Susan Paterson, a candidate in the RCVS Council elections, wants to represent the voice of veterinary surgeons in private practice.

Fear over increasing number of academics on RCVS council

The ballot papers for the RCVS elections are being sent out this week, but candidate Susan Paterson fears that an increasing number of academics on the council, could see the loss of the voice of veterinary surgeons in private practice.

She hopes to be elected as that voice and help bring about both a "better dialogue between the Royal college and the profession," and a better appreciation by the public of the Practice Standards Scheme (PPS).

Susan qualified from Cambridge in 1984 and went onto develop her specialism in dermatology six years later. She has written seven books, is a director of Rutland House Veterinary Hospital Group, and owns Veterinary Dermatologicals.

As well as this, Susan is chair of education at the BSAVA, president of the The European Society of Veterinary Dermatology (ESVD), and has also been instrumental at starting school workshops at her practice at which children learn about their pets.

"I hope the creation of a disciplinary committee that is independent of the RCVS Council may make the college more approachable.

"Many practitioners merely see the RCVS as ready to beat them with a large stick should they step out of line, the college can offer so much more than that but does need to engage with the veterinary surgeons in practice," said Susan.

She has backed the RCVS move for a new Royal charter and the regulation of veterinary nurses, but said the RCVS needed to play a great role in educating the public about the PPS, which would in turn encourage more veterinary practices to become involved.

Why did you decide to stand for election?
I have been qualified now for a long time and felt it was time I put something back into the profession.

What are you hoping to achieve if you are elected to the council?
I would very much like to see a better dialogue between the Royal college and the profession.

I worry with increasing numbers of academics on council (as the numbers of vet schools increases and hence the representative from vets schools increase proportionally) that the voice of the veterinary surgeon in private practice will be lost.

I would like to be able to represent the needs of the veterinary surgeon in practice on council in all aspects of their professional life.

This would include veterinary surgeons individual needs and requirements for continuing educations; ensuring those veterinary surgeons who provide high levels of client care are adequately recognised by the public by the new guidelines for practice standards; protecting our veterinary nurses and the need to rethink the way in which out of hours services are provided.

What changes would you like to see in the profession?
Over the last 10 years I worry that the general public's perception of the profession has changed.

Many clients believe their vets to be business people who want to make money at their pet's expense rather than the old romanticised "James Herriott" approach where money never exchanged hands but vets worked because they loved animals.

The truth is of course somewhere in the middle and my strong belief is that the new practice standards are the way to educate the public about what veterinary work is about.

With a Practice Standards Scheme (PSS) that is more than just a bureaucratic box ticking exercise that measures level of equipment but not level of care, the public should be able to appreciate more what each practice can offer.

The new modular approach to PSS I hope will allow behaviours and outcomes to be measured so that clients can make informed decisions about the practice they want to attend.

I am hopeful that the RCVS having listened to the criticisms that have been made of the current scheme, will continue to update it so that it can be used by the profession to demonstrate to their clients the strengths of their practice. 

Where do you see the college in five years?
I hope that the Royal college over the next few years can implement the new strategic plan that has been outlined to revise the Royal Charter; update the PSS, establish and police the advanced practitioner status and improve the complaints process by ensuring complaints are dealt with quickly and fairly by an informed and suitably qualified group of individuals.

Why should our members vote for you?
I feel I can represent many different sections of the profession. I am a full time working mum who has to juggle work (as many of our profession now do) around a family, consisting of a husband who can only cook sausages, two demanding teenagers who need a constant taxi service and two large destructive labradors.

I am a director of a large privately owned veterinary group with 10 practices employing first opinion vets, referral clinicians and nurses with a busy out of hours clinic.

I know about the pressure of running a practice, dealing with difficult and demanding clients and solving staff problems.

Although I am a RCVS specialist I am not an academic and have worked for 90 per cent of my professional life in private practice so I am confident I can represent fellow colleagues in first opinion and private referral practice.

I have also worked in a charity clinic in a busy city centre practice dealing with out of hours abuse and personal threats from clients, so I am well aware of the challenges the profession now faces to solve the dilemma of how out of hours services can be provided to ensure patient care and veterinary surgeon safety.

How can the college connect better with the veterinary profession/veterinary nursing profession?
The Royal college councils need to represent the profession and be in touch with the profession.

The college needs to have a wide range of veterinary surgeons and nurses represented on both RCVS and VN Councils.

There needs to be a blend of experience and youth, private and academic practice as well as representatives from vets in industry, primary care vets and referral clinicians and of course males and females.

With appetite (as evidenced by this years candidates) for vets in private practice to become involved in council there is a strong argument to suggest there should be a minimum number of candidates from private practice on council.