Not My College ?

Gerry Henry, a  regular contributor to Samizdat is standing for election to the RCVS Council (again !). We took the opportunity to ask him a few questions about his candidacy. Sam . The electoral process has changed this year, no candidate statement but a series of questions and answers instead. Do you think it's an improvement ? GH . Not really, it reads more like a job application for Morrison's. In the past the Candidate Statement allowed you to introduce and develop an idea, this is just a series of little 200 word puffs that could be entitled, 'why I'm just the best thing since sliced bread.'  The bigger change which you haven't mentioned, is candidates are now only required to answer one question posed by the membership, not two as previously, and they still get to pick the one they answer. Personally I think candidates should have to answer at least four questions, with the two questions most commonly asked by the membership being compulsory. Allowing u...

We need a new Veterinary Surgeons Act - apparently. Time has moved on and the old one (1966) is no longer serviceable. It's hard to disagree, and if that was what it was about, simply updating, then I wouldn't object. But we're dealing with the RCVS here so it's always wise to look for the ulterior motive. In this case it's in plain sight - they want to use a new Veterinary Surgeons Act to abolish elections and move to an appointed council. It's a power grab pure and simple. The last vestiges of democratic accountability would finally be gone and we'd move to an 'independently appointed' (laff laff) Council, stuffed with the great and the good, all bristling with the relevant skill sets and just itching to get on with advancing the interests of the corporates promoting the best interests of the profession. Does anyone seriously believe the big players (you know who I'm talking about) wouldn't move heaven and earth to get their people 'i...

R emote  C ontrolling &  V ery  S ecretive.   The Freedom of Information Act  is based on the idea that more openness leads to more trust between society and public bodies, or in our case, the membership and the  RCVS . So if you submit a question to the RCVS , don't be surprised if you get an email back saying your request is being dealt with under the Freedom of Information Act . Goodness, you think, they must be taking it seriously, this is good news - yes? Well actually no. The College have discovered a clever little wheeze. By sticking strictly to the very narrow letter of the law their clever lawyers are able to avoid giving straight answers. Isn't it a bit ironic, that an Act of Parliament intended to make organisations more accountable, has been cunningly applied by our wonderfully open, compassionate, diverse, inclusive (insert your own superlative here) College, to actually limit accountability. They hate sharing information wi...

  This is reprinted from a human medical publication.  IMHO it is just as applicable to vets. It's a longish read but well worth it. How Does Second Victim Syndrome Affect Surgeons? Joël Pitre, Dr | 04 April 20 24 Second victim syndrome  (SVS) refers to the trauma experienced by a healthcare provider following a  medical complication or error . It is estimated that nearly 50% of healthcare providers will face this syndrome at least once in their career. Moreover, as much as 20% of hospitalized patients may experience a complication. Some specialties are particularly exposed to SVS, including surgery, obstetrics and gynecology. Most published research does not focus on surgical specialties, even though surgeons face stressful situations and technical challenges daily, making them particularly susceptible to SVS. Strength and emotional control are part of the typical surgeon stereotype. Consequently, the occurrence of a surgical complication is most often approached on...

At the first Council meeting of 2025 it was revealed the College thought six months was  'an appropriate timeframe,'  to complete the initial phase of a disciplinary investigation ... six months ! For anyone who has been on the receiving end it feels more like six years.  I'm not sure if things have changed, but it used to be a letter would arrive out of the blue saying a complaint had been made and the College would be in touch in due course. No mention of who made the complaint, no mention of what it related to, nothing. Then, eventually, a more detailed 'charge' would arrive to which the defendant was required to respond. After that, months of to and fro correspondence, of endless picking and probing. The more it became obvious the original claim was vexatious, the more they dug. The impression was the PIC would not be content unless they drew blood, until they found something, anything, no matter how small or unrelated, to pin on you. Most practitioners who ha...

Well it's Council election time in Punxsutawney, and like 2024, Samizdat believes the 2025 election is still about defending your right to vote . It’s about ensuring the membership retain the right to hold the  RCVS accountable through an elected Council.  Over the last few years the College has borne down heavily on what we the membership are permitted to know.  On one occasion in 2020, a retired police officer was engaged by the College to interrogate Council members suspected of leaking information about a proposed change to the disciplinary process !  (I don’t know what I find more depressing about this, the fact that the College thought they could get away with it or the spineless Council letting them).  In June 2022 the College imposed a revised 'How we work' statement, effectively preventing Council members from publicly discussing RCVS policy which they deemed to be confidential (Ball gag and no balls) .  Since then the ability of the membership (...

'RCVS council elections to be scrapped in a governance shake-up that may help to secure long-sought reform of veterinary sector legislation.' So said the Vet Times last year. Voting is old hat apparently. According to the RCVS and their supporters  the way forward is by scrapping the final, threadbare vestiges of democratic accountability and handing everything over to appointees. Sounds legit. The appointments process, like everything the  RCVS  does, will be totally transparent of course ... totally ... and if you believe that I have a bridge to sell you.  Meantime new elections are upon us. Of the current crop of former Council members seeking re-election only Will Wilkinson voted to retain an elected Council. 😊 Tshidi Gardiner voted to end elections and move to an appointed Council. 😟 Louise Allum was on Council but doesn't seem to have voted. There is no mention of whether she supports an elected or appointed Council on her candidate statement. Perhaps we s...

  RCVS Council meeting January 2025 - Keeping you informed. 'On Thursday, 16 January 2025, we will be holding our first RCVS Council meeting of the year, which will be online.' Keeping us informed ? Well not exactly Lord Copper, not exactly. Although the College likes to give the impression of openness, with occasional online Council meetings and the farce of regional Question Time  time-up-for-question-time the organisation remains as obsessively secretive as ever. Council members are forbidden - under threat of disciplinary action no less - to reveal details of Council meetings. When a Council member was thought to have leaked some information about changes to the disciplinary process,  the RCVS commissioned a former senior police officer to interrogate council members in a bid to identify the source (or sources) of the leak. The investigation is believed to have cost t ens of thousands of pounds  but the RCVS has refused to say how much ... .    (and af...

T he BVU recently sent an email to all candidates standing for election. It posed a number of perfectly reasonable questions, however Samizdat doesn't really want the endorsement of the BVU, nice and well intentioned though they undoubtedly are. Hi, thanks for the email and good wishes.  TBH I don't really want the endorsement of any organisation associated with UNITE. The scandal (ongoing) surrounding the hotel and conference centre fiasco suggests deep seated incompetence and corruption. Why would you wish to be associated with an organisation like this ?  Then there's this; 'Unite believes that any worker has the right to determine their gender identity without unnecessary medicalisation, and supports the review of the process of applying for gender recognition process/certificate. All Unite members who identify as women and meet the rule six qualifications of being a union workplace representative in employment are welcome to participate in the women’s structure of ...