RCVS responds to 24/7 home visits petition
Devon vet Jo Dyer has petitioned the RCVS to remove mandatory house visits from the Code of Conduct.
Following the launch of a petition calling for the RCVS to remove mandatory house visits from the Code of Professional Conduct, the college has issued a response.
Devon-based vet Jo Dyer said past and recent judgements by the RCVS Disciplinary Committee have caused stress and anxiety to veterinary professionals, making young graduates in particular feel they are unable to refuse home visits.
She is calling for clause 3.2 of the code's guidance notes to be changed, and for clause 3.13 to be removed entirely. Her petition has so far received nearly 2,000 signatures.
Responding, RCVS president Colonel Neil Smith said: "I am concerned that the petition is working on a misunderstanding. Veterinary surgeons are not mandated to attend away from the practice just because an owner has requested a visit. It is a professional decision based on a range of factors."
In her petition to the RCVS, Ms Dyer notes a disciplinary hearing in June 2013, which saw veterinary surgeon Munhuwepasi Chikosi struck from the Register of Veterinary Surgeons for delaying attendance to an animal at the owners' premises. The case sparked significant concern among the veterinary profession.
Col Smith said: "I appreciate that recent disciplinary hearings, especially that of Mr Chikosi, have increased concerns in the profession that vets will be disciplined for not turning out to every single request for a home visit. This is not the case.
"In order for someone to be taken to a disciplinary hearing for refusing to attend away from the practice, first there needs to be a complaint, and second, the Preliminary Investigation Committee (PIC) needs to be convinced that the veterinary surgeon could not justify their decision. Such cases are rare."
According to Col Smith, only 3 per cent of complaints to the college last year were about 24-hour cover, not all of which related to home visits.
Ms Dyer's petition follows an RCVS call for members of the profession and animal owners to submit their views on 24-hour emergency veterinary care (24/7). Lay observers sitting with the PIC have raised concerns about the ability of the profession to provide 24/7 to the extent required in the code.
The college says the number of signatures on the petition and the comments of the signatories will be submitted to the Standards Committee, alongside formal responses to the call for evidence.
Col Smith said: "Clearly, if so many veterinary surgeons believe that house visits are mandatory in all circumstances, the wording of our guidance needs to be reviewed, at the very least."
Recommendations for change to the college's 24/7 policy are expected to go to the June meeting of the council, depending on the nature of the report from the Standards Committee.
Defra has published guidance for the vet sector ahead of a proposed UK-EU Sanitary and Phytosanitary agreement.
