27 Feb 2020
“It is fantastic to see that this year’s results demonstrate a significant increase in CPD compliance rates after a number of years in decline for vets and a largely static rate for veterinary nurses” - RCVS director of education Linda Prescott-Clements.
Vet Times
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Vet and vet nurse rates of compliance with CPD requirements have seen a “significant increase”, according to latest data released by the RCVS.
The college carries out an audit of CPD for both vets and nurses on an annual basis to gauge if members of professions are undertaking the number of hours required by their respective codes of professional conduct, which is 35 hours per annum for vets and 15 hours per annum for VNs.
Last year, a cohort of 1,010 veterinary surgeons responded to the CPD audit, which took place in September 2019, and included a random sample of 658 vets sourced from across all UK postcode areas.
The audit found that 820 (or 81%) of respondents met the annual requirement – a 13% increase from the 2018 audit. This followed a decline in compliance rates from 82% in 2014 to just 68% in 2018.
For veterinary nurses, a cohort of 1,077 responded to the request for their CPD records, which took place in June 2019 and that also included a random sample of 761 veterinary nurses sourced from across all UK postcode areas.
The audit found that 854 (or 79%) of respondents were compliant with the annual CPD requirement – a 7% increase on last year’s compliance rate and the highest compliance rate yet from a veterinary nursing CPD audit.
RCVS director of education Linda Prescott-Clements said: “It is fantastic to see that this year’s results demonstrate a significant increase in CPD compliance rates after a number of years in decline for vets and a largely static rate for veterinary nurses.
“I hope that it is part of a long-term trend towards the professions recognising the value of keeping their clinical and non-clinical skills up-to-date.”
