Remote prescribing to continue following delay in post-pandemic reopening  

Veterinary surgeons will be able to continue remote prescribing for at least a further month, after the RCVS extended its temporary guidance in the wake of England’s reopening delays.

After Boris Johnson announced a delay to the final stage of lifting COVID-19 restrictions across England, the RCVS standards committee has decided to retain the college’s current temporary guidance on remote prescribing.

The committee also felt similar restrictions were likely to remain in place for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, so is keeping the guidance in place.

Health and welfare

The guidance was approved on a temporary basis in the early stages of the pandemic last year to ensure animal health and welfare could be maintained without risk to the health of veterinary teams or their clients.

It meant vets across the UK could prescribe POM-Vs remotely without first having physically examined an animal, subject to a number of additional safeguards.

This position will be reviewed again by Standards Committee, no earlier than 19 July 2021, and further updates published in due course, the college said on its website.