New emergency care guidance for vets and animal owners published

We have published new guidance on the legal and professional responsibilities of veterinary surgeons and the legal responsibilities of animal owners concerning the emergency treatment of animals.

The updated section of the supporting guidance to our Code of Professional Conduct – which sets out the professional responsibilities of veterinary surgeons – concerns the provision of 24-hour emergency first aid and pain relief.

The new supporting guidance provides clarification of the professional and legal responsibilities of veterinary surgeons with regards to 24-hour emergency cover.

This includes an obligation for veterinary practices to provide clear details about their emergency cover to clients including relevant telephone numbers, location details, hours of operation and the nature of the service provided.

Veterinary practices should provide this information to clients when they first register, and should then provide regular reminders and inform clients of any changes to the service.

The guidance also sets out owners’ responsibilities for animals under animal welfare legislation. Under this legislation, animal owners are expected to provide basic welfare needs which include a suitable environment; a suitable diet; and protection from pain, suffering, injury and disease.

Furthermore, it also details our recommendations that owners should be responsible for transporting their animals to a veterinary practice for care, including emergency care, and that they should have their animals registered at a veterinary practice.

The new guidance is the culmination of an evidence-gathering process begun at the end of 2013. This process asked both members of the profession and animal owners for their views around the provision of 24-hour emergency care as there was perceived to be a gap between the expectations of animal owners in respect of emergency care and the profession’s ability to meet these expectations.

Key findings from our online survey of 1,250 animal owners included the fact that just under half of respondents did not realise that emergency work may not be carried out by their regular practice. Half of owners said that they would be concerned if their practice did not cover 24-hour emergency care itself and around a third said they would consider switching practices if this were the case.

Clare Tapsfield-Wright (pictured above), a veterinary surgeon and former Chair of our Standards Committee which was responsible for developing the new guidance, says: “The findings of the survey demonstrated that there was quite significant uncertainty among animal owners about the provision of 24-hour emergency cover.

"For this reason the supporting guidance now makes it much clearer that veterinary practices must inform both new and existing clients about their 24-hour emergency cover provision, and any subsequent changes to this, to allow clients to make an informed decision about their animals’ care. We would also strongly encourage animal owners to ask their practices about emergency provision.

“We also wanted to use the new guidance as an opportunity to remind owners that they have duty-of-care responsibilities to their animals and recommend that animal owners register with a veterinary practice, ask for information about emergency provision and make plans in advance for transportation of their animals to the veterinary practice.”

It is important to note that we are not the enforcing authority for UK animal welfare legislation. The new supporting guidance can be read in full on the main RCVS website.