RCVS Knowledge's 2021 Awards formally conferred
23 September 2021
RCVS Knowledge is delighted to confer formally our suite of 2021 awards tonight, at the Honours & Awards Evening held by the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons.
Amanda Boag, Chair of our Board of Trustees, presented the following RCVS Knowledge Awards, which all reflect our mission to improve the quality of veterinary care by advancing the use of evidence-based veterinary medicine and inspire Quality Improvement.
Veterinary Evidence Student Awards
The Veterinary Evidence Student Awards allow students to enhance their academic and research skills by writing a Knowledge Summary and submitting it to Veterinary Evidence, with the chance of being published in an academic veterinary journal before graduation.
The winner was Alexandra Bartlett, BSc (Hons) of the Royal Veterinary College in London, UK, whose Knowledge Summary explored if using NSAIDs (non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs) can reduce signs of postoperative pain in calves undergoing castration. Alexandra’s research has the potential to improve calf welfare and benefit farm vets and farmers throughout the UK. She said that she is proud to have her research published in Veterinary Evidence, to add to the knowledge base which will ensure that clients and patients receive the highest possible standard of care, and uphold the high welfare standards for farm animals in the UK.
Enter the 2022 Veterinary Evidence Student Awards
Knowledge Awards for Quality Improvement
The Knowledge Awards recognise the implementation of Quality Improvement (QI) and the individuals and teams that have driven improvement within the profession.
Dr Jessica Pennock from CVS South Hub was awarded as a Knowledge Champion for her outcome audit on peri-operative hypothermia. The audit was inspired after the practice purchased a warm air circulating blanket for anaesthetic procedures, prompting the team to perform a process audit to ensure that the equipment was being utilised, and an outcome audit to see if the equipment was having a positive effect on patient care and recovery. The results demonstrate what can be achieved with an accessible audit that will have a positive impact on patient welfare.
Samantha Fontaine from the University of Glasgow was awarded as a Knowledge Champion for the implementation of a new course that teaches QI to veterinary nurses, including those in practice and education. For the first time, there is a QI route to achieving the RCVS Certificate in Advanced Veterinary Nursing (CertAVN). The course covers Quality Improvement in Veterinary Nursing, Research and Evidence-based Veterinary Nursing and Developing Evidence-Based Practice through Reflection. The curriculum has equipped national and international students with the confidence and ability to apply quality improvement initiatives to their work.
Plymouth Veterinary Group (IVC Evidensia) and CVS Small Animal Team were jointly awarded Practice Champions for their separate ear cytology audits. Plymouth Veterinary Group created guidelines for performing cytology on patients presenting with ear pathology, utilising the whole teams’ skillset to improve the patient journey for a common and often persistent presentation. The application showed a bottom-up approach – increasing training, utilising RVN skills and demonstrating strong evidence that their changes led to an overall decrease in the number of antibiotics prescribed.
The Small Animal Team within CVS audited small animal ear cytology on a national scale, over a long period, resulting in an increase in diagnostic tests and a reduction in antibiotic use across a wide range of practices. One of the key outcomes of introducing this QI initiative was the widespread improvement in the knowledge and skill of vets and nurses in all stages of their careers. Their audit demonstrated strong leadership for QI initiatives and highlighted that meaningful culture change can take time.
The School of Veterinary Medicine and Science at the University of Nottingham was also named a Champion Team for teaching QI to undergraduate and postgraduate students. QI and EBVM have been integrated across both their undergraduate and postgraduate curriculums, often in a novel way, which has been informed by a research-led agenda focused on the application of QI and EBVM into veterinary clinical practice. Embedding QI in the curriculum in such a comprehensive way is an important introduction for students to see the benefit that QI can bring to their future careers.
Enter the 2022 Knowledge Awards
Congratulations to all of the award winners.