With a recent focus on travelling pets, we must also continue to consider the animals who do not travel outside of the UK. This time of year is especially significant with the warmer temperatures having finally arrived. We should now be striving to educate owners on the prevalence of ticks. VNs are ideally placed to do this, through nurse consultations, preparing materials for the practice waiting room and using social media. With approximately 2000 to 3000 new cases of Lyme disease being diagnosed annually in England and Wales according to the NHS, this is clearly an area of importance. We have the ability to have a positive impact on the health of both humans and their companion animals.
Aside from ticks, we look forward to April for the arrival of BSAVA Congress. This year was the 25th anniversary of one of the biggest events in our professional calendar. The first ever Congress was held in March 1958 with at least 150 attendees. Comparing this to the Congress we know today, we can see how much it has evolved in a relatively short time. Nowadays, it is particularly pleasing to see how many VNs present on their areas of specialism, a number of whom have also contributed to our journal. The Veterinary Nurse received a lot of interest at Congress which was fantastic to see.
Congress provides us with a perfect opportunity to network and the chance to really appreciate how dynamic our profession is. I have a particular interest in research, especially when completed by VNs. Indeed, as a profession, we have fast become more research focused and this is having a positive impact on the varied work we do. This year at Congress, presentations were given by researchers from VetCompass and the Small Animal Veterinary Surveillance Network (SAVSNET). These two disease surveillance bodies collect a wealth of data from electronic health records, making it available for research to the immense value of the veterinary profession. In fact, SAVSNET, a collaboration between BSAVA and the University of Liverpool, is developing models that may allow for a national tick forecast which could benefit owner education.
I am honoured to say that I am joining SAVSNET as the Project Coordinator next month, and relished the opportunity at Congress to speak to a number of veterinary surgeons and VNs. This emphasised how research focussed we are as a profession. The network monitors realtime clinical data from veterinary practices and laboratories. Visitors to the SAVSNET stand at Congress could see mock data, and there is a selection of open-access real-time data available online. This will provide useful insights for the profession, for both veterinary surgeons and VNs. I envisage VNs showing the data to owners to support education and compliance, which is a key part of our role. The data can also be used by the nursing team when deciding on topics for marketing, such as vaccination and other prophylactic treatments. I encourage you all to look at the wide range of data now available at rvc.ac.uk/vetcompass and savsnet.co.uk.
Communication is important in our profession, especially in research. We must keep abreast of recent developments so we are best placed to help our patients. Communicating with our colleagues, both in our own practices and at events such as Congress, facilitates knowledge transfer, ultimately improving patient care.
The Veterinary Nurse welcomes both research and letters from readers. It is always interesting to hear different opinions and perspectives on matters surrounding the work that we do. We hope you enjoy this issue, and that the content encourages professional discussion with your colleagues.