RCVS Day 2018 speeches - Professor Stephen May, outgoing RCVS President

Ladies and gentlemen, it is now my great honour to address you as one of my last official duties as President.  Others have commented on how quickly the Presidential year passes, and I confirm the truth of that.  It only seems like yesterday that I was standing here receiving the chain of office from Chris.

I thought I knew our two professions, but in the last year I have attended Association meetings that I have not attended before, and met members in so many different roles, so this experience has only increased my wonder at the richness of all we achieve for society as a diverse veterinary team.

It has been a huge privilege and I am eternally grateful to all those who have welcomed me, often accompanied by my wife, Hilary, and very patiently answered my many questions.

As I look back over the year at the different projects on which we have embarked, and the challenges that we have faced, I am struck by the way that they all converge on our dual facets, our empowerment as a Royal College and our statutory responsibilities as a regulator.  We are truly “a complete professional regulator”, and we should all understand that, be proud of that and able to defend that as profession.

"In fulfilment of the vision of our founders, we continue to serve the public through setting and assessing standards for entry into the profession, increasingly assuring the standards of veterinary service providers, through the PSS, and registering and holding individuals to account for their actions. But we do this at the same time as creating trajectories for career development, through the PDP and professional certificates, and exploring how our codes and guidance can empower and support the development of veterinary professionals who exceed the required standards and not only survive but thrive when faced with challenges of modern professional life."

The ongoing trials of our new reflective, outcomes-based approach to CPD, and the two-year Graduate Outcomes project, looking comprehensively at future educational models, are both aimed at preparing veterinary professionals for all areas of practice including general practice. 

In fulfilment of the vision of our founders, we continue to serve the public through setting and assessing standards for entry into the profession, increasingly assuring the standards of veterinary service providers, through the PSS, and registering and holding individuals to account for their actions.

But we do this at the same time as creating trajectories for career development, through the PDP and professional certificates, and exploring how our codes and guidance can empower and support the development of veterinary professionals who exceed the required standards and not only survive but thrive when faced with challenges of modern professional life.

It is important, with most of our veterinary surgeons and nurses going into primary care, that we recognise the complexity of these roles and the importance of developing professionals to become expert generalists so that they do not just survive but thrive in that sector as well as all the others. 

The Graduate Outcomes proposals that will be ready for consultation later this year, and the reflective CPD, are both components of the College’s ambition to move us as a profession from what is often a blame to a learning culture embraced by all. 

Of course, we are all subject to the law of the land if any of our activities fall foul of that law.  However, as the Registrar and I have been keen to point out to veterinary students all around the country this year, it is important that society and all members of the profession recognise the clear distinction between misconduct and cases with disappointing outcomes where at worst professional judgement may have been clouded by conflicting demands and needs. 

As in the airline industry, the public and their animals are best protected by looking forwards and using these as learning opportunities rather than looking backwards to find an individual to whom to attach blame. 

"I am proud that we at the RCVS have a lot to offer the public and other professions as they too grapple with these important distinctions and truths in a society that at times descends destructively into litigation. I am not condoning reckless actions by some individuals, in some occupations, who feel immune from accountability.  They must be called to account.  But once a disaster has happened, it is too late for those involved. Therefore, it is more important that the principles of capability and accountability, that we espouse as a profession, are applied much earlier in all our dealings with one another, so that the quality is there in the system that protects against anything going wrong."

In all complex areas of practice, professional decisions need to be reviewed by those who can understand the context and the process involved in reaching those decisions and not just by an external observer, or sadly sometimes a specialist in the area, who bases their conclusion solely on the outcome. 

As Anthony Hidden said in 1989 in the Clapham Junction accident investigation report, “there is almost no human action or decision that cannot be made to look flawed and less sensible in the misleading light of hindsight”, and society and the profession forgets at all our cost. 

I am proud that we at the RCVS have a lot to offer the public and other professions as they too grapple with these important distinctions and truths in a society that at times descends destructively into litigation.

I am not condoning reckless actions by some individuals, in some occupations, who feel immune from accountability.  They must be called to account.  But once a disaster has happened, it is too late for those involved.

Therefore, it is more important that the principles of capability and accountability, that we espouse as a profession, are applied much earlier in all our dealings with one another, so that the quality is there in the system that protects against anything going wrong.

The business of our College is both proactive and reactive, and inevitably during the course of a President’s year there are challenges that have to be faced and dealt with that are unanticipated, that you would prefer “did not happen on your watch”. 

In the last year we have had several of these, and it is important where possible to see the opportunities that each creates as much as the difficulties and extra work each often entails.

We have continued to engage with BVA and DEFRA around the workforce issues that may be consequential on Brexit, in particular both the short and longer term considerations and solutions.  This spilled over from Chris’s year and we have all been enormously grateful for the continuity he has provided in moving this forwards. 

From an opportunities point of view, this has led to much more analysis and understanding of the demographics of our profession, and in particular the large and valued subgroup of non-UK EU nationals.

Always with animal health and welfare at the forefront of our minds, challenges for delivering veterinary services have stimulated our Legislation Working Party to look in wide-ranging ways at the future shape of the veterinary team – how it is made up, how empowered, how regulated and changes in legislative frameworks that would be required to support any change. 

Reviews of schedule 3, exemption orders, and considerations of telemedicine are all issues with their own challenges that need to be thought of in relation to these developments.

A number of us have also been involved with ongoing debate about our statement on homeopathy.  This has given us a huge opportunity to emphasise that the legitimacy of our professional monopoly, as enshrined in the Veterinary Surgeons Act, is based on a service that relies on a professional skill set that is evidence-based. 

We have met all who have struggled to understand our position, and emphasised that in fulfilment of our first duty, the health and welfare of our patients, we expect all our members to use therapies that are known to be effective, and can be justified to animal owners and the broader academic and scientific community of expertise.

The biggest operational challenge, though, that can come in a year for a Chairman of a Board or a President of a College, is the resignation of CEO.  We said good-bye to Nick Stace, but also saw an opportunity which we achieved with his replacement by Lizzie Lockett. 

"The Presidential Year is very full and it is only possible with the hard work and support of a host of people behind the scenes whose contributions can never be adequately recognised.  So I cannot finish without acknowledging the hard work of Council, Operational Board, all the College Committees and all the staff of Belgravia House, all of whose professional contributions are essential to the development of the veterinary profession.  From my heart, I thank you all for your kindness and generosity with your advice and time"

Lizzie is closely associated with the College’s Mind Matters Initiative that has contributed to a revolution around the way we regard mental health, and the clear recognition that veterinary services are at their best when they are delivered by members who are happy and well, and confident in and proud of what they deliver. 

As a non-vet, she brings to the CEO a love of what the profession stands for and a pride in the way the RCVS staff team contributes its part to all the care that our profession provides; a love shared in particular by the many long-serving members of staff in Belgravia House whom she now leads. 

So, as my year draws to a close, I am confident that I am handing on to Amanda a College that is more confident in itself and its role, and better able to face the challenges of the future, as we restructure of our governance and committee structures, and Lizzie looks strategically at extra staff appointments related to the growth of the profession and all the College’s business.

The Presidential Year is very full and it is only possible with the hard work and support of a host of people behind the scenes whose contributions can never be adequately recognised.  So I cannot finish without acknowledging the hard work of Council, Operational Board, all the College Committees and all the staff of Belgravia House, all of whose professional contributions are essential to the development of the veterinary profession.  From my heart, I thank you all for your kindness and generosity with your advice and time. 

I would also like to thank my colleagues at the RVC, particularly the Senior Team, who have been understanding of my reduced commitments there, and frequent absences on RCVS business.  No President can undertake the role without that support, but I have been grateful and touched by your generosity as well.

I am one of the rarer group of entrants to our profession who is regarded by careers officers as “a late emerger”; I did not decide to be a vet until it was time to apply to university.  By that time the role models that I had encountered relating to my earlier ambitions of being a nuclear physicist or an industrial chemist had completely underwhelmed me, so it made sense to turn my attention to the veterinary role models of my time and to combine my interest in science with the deep love of animals that mother had instilled me, to whom I am ever grateful and so pleased Mummie that you are here to hear that today. 

Once this decision was taken, the support and encouragement I have received at every stage has been overwhelming, and humbling, from early mentors when seeing practice, in Cheshire, teachers at university, and all those who have contributed knowingly, and unknowingly, to my professional development since then.  Some of you are here, and I am very grateful to you all.

38 years ago, much to my consternation, one of my predecessors as President advised all those accompanying the Cambridge graduates being admitted to the College not to marry a vet.  Fortunately, the person accompanying me has always been sufficiently independently minded to ignore this type of instruction, and we celebrate our 35^th wedding anniversary in 4 days’ time. 

Hilary has been my greatest supporter and very best friend, and nothing I have achieved could have been achieved without her constant support and selflessness.  So, Hilary, thank you for all you have done and continue to do.

And my final thanks go to all of the members of our profession, who elected me to Council and have given me the opportunity to stand before you now.  I continue to draw strength from all you do and all that we achieve together, and long may it continue. Thank you.