The festive period will soon be upon us! It is also time to celebrate a momentous occasion in the progression of Veterinary Nursing in the UK.
Earlier this month the Privy Council approved the new Royal Charter and RCVS (Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons) council approved new rules relating to the registration of veterinary nurses. These new bye-laws and rules need to be in place when the new Royal Charter officially comes into effect. The new Royal Charter also sets out the objectives of the RCVS, essentially stating the functions of the RCVS encompassing the College vision.
A Royal Charter is a formal document issued by the monarch and therefore official sealing of the Royal Charter printed on vellum is to take place very soon.
It is interesting that the Privy Council approved the new Royal charter on the 5th November, a rather significant date in England's history when Guy Fawkes decided to try and blow up the House of Lords. The rather tenuous connection is that we too need to persuade parliament that we would like a change in legislation to introduce statutory regulation of veterinary nurses. Rather than resorting to violence, the RCVS has worked closely with the Veterinary Nursing council during the past few years on various activities in preparation for this to happen. A profession seeking regulation via legislation must first demonstrate that they are serious about going down this route. We have already met a number of these requirements with the introduction of self regulation by way of the Register in 2007 and more recently, the disciplinary processes in 2011. Now, the new Royal Charter formerly recognises the veterinary nursing profession as associates of the RCVS and has strengthened their powers to regulate VNs. The RCVS continues to work on ways to protect the title in legislation by getting our voice heard in parliament. The way forward is most likely to be from a Private Members bill, but getting a foot into parliament can take time. The e-petition on regulating veterinary nurses (http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/18700) put forward by BVNA in 2012 received only 2525 signatures, 97 475 votes short of the required amount to be considered for debate in the House of Commons. In the words of Lord Kitchener's poster, ‘your country (and its pets) needs you’ (and your support) to help us move forward.
So what does the new Royal Charter mean to UK VNs? The major change has been the creation of one Register meaning that the 1% of veterinary nurses who remained on the List will now be transferred to the Register. It will be up to the individual to decide whether they want to stay on the Register, however it will only be RVNs who will be allowed to undertake veterinary activities as allowed under the schedule 3 amendment of the 1966 Veterinary Surgeons Act. During the consultation, a number of Listed VNs were concerned about losing their qualification — this will not happen although if you still want to practise as a veterinary nurse, you need to be on the Register. Being on the Register is important to the general public. It demonstrates that the people taking care of their pets are responsible and accountable for their actions, maintaining their skills and knowledge by way of Continuing Professional Development and accepting that they would be disciplined if found guilty of serious professional misconduct. Unfortunately the new Royal Charter cannot officially protect the title of ‘veterinary nurse’ and anyone can still use the title. They cannot, however, use the title of ‘Registered Veterinary Nurse’ and this is the message we need to get across to the public because ultimately the reason for protecting the title is about the welfare of animals in our care. RVNs have had extensive training and assessment to attain their qualification. So it is only right that the public and their pets deserve the best evidence-based care.