4 Jan 2022
UK’s chief vet says she fully recognises the efforts of professions and knows people are tired, but “best approach is to continue to work as a team”.
Joshua Silverwood
Job Title
UK CVO Christine Middlemiss.
The UK’s CVO has urged vets not to let “perfect be the enemy of the good” and continue to work together as a team as the industry moves into an uncertain 2022.
Christine Middlemiss said she recognised the efforts of vets across the country throughout past year, which featured a boom in pandemic puppies, the re-emergence of avian influenza, a staffing crisis and further waves of coronavirus, among other challenges.
Speaking to Vet Times, Dr Middlemiss said: “People are tired. I get that, but I think our best approach is to continue to work as a team, and for me, that’s something that I would like to recognise.
She said: “I am linked into the BVA, and generally hear a lot from vets in practice and the issues that they have been dealing with. We are also aware of many of the issues that production vets are facing with both staffing abattoirs and increased demand.
“This is not about how we deal with the day to day, but how we keep our focus on where we want to get to with things such as TB eradication, improved animal welfare and supporting the profession in our capacity through these difficulties.”
Elaborating on her plans for tackling avian influenza, as well as other diseases such as bTB, the CVO detailed how it was of utmost importance to keep learning lessons about biosecurity.
Dr Middlemiss said: “We need to learn what was different [in 2021] that made it such an impactful outbreak. What lessons can we learn from our approach? And what else can we learn to make things better?
“Bovine TB is a completely different ball game, because you are dealing with a much more long-term disease. We have made great progress in reducing the level of infection in some of the high-risk areas and we need to continue that.
“I would really like to focus more on the edge areas, too, where we’re not getting that reduction.
“We are also working towards having an authorised vaccine, and a deeper test that we hope to roll out. So we can actively start protecting cattle, as well as looking for where they were diseased.”
Turning to some of the noteworthy achievements made over the past year, the CVO heaped praise on the RVC and its investigation into an outbreak of pancytopenia that claimed the lives of hundreds of cats since June.
Describing the investigation as “exemplary”, she said that the RVC researchers’ teamwork was something that could be learned from.
The CVO said: “The pancytopenia investigation was, to me, a great example of teamwork. For me, that remains the kind of key achievement.
“With that it was someone picking up that there was something unusual going on, looking at it and sharing that information with others, then working with vets on the ground, with the [Food Standards Agency] and expert colleagues to inform the wider profession and owners what we thought was going on, and how best to manage it.
“I think the expertise and the pace with which we were able to do that were really exemplary.”
Dr Middlemiss also expressed support for 2021’s raft of animal welfare reforms – particularly changes in how offences would be sentenced, including harsher fines.
She added: “While we are strong on communication and the reasons why people should do things, it has felt like a bit of a gap in the past that enforcement has been harder and getting courts to take it seriously has been harder, so I was pleased that we were able to get increases in fines and things related to that.
“As we see, the public and the profession won’t stand for people not taking animal welfare seriously.”
Detailing the best aspect of her tenure as CVO, Dr Middlemiss elaborated how it was the ability to actively have the voice of the veterinary profession represented in Government, whether attending Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies meetings or having input on the UK’s import rules.
The CVO said: “I think being able to demonstrate the value of the vet team and what we’re doing, and then influence the outcome of them, has been fantastic. I enjoy teamwork. So being able to showcase this team and our expertise I really do enjoy.”
In closing, she urged vets to continue to work as a team as we move into 2022, emphasising how important it is for the industry to support its own staff.
Dr Middlemiss added: “Don’t let perfect be the enemy of the good. I have learned in Government that often you don’t succeed the first time, through a series of suboptimal approaches you will actually get a better outcome at the end of the day.
“Manage your expectations, keep going and work as a team, because that’s what we need to continue to focus on.”
