RCVS council backs operational plan through 2027

RCVS council has today (2 October) approved an operational plan listing how the college will engage with “challenging issues” through to 2027.

The proposal is part of the five-year strategic plan the RCVS unveiled in May this year, covering up to the end of the decade.

RCVS chief executive Lizzie Lockett presented the draft, which sets out how the college will become “stronger together” alongside veterinary professionals, animal owners, society at large and RCVS’ staff.

Among its strategies are plans to achieve new veterinary legislation, improve data use to better monitor and enforce veterinary standards, achieve a workforce that meets demand with an inclusive culture, and support vet and vet nurse students.

Forge trust

The RCVS also hopes to forge trust between key stakeholders, increase transparency and pilot a pet bereavement counselling service as part of its complaint resolution process, which it had outlined earlier this year.

In improving the standing of vets with society at large, the college plans to engage with “challenging issues, such as the role of animals in society, the responsibilities of animal owners/keepers and the cost of veterinary care” and champion the contributions made by veterinary professionals, such as the role they play in one health.

Ms Lockett hailed her colleagues’ efforts in helping to develop the plan.

‘Make a difference’

She said: “I think the staff team, council members, committee members really do aspire to make a difference, and it’s quite heartening to see the number of ways in which people argue to continue to improve what we do.”

She acknowledged the “need to be flexible” amid uncertainty surrounding the profession, such as the impending recommendations set out by the Competition and Markets Authority amid its investigation into the small animal sector, and potential legislative changes in the form of a new veterinary surgeons act.

Ms Lockett said that while external factors could delay work on some of their upcoming projects, the work they do “won’t be wasted” and she backed the college’s proactive approach.

She said: “We could have sat and said, ‘Well, we’re not going to have a new strategy,’ but I think it was the view of council at the time that we need to be in control of our destiny as far as we possibly can, rather than just waiting for things to happen around us.”