23 Jun 2023
Melissa Donald has been accused of being ‘disrespectful’ after pictures apparently showing her playing a game on her phone during an event at the Welsh Parliament appeared online.
Allister Webb
Job Title
RCVS president Melissa Donald. Photo © RCVS
The RCVS president has apologised after images appearing to show her playing a game on her mobile phone while attending an event at the Welsh Parliament were circulated online.
The images of Melissa Donald were captured during a discussion session on corporatisation held at the Senedd in Cardiff on Wednesday 21 June.
In a social media post responding to the images, Dr Donald insisted the event’s “powerful messages” had been shared with the college.
But event organiser Linda Joyce-Jones said she had been “disgusted” by what occurred and suggested it showed a lack of compassion.
She said: “She told me she had come to show the human face of the RCVS. I wasn’t impressed.”
The session, which was sponsored by the Senedd’s petitions committee, was arranged in response to an online petition led by Miss Joyce-Jones demanding an inquiry into the impact of corporatisation on the sector in Wales.
A decision on whether an investigation will take place, and which committee might lead it, is expected to be reached in the coming weeks.
In a Twitter post responding to a post containing some of the images, Dr Donald wrote: “I can only apologise. Personally I find my brain concentrates better on what is being said this way.
“I watched the slides as they came out and I appreciated the invitation very much.
“The powerful messages of the day have been shared with the RCVS.”
The images have also been shared with Vet Times independently, while other delegates attending the session described her actions as “disrespectful”.
Dr Donald is due to step down as president at RCVS Day on 7 July.
