Post-nominals will remain on the register
The college was fiercely criticised when it announced earlier this year that post-nominals would be removed from the register.
A controversial decision to remove post-graduate qualifications from the RCVS register of veterinary surgeons was officially overturned yesterday, as council members voted to keep a rationalised list of post-nominals.
Speaking at yesterday's RCVS Council meeting, education committee chair Chris Tufnell claimed technology has "moved on" since the decision was made to remove all post-nominals except MRCVS/FRCVS and registrable degrees and it is "no longer necessary" to drop all post-nominals from the register.
Five lists of post-nominals/qualifications were proposed for inclusion in the register, including primary veterinary qualifications, those approved for Advanced Practitioner and Specialist status, honorary post-nominals, qualifications relating to veterinary and biomedical sciences, agriculture and medicine, and finally, non veterinary/science qualifications.
It was additionally suggested that search features on Find a Vet should be limited to Advanced Practitioners and Specialists only.
In order to simplify the process of approving new qualifications put to the college in future, the education committee put forward a set of criteria. It also recommended providing information to "decode" the post-nominals included in the register.
Council members voted unanimously to keep post-nominals on the register. Mark Elliot said he was "very happy to endorse the education committee's proposals".
The council had previously agreed to remove certain post-graduate qualifications from the register at its June 2012 meeting. The move followed a 2011 consultation run by the RCVS to explore ways to reduce confusion among the general public about post-nominals.
However, the college was fiercely criticised by many in the profession when it announced earlier this year that post-nominals would be removed from the register.
Derbyshire vet Victoria Lilley launched an online petition urging college to overturn its decision. To date, the petition has garnered nearly 1,700 signatures. At the council's meeting in June this year, the consensus was to leave post-nominals on the register and consider a rationalised list.
Defra has published guidance for the vet sector ahead of a proposed UK-EU Sanitary and Phytosanitary agreement.
