22 Apr 2021
Winners are Jessica Pennock from CVS, Samantha Fontaine from the University of Glasgow, Plymouth Veterinary Group, CVS small animal team and the University of Nottingham’s vet school.
Paul Imrie
Job Title
RCVS Knowledge has announced the winners of its 2021 awards, where winners were recognised for use of continuous quality improvement (QI) principles.
The winners are:
The charity praised all award winners for championing use of QI methodology across all areas of their work.
This year, the awards scheme welcomed applications from undergraduate and postgraduate educators and learners, as well as those in a practice setting.
Dr Pennock won the Knowledge Champion award for her outcome audit on perioperative hypothermia, with Ms Fontaine receiving the same award for implementing a new course teaching QI to VNs, including in practice and education.
Plymouth Veterinary Group and the CVS small animal team were jointly awarded Practice Champions awards for their separate ear cytology audits, while the University of Nottingham was named a Champion Team for teaching QI to undergraduate and postgraduate students.
The awards, in their third year, attracted a record number of applications, and nine were awarded as highly commended runners-up. These were:
All applications underwent a blinded review process, involving assessment by an expert review panel against set criteria on excellence of care, clinical and financial effectiveness, and applying evidence-based approaches.
Chris Gush, executive director of RCVS Knowledge, said: “We were very impressed with the number of high-quality applications received for the 2021 Knowledge Awards.
“Every award winner demonstrated a dedication to advancing the quality of veterinary care and we look forward to watching them continue to develop quality improvement initiatives in practice. Congratulations to all of the winners.”
Case examples of all the winning projects will be published on the RCVS Knowledge website in early May.
