Council meeting the Audit and Risk Committee was ratified, which should avoid a repetition of any overspend and gives a point of accountability. The appointment of the new CEO and separation of Registrar will allow a radical restructuring of the committees. This has been robustly debated and an outline has been drawn up, but obviously it will need the input of the new CEO before it can be finalised. I think this is the perfect opportunity to improve things for the future and should not be rushed. There is already much more transparency with regard to the council members accessing accounting figures and these are regularly challenged and clarified at council meetings.
2. The RCVS has been accused of being disconnected from its members. What do you think can be done to improve this?
Engaging with its members is an on going concern to the RCVS. We now have Facebook and Twitter as well as news letters. Chris Gray recently wrote an informed article in the Vet Times regarding his first term on Council. Personally I try and explain to every vet I meet about what Council does - often there is a lack of understanding about its role - and also demonstrate that there are normal everyday vets like myself on Council who need their vote.
3. How would you restore trust in the RCVS, if elected?
I cannot individually restore trust in Council. Collectively we have all accepted responsibility for the failures and there is a collective will to ensure this does not happen again. The alterations that led to the overspend were instigated before I started on Council. Further expenditure was requested to complete the projects while I was on Council. It was not in the interests of any one of our members that work was not completed. At the point at which the final money was ratified for completion, Council members were requesting a detailed look at the accounts and requested the McKelvey report to investigate the matter. I believe that what is being proposed now will be fit for purpose, but I understand it may take some time to prove to the membership that this is so.
4. How can the RCVS become more transparent in the future and what part would you play in this?
Council members have already requested that no documents are marked as confidential unless there is specific advice from our legal team that it is necessary or it is to do with nominations etc. Obviously many disciplinary matters are confidential. Part of the role of the future CEO is to make the RCVS more transparent and accountable.
5. After closing its VN awarding body the RCVS introduced a significant "regulatory fee" for student nurses, which has been viewed by some as grossly unfair. What is your opinion?
This matter has been raised at Council and does require looking at. As the VN Council wants to act as independently as possible, ultimately the ideal is that their costings should be ring fenced. However when they are operating within the same building as the Vet Council there is some cross subsidy, but also its cost savings. The figures have been requested regarding the VN department. There will be some unquantifiable costs associated with setting up the Nurse Disciplinary Committee and, once this has been established and running costs assessed, I and many of my colleagues will be requesting to see the actual costings surrounding the nurses and student nurses. If the regulatory fee can be reduced it will be supported by myself and many of my colleagues.
6. In the current climate of de-regulation and reducing costs, what cuts would you advise in RCVS expenditure and activities?
One of the reasons that new stream line committees are being discussed is it will reduce costs. The practitioners group formulate their discussions and written submissions to Council by e mail - the PI department does much of its work by e mail. I think there will be a move to produce all documents electronically over the next few years which will result in a significant cost saving, especially on DC and for Council meetings.
Council is made up of many extremely able people and the diversity is what most impresses me. We can not all be knowledgeable in all areas. What I bring to Council is an understanding of what it is like to work in practice on a day to day basis - especially out of hours - and as such feed into areas of debate where that is relevant, such as the formulation of the new Guide to Professional Conduct and the consultation regarding the new LRO.
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MRCVS.co.uk would like to thank Catherine for providing this information and we wish her every success in the upcoming election.
Birmingham Dogs Home has issued an urgent winter appeal as it faces more challenges over the Christmas period.
