RCVS Council votes to hold consultation on changes to disciplinary system

At its June 2020 meeting, RCVS Council decided, by majority vote, to consult with the professions on possible changes to the disciplinary system. The proposed changes were developed with the aim of making our system more compassionate and modern, whilst maintaining public protection at its heart.

At the meeting, which took place on Thursday 4 June 2020, Council members were asked to decide on how to proceed with three specific proposals on reforming the disciplinary system.

These had come out of the discussions held by the Legislation Working Party (LWP) but, unlike the majority of the recommendations made in the LWP Report, which was also presented at the meeting, they do not require new primary legislation so were discussed and decided on separately.

The specific proposals are:

• a change to the standard of proof used in deciding whether or not the facts of a case  are proven from the current criminal standard (‘beyond all reasonable doubt’), to the civil standard (‘on the balance of probabilities’). It is important to note that this standard is only applied to deciding on the facts of a case. The decision as to whether the proven facts amount of professional misconduct remains as currently;
• the introduction of a ‘Charter Case Protocol’ in which, cases that meet the threshold for a full Disciplinary Committee hearing, but which might be likely to attract a low sanction, may be concluded without a public hearing. Suitable cases may include those where factors such as insight or remediation have been shown. Instead of a disciplinary hearing, the case may be concluded in a more proportionate manner, for example, via a system of publicly-issued warnings and/or advice;
• to end the current system of initial review of complaints via a Case Examiners Group with the more complex of these cases then reviewed subsequently by the Preliminary Investigation Committee. Instead a single-stage review process with complaints considered by a number of ‘mini-Preliminary Investigation Committees’ with three members would be used.  This would simplify the system and potentially speed up the concerns investigation and disciplinary processes, thus reducing the stress of the process on all parties. Full Preliminary Investigation Committee meetings (involving five Committee members) would still take place to consider the most complex cases.

Acknowledging some of the concerns that have been raised about changing the standard of proof, RCVS Registrar Eleanor Ferguson explains:

"The RCVS is now one of just a few regulators that still uses the criminal standard of proof in determining the facts of a case. We have sought these changes as part of our ongoing aim to develop a compassionate and forward-looking disciplinary system with the protection of the public absolutely at its heart, whilst also acknowledging the huge toll the process takes on the mental health of veterinary professionals.

"Research that we carried out into the impact of changing the standard of proof indicated that it would not lead to a major increase in cases being referred from the Preliminary Investigation Committee to the Disciplinary Committee. Importantly, the number is likely to be very low because the standard of proof only applies to proving the facts of a case; the judgement as to whether proven facts amount to serious professional misconduct will follow the same process as at present.

“We estimated that during 2019, there could have been just two more cases brought to DC under an altered standard of proof, with an additional three cases that were borderline but probably wouldn’t have proceeded any further. Conversely, we also estimated that three cases that did go to DC during 2019 would probably not have done, had the ‘Charter Case Committee’ option been available.

“Ultimately, the aim of the RCVS in regulating the veterinary professions is to protect the public and animal welfare as well as upholding the reputation of the professions. We believe these changes will better achieve that aim.”

The consultation on whether to change the standard of proof as well as to introduce the Charter Case Protocol and ‘mini-PICs’ is now planned for later this year.

Further information about the proposals, including some of the arguments for and against changing the standard of proof, can be in the papers for RCVS Council - June 2020 (pages 70-97 of the bundle).