21 Oct 2020
The RCVS' COVID-19 task force, formed in late March 2020, has taken 30 decisions affecting day-to-day life in the professions.
Paul Imrie
Job Title
A task force set up to make quick-fire policy decisions during the COVID-19 pandemic has been extended until March 2021 – but with additional scrutiny in place.
With the UK on the crest of a second wave, three-tiered measures introduced and “circuit-breaker” lockdowns introduced in Wales and Northern Ireland, RCVS council has agreed the mechanism to allow for rapid temporary policy changes must remain in place.
The RCVS set up its COVID-19 task force in late March, and has taken around 30 decisions affecting day-to-day life in the professions.
These included reducing vets’ and VNs’ annual CPD requirements by 25%, delaying Practice Standards Scheme assessments, suspending VN OSCEs and helping set up an alternative means of assessment, extending vet school accreditations by 12 months, and moving all UK and overseas registrations online. It has also kept council’s initial decision on remote prescribing temporary guidance under regular review.
In September, some members of council had asked for a vote on whether the task force was still needed, and a report was prepared for October’s council meeting recommending it continued until March 2021.
However, while councillors did agree to keep it going, additional checks and balances were put in place, including minutes being made available within two days of a task force meeting and council calling in any decision if two or more members raise objections to it.
Council member Neil Smith submitted a motion, later amended by a separate motion by senior vice-president Niall Connell, that allowed for the additional scrutiny checks.
Speaking during the council meeting, Dr Smith said: “The task force is doing a good job, and it is making some difficult decisions and rapidly. However, it sits outside any governance structure.
“Bringing this [motion] here is to do with having a very powerful body that is making very important decisions. We’ve got to have a governance structure in place; we’ve got to have safeguards in place, and at the moment we don’t have them.”
Speaking after the meeting, RCVS president Mandisa Greene, who also chairs the COVID task force, said: “I would like to thank council members for working constructively with the officer team to achieve this outcome.
“The decision recognises that the pandemic is not over, and that we are entering a difficult autumn and winter period, which may see some further restrictions, including in particular areas and regions of the UK.
“[These] may, in turn, require swift decision-making from the college, while also recognising the importance of council being the ultimate arbiter of decisions and importance of taking into account its members’ views.”
