4 May 2022
Veterinary charity has Vets Now, Donview Veterinary Centre, Eloise Collins from Beech House Veterinary Centre and Anderson Moores Veterinary Specialists as its winners.
Paul Imrie
Job Title
Vets Now, Donview Veterinary Centre, Eloise Collins from Beech House Veterinary Centre and Anderson Moores Veterinary Specialists have been named the winners in the RCVS Knowledge Awards 2022.
The awards showcase excellence in quality improvement (QI), and celebrate individuals and teams that have driven improvement.
Vets Now identified improvements in the care of dystocia cases following feedback from members of the wider team, who requested updated guidelines and training. A working group was set up, and began auditing and capturing benchmarks on cases.
To support its clinicians with decision-making and improve patient welfare, the group used data to inform guidelines and resources relevant for Vets Now, and everything was disseminated to the team.
Donview Veterinary Centre improved postoperative temperatures, working together on an audit and using the results to assess where they could be improved.
Suggestions were implemented across the practice and new equipment was purchased, with the audit showing a “robust dedication to improvement”, said RCVS Knowledge.
Eloise Collins, head RVN at Beech House Veterinary Centre, used checklists, auditing, benchmarking, team meetings and journal clubs to help improve patient care and outcomes, and practice culture.
She helped to bolster psychological safety among the team and helped show that an improvement culture involving the entire team creates positive change.
Anderson Moores introduced a notice to anaesthetists (NOTAN), inspired by the aviation industry, which highlights changes that might have safety implications.
The NOTAN was introduced following a team survey that identified knowledge gaps on latest anaesthesia practice, protocols and equipment, and the team agreed an electronic notification would be an effective change that helped increase confidence.
Chris Gush, RCVS Knowledge executive director, said: “The increasing number of high-calibre nominations for our Knowledge Awards year-on-year demonstrates the profession’s commitment to adopting QI in practice and education to make improvements that advance the quality of veterinary care.
“At RCVS Knowledge, we are dedicated to providing free tools and resources for veterinary teams to use, and are pleased to celebrate excellence through our awards. Congratulations to all of the winners.”
Seven applications were awarded as highly commended runners-up:
Full details are online.
