Author Archives: Alison German

Planned CAW VLE Upgrade – Saturday 20 December

Due to a planned upgrade, The College of Animal Welfare’s VLE system be unavailable for use on Saturday, 20th December for approximately four hours.

If you have any queries about the upgrade or system downtime, please contact your course tutor.

We apologise in advance for any inconvenience this may cause.

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RCVS news: Veterinary nurses reminded to pay overdue fees

Veterinary nurses who wish to remain on the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons (RCVS) Register/List of Veterinary Nurses are reminded that their renewal fees need to be paid to the College by 31 December 2014.

Letters have been sent to 938 registered/listed veterinary nurses whose fees are outstanding, reminding them that the annual renewal fee of £61 needs to be paid – and cleared – by the end of this year.

The renewal fee can be paid online via the ‘My Account’ area (www.rcvs.org.uk/login), using the login details which were sent to all listed/registered veterinary nurses in September.

As well as paying the fee, all veterinary nurses will need to confirm their registration details and correspondence address while registered veterinary nurses will need to declare any convictions, cautions and/or adverse findings and confirm they have complied with the RCVS continuing professional development requirement of 45 hours over a three-year period.

Any veterinary nurses who have not received their login details, or who have misplaced them, should contact the RCVS Registration Department by telephone on 020 7202 0707.

For payments made by cheque, the name of the veterinary nurse and the ID number included in the annual renewal letter needs to be written on the back. Cheques need to be received by the RCVS before Friday 19 December and the payment to have cleared by 31 December.

Veterinary nurses in need of further guidance on paying their annual renewal fee should contact the RCVS Finance Department on finance@rcvs.org.uk or 020 7202 0723.

College Students Recognised at Awards Ceremony

Award Winners

Students from The College of Animal Welfare in Godmanchester had their achievements recognised at the College’s annual Students Awards Ceremony on Saturday 29 November.

The Awards Ceremony was a celebration of achievements that students have made during the past year, not only at the College’s Godmanchester centre but also at its other centres in Potters Bar, Leeds and Edinburgh, as well as students who are learning in their work place all over the country.

Each student who received an award had worked hard to reach a high standard and, in some cases, overcome personal challenges.

This year the awards were presented by Graham Fuller MBE, former Chief Executive of Wood Green, The Animals Charity. Mr Fuller, who was awarded an MBE in the Queen’s Birthday honours list for services to animal welfare, was instrumental in first creating The College of Animal Welfare when it was part of Wood Green in 1989. This year’s ceremony was particularly poignant as it marked the College’s Silver Jubilee anniversary.

Barbara Cooper, Principal of The College of Animal Welfare, said: ‘The Awards Ceremony is one of the biggest highlights of our year. All of the award winners have worked really hard and thoroughly deserve this recognition for their efforts’. She continued ‘I would like to congratulate all our award winners and wish them every success for the future’.

The award winners were presented with a commemorative trophy during the ceremony at the College’s centre in Chord Business Park on London Road in Godmanchester.

– Ends –

For more information please contact:

Alison German VN
Marketing Executive
The College of Animal Welfare
Tel: 01480 422060
Email: agerman@caw.ac.uk

Notes to editors:

The College of Animal Welfare is one of the UK’s leading providers of veterinary nurse and animal care training and education; operating from four training centres around the UK.

The College has a well-earned reputation for excellence and has created a number of unique achievements that have created new opportunities for learning.

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RCVS news: Open Day for potential recruits to RCVS statutory committees

On Monday 15 December the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons (RCVS) will be hosting an Open Day for those members of the veterinary and veterinary nursing professions who are interested in joining the College’s Preliminary Investigation Committee (PIC), Disciplinary Committee (DC) or Veterinary Nurse Preliminary Investigation Committee (VN PIC).

In January 2015 the RCVS will be looking to recruit veterinary members for PIC and DC following a legislative reform order last year to reconstitute them separately from RCVS Council. This means that the committees must be made up of veterinary and lay members who are not on Council and members will be appointed on the advice of an independent selection committee.

The RCVS will be seeking to recruit four veterinary surgeons for DC as well as three veterinary surgeons for PIC. At the same time the College will be recruiting two registered veterinary nurses and a veterinary surgeon for VN PIC. Applications are particularly sought from practising or recently retired clinicians.

The Open Day (at Belgravia House from 9.30am to 4pm) will provide the opportunity for those who are interested in applying to hear from current members of each committee about what being a committee member is really like and the type of cases dealt with. Furthermore, recruitment consultants will be on hand to explain the hiring process and attendees will also have the opportunity to put questions to Gordon Hockey, RCVS Registrar.

Those who are interested in attending the Open Day should contact Peris Dean, Executive Secretary, on p.dean@rcvs.org.uk or 020 7202 0761 to register an interest or request an agenda.

Students Recognised at The College of Animal Welfare Awards Ceremony

Award WinnersCongratulations to all our students who received an award during our annual Student Awards Ceremony on Saturday 29 November.

The Awards Ceremony was a celebration of achievements that our students have made during the past year at all centres as well as students who are learning online and in their work place all over the country.

Each student who received an award had worked hard to reach a high standard and, in some cases, overcome personal challenges.

This year the awards were presented by Graham Fuller MBE, former Chief Executive of Wood Green, The Animals Charity. Mr Fuller, who was awarded an MBE in the Queen’s Birthday honours list for services to animal welfare, was instrumental in first creating The College of Animal Welfare when it was part of Wood Green in 1989. This year’s ceremony was particularly poignant as it marked the College’s Silver Jubilee anniversary.

Barbara Cooper, Principal of The College of Animal Welfare, said: ‘The Awards Ceremony is one of the biggest highlights of our year. All of the award winners have worked really hard and thoroughly deserve this recognition for their efforts’. She continued ‘I would like to congratulate all our award winners and wish them every success for the future’.

The award winners were presented with a commemorative trophy during the ceremony at the College’s centre in Chord Business Park on London Road in Godmanchester.

RCVS publish new fitness to practise guidance for veterinary students

The Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons (RCVS) has published a new guide for veterinary students which aims to introduce them to the concept of fitness to practise and to help prepare them for professional life.

The guide, entitled Fitness to Practise – A Guide for UK Veterinary Schools and Veterinary Students, was developed by a College working party in conjunction with the UK’s seven veterinary schools that currently offer an RCVS approved veterinary degree.

The RCVS are also in the process of forming a working party to produce equivalent guidance for student veterinary nurses.

More information can be found on the RCVS website.

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RCVS publishes social media guidance for vets and vet nurses

The Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons (RCVS) has recently published new guidance for veterinary surgeons and veterinary nurses on the use of social media and online forums.

Forming a new chapter of supporting guidance to the College’s Code of Professional Conduct, it sets out the professional standards expected of veterinary professionals, as well as providing advice on good practice, how to protect privacy, maintaining client confidentiality and dealing with adverse comments from clients.

The guidance has been developed by the Standards Committee, partly in response to demands from the profession and partly in light of recent decisions by the courts and other regulatory bodies which demonstrate that professionals can be at risk of legal or disciplinary action where their online conduct is unprofessional or inappropriate.

“Although the concept of professional standards and conduct within the veterinary profession is well established, the application of such principles in the age of digital connectivity remains relatively new and the inherent risks are not necessarily obvious,” says Laura McClintock, RCVS Advisory Solicitor.

“Whilst social media is likely to form part of everyday life for veterinary professionals, who are just as free as anyone else to take advantage of the personal and professional benefits that it can offer, its use is not without risk, so vets and vet nurses should be mindful of the consequences that can arise from its misuse,” she says.

The new guidance outlines the responsibilities expected of vets and vet nurses to behave professionally offline, online as themselves or online in a virtual capacity. Demonstrably inappropriate behaviour on social media may place registration at risk, as the professional standards expected online are no different to those in the ‘real world’.

“Understanding and applying our new guidance should help vets and nurses to meet their professional responsibilities and reduce the risks of receiving complaints from clients or others, as well as potential civil actions for defamation,” adds Laura.

The new guidance can be found on the RCVS website at: www.rcvs.org.uk/socialmedia

Student VNs: Backdating NPL Evidence

As students are in practice for some time before receiving their Nursing Progress Log (NPL) access it is important that they keep a diary of all skills undertaken within this period with dates, case details and patient references.

Any other evidence should be kept too e.g. Anaesthetic charts, hospital charts, etc.

The Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons (RCVS) are backdating enrolments for students who started in September 2014 so this means that if a student has assisted with an unusual case that doesn’t appear very often the skills can be covered if it occurred after the students enrolment date (i.e. when they started college) but before they have received their login details.

Other day to day skills can be covered using the quick start function.

If you have any questions please contact your QAS.

Anti-Bullying Week (17-21 November 2014) – Let’s Stop Bullying For All

Anti-Bullying Month Logo3-28 November 2014 is Anti-Bullying Month incorporating Anti-Bullying Week (17-21 November).

The theme for this year is ‘Let’s Stop Bullying For All’.

Bullying takes place in many ways and to different people. It can seriously affect a person’s mental and physical health. It can lead to a lack of confidence, withdrawal from friends and family, lack of participation in class and at work, anxiety, depression and poor concentration.

The College of Animal Welfare (CAW) believes that bullying is unacceptable in all forms and is committed to preventing and eliminating any form of it. The College expects acceptable standards of behaviour from both our students and staff recognising and respecting the dignity of all individuals. The College views any form of harassment, victimisation, intimidation or bullying as unacceptable behaviour and has a zero tolerance.

Get Involved!

To mark Anti-Bullying Week this year we would like all students and staff to come up with one idea on how bullying should be tackled. Your idea will be used to influence the work of the College’s equality and diversity working group over the forthcoming year and beyond.

This is your opportunity to get involved, it only takes a minute and it can really help make a difference!

You can submit your idea on our website

The person who comes up with the most creative idea, chosen by the group, will be considered for nomination towards the College’s Equality and Diversity award at the CAW Annual Student Awards Ceremony.

If you, or someone you know, is affected by bullying you can get free, confidential advice at www.bullying.co.uk. We also encourage any student who is concerned about bullying or any other unacceptable behaviour to talk to their course tutor or a member of our Customer Advice Team (CAT). Students can find a list of CATs on the VLE.

Huntingdonshire Regional College Ofsted Inspection: 17-20 November 2014

We have been informed that Huntingdonshire Regional College (HRC) will be undergoing an Ofsted Inspection from Monday 17 November to Thursday 20 November 2014.

As part of the inspection, all full-time students (aged 16-18 years of age) at The College of Animal Welfare who are funded by HRC will be asked to complete a Learner View Survey. All students who this applies to, will be receiving an email from The College of Animal Welfare with a link to the online survey.

If you have any questions or concerns regarding this, please call The College of Animal Welfare on 01480 422060.