After some interesting conversations with readers at last month's BVA Live, I have been reflecting on the concept of contextualised care in veterinary practice and how this impacts practice. The Competitions and Markets Authority (CMA) investigation into veterinary services for household pets is leading to scrutiny of treatments and veterinary practice in general. Contextualised care is seen as a way to help address some of the concerns raised by the investigation. Contextualised care is described by the BVA (2024) as ‘appropriate and proportionate care tailored to the needs of both the client and the animal’ and differs from the concept of ‘gold standard care’.
Contextualised care allows owners to work closely with veterinary professionals to get the best outcomes for their companions. What may be suitable for one animal with a particular condition may not be suitable for another. This may be seen as obvious – I know many veterinary professionals already work in this way – but the BVA guidance on this allows vets and veterinary nurses to feel confident when exploring treatment options with clients.
Contextualised care is thought to build trust between veterinary professionals and clients – something that has arguably been strained by recent media articles on the CMA investigation, which at times have felt like a sustained attack on the profession. No one who works with veterinary professionals in any capacity can doubt that they are motivated by providing the best possible care for the animal in front of them, which is what makes these comments so frustrating.
As always, it is great to meet readers, and in May our Veterinary Nurse Workshops returned in person to Manchester. It was a wonderful day and our delegates took lots of tips for improving care away with them. If you missed out, keep an eye out for future events – we'd love to see you next time.
This month we have some fabulous articles for you. Ian Wright provides his popular annual parasite update on p184. In our clinical section, Evie Yon and Vicky Lilley discuss care bundles to reduce surgical site infections and promote positive outcomes (p192) and Katherine Hart looks at the multidrug resistance 1 (MDR1) gene mutation in dogs (p198). We have some interesting research looking at client perspectives on the support provided for the management of diabetes mellitus in dogs and cats (p203), which is particularly notable in the context of contextualised care. Finally, we have an article on final year student veterinary nurses' career plans and expectations (p212).
We'd love to hear your thoughts on this issue. Contact us at vet@markallengroup.com