London Vet Show: Farm Vet Champions, Quality Improvement and Evidence-Based Veterinary Medicine

BVA Congress 

Thursday 14th November

09:15 - 10:30

Join Sally Everitt, Clinical Lead for RCVS Knowledge, who is speaking as the BVA Chair of the Companion Animal Feeding Working Group, Georgia Woods-Lee, Clinical Lead of the Royal Canin Weight Management Clinic, and Jo White, Co-Director, Human Behaviour Change for Life (HBCL), for a panel discussion on some of the issues around choosing an appropriate diet for pet cats and dogs and how we can approach discussing these issues with clients.

Learning Outcomes

• How to have evidence-based discussions with clients around food choices for pet cats and dogs.

Find out more about Georgia Woods-Lee and Jo White on the London Vet Show Conference Progarmme.

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BVA Farm theatre

Friday 15th November

16:00 - 16:50

Join our Farm Vet Champion lead, Fiona Lovatt, at this session at the London Vet Show on Friday 15th November 2024 to discover how collating national data can help drive decisions that benefit both farmers and practice teams, and the reputations of the red meat and milk industries. Learn how to set SMART goals and work together as a team to engage with farmers on antibiotic data.

There are so many opportunities for vets to make tangible differences on sheep farms but sometimes it can be difficult to pin down what is achievable or helpful for the actual farmer stood in front of you. There is a huge range of what could be possible or relevant for different flocks, and many challenges for both vets and farmers, that can often feel overwhelming. But there are accessible tools and ideas that vets can take back to their flocks and apply practically, with specific relevance to common disease issues - whether the particular issue is lameness, neonatal disease control or practical worming advice.  

Increasingly ruminant farmers are expected to be uploading simple antibiotic usage data onto Medicine Hub, whether in the immediate future to comply with Farm Assurance requirements or subsequently if demanded by government via the Veterinary Medicine Regulations. This is a key area that the vet practice can harness for the benefit of both farmer and practice.

The competent handling of such situations by the veterinary team will enhance the otherwise sometimes fragile relationship with sheep farmer clients.

This presentation will pull together these challenges and circumstances with immediate take home messages to get vets up to speed on submitting ruminant data to maximise opportunities for better farmer engagement. The presentation includes practical tips and showcases available tools such as the RCVS Knowledge Farm Vet Champion course (FVC) and SMART goals tool to aid vets in achieving their goals.

Learning outcomes:

• Improved ability to harness the benefits of understanding flock data for both farmer and vet practice.
• Clear understanding of how to obtain and use sheep flock KPIs, relevant & specific to all types of shepherds/flocks.
• Required skills to maximise the benefit of recording simple antibiotic usage data on Medicine Hub - with profit for both farmer and practice.
• Access to tools, ideas and routes to better farmer engagement

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Hall S3 - S15

Stand S20

Lou Northway, RCVS Knowledge Quality Improvement Clinical Lead (RVN), will be on the B.Braun Vetcare stand to answer any questions you have about anaesthesia and wound care.

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Sally qualified from Bristol University in 1981 and spent most of her working life in small animal practice, taking a particular interest in internal medicine and preventive healthcare. Throughout her time in practice she developed an interest in how the context in which we work affects the delivery of care to individual patients. This led Sally to undertake a Masters in Advanced Veterinary General Practice (University of Middlesex 2007) and a PhD into the factors affecting clinical decision making in the veterinary consultation (University of Nottingham 2011).

From September 2011 to April 2017 Sally worked as Head of Scientific Policy for the BSAVA providing support to the BSAVA Officers, volunteers, staff, and members, on a wide range of scientific and policy issues.

Sally has now returned to practice on a part time basis to allow time for writing and research.

She joined RCVS Knowledge in May2020 as InFocus Clinical Support Lead.

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Fiona Lovatt is the Clinical Lead for Medicines at RCVS Knowledge. She joins the team with a passion for proactive veterinary involvement on UK sheep farms, particularly enthusing both vets and sheep farmers to interact better through proactive individual flock health planning and Flock Health Clubs.

Fiona Lovatt runs Flock Health Ltd, a sheep veterinary consultancy business (www.flockhealth.co.uk) that works collaboratively with vets, farmers, processors, retailers and pharmaceutical companies, primarily in the UK but also further afield. She is an RCVS Recognised Specialist in Sheep Health and Production, a diplomate of the European College of Small Ruminant Health Management and works, on a very part-time basis, as a clinical associate professor at the University of Nottingham.

Fiona is a past president of the Sheep Veterinary Society and currently chairs the UK Sheep Antibiotic Guardian Group, having represented the sheep industry on the RUMA Targets Task Force since 2016.

Fiona is a trustee of the Veterinary Christian Fellowship and lives in a beautiful part of rural northern England with her husband and three children, not to mention the dog, two pigs and three hens!

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Lou qualified as a Veterinary Nurse in 2009 and has worked in various first opinion practices and a referral hospital. Her main interests are anaesthesia, analgesia, emergency and critical care nursing, and QI.

In 2019, Lou was awarded the RCVS Inspiration Award for her ongoing ability to inspire and enthuse others and was also named an RCVS Knowledge Champion in 2019 and 2020 for her clinical audit work in practice.

Lou is clinical nurse lead at Wendover Heights Veterinary Centre and Quality Improvement Clinical (RVN) at RCVS Knowledge. In practice, she is responsible for reviewing clinical standards, implementing QI practices, and training the team in her areas of interest. Through her social media channel, “Lou The Vet Nurse”, which has more than 17,000 followers, she shares CPD, hints and tips with fellow nurses, and blogs about her life as an RVN.

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