College to continue e-certificate trial for newly qualified VNs

Members of RCVS’ VN council have voted to continue a trial providing e-certificates to new VNs joining the register.

The trial was launched on 1 November for all VNs joining the register after completing their qualification via a further education provider or via the higher education route at Hartpury University.

Council has now extended the trial for a further few months to allow further feedback and insight before deciding whether to provide the e-certificates to new registrants as a standard practice. The process will be reviewed again at VN council in May.

Download

The e-certificates are available to download for each individual in the trial via the My Account area of the RCVS website, and can also be requested as a printed hard copy.

Robert Hewes, RCVS head of insight and engagement, said: “Thank you to all those newly qualified veterinary nurses who took part in the trial, and especially to those who provided their feedback and thoughts on the e-certificate.

“From those who have completed the survey, it is clear that there is still a great deal of pride and meaning attached to having a hard copy certificate, which is why we will continue to offer these to all our newly qualified veterinary nurses.

“However, the feedback from the vet nurses overall regarding the e-certificates were that they appreciated that there was a benefit from an environment and sustainability point of view, as well as the practicalities of having immediate and easy access to their proof of registration.”

Vet certificates

A trial of e-certificates for new vets was trialled in early 2021 and rolled out as standard practice from summer 2021. The VN trial is being conducted on the same basis.

The RCVS said the e-certificates are a legitimate form of identification of registration and hard copies are no longer required.

Anyone in any doubt of an individual’s registration status can email the registration team or telephone 020 7202 0707.