The way we live now.

 






 (with apologies to Trollope)






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Is the RCVS disciplinary process fit for purpose ...

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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...
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Is this a parody account ?

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  From this week's Vet times; 'The college has invited clinicians who have concerns about their independence being undermined to use a confidential helpline to report their concerns following allegations in a Radio 4 investigation.' Can this be the same College that commissioned a former senior police officer to interrogate the RCVS Council in a bid to identify the person who leaked their serious  concerns  about changes to the disciplinary process.   Really ?  The investigation is believed to have cost tens of thousands of pounds but the RCVS has refused to say how much (it's not your money it's ours, shut up!). After all that they didn't find the leak, but the point had been made; as the saying goes, 'the process is the punishment.' So here's a question for the RCVS. Where should Council members go, to whom should they report their  concerns, as our out of touch, elitist College moves further and further away from the practising profession?  Thi...
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The College is planning a power grab - should we be worried (yes).

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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...
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