News and Articles

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Monday 9 February 2009

WOODLEY AND SYNERMED

For the full press release please click here

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Monday 29 September 2008

 BVA WELCOMES VPMA INTO THE FOLD

A new milestone in the BVA’s 125-year history took place at yesterday’s (Sunday) Annual General Meeting when the Veterinary Practice Management Association (VPMA) and the British Veterinary Nursing Association (BVNA) were welcomed as Affiliate members. Affiliate and Associate are newly activated BVA membership categories, and the election of the VPMA and BVNA as Affiliates also encourages any of their suitably qualified members to apply for Associate membership of the BVA.

Affiliate status does not affect an organisation’s own remit and priorities but it does mean that an Affiliate can benefit from the BVA’s knowledge and expertise in such areas as lobbying and marketing.

In welcoming VPMA and BVNA newly elected BVA President Nicky Paull said: “I am delighted that my Presidential year coincides with the BVA family embracing both veterinary nurses and veterinary practice managers. Both are integral members of the veterinary team and we believe that our new relationship will bring lasting benefits to all parties. BVA looks forward to supporting our new Affiliates in promoting the professionalism of both veterinary nursing and veterinary practice management not only within the profession but to the wider community. These are exciting, if challenging times, for the veterinary community world-wide and I have no doubt that our new relationship will strengthen not only our individual associations but the profession as a whole.”

Sarah Hibbert, President of the VPMA says “This is an important milestone for VPMA who have been in discussion with BVA for over 5 years on the issue. Excellent teamwork from successive VPMA Presidents coupled with welcoming arms at BVA has given a truly worthy result and veterinary management the recognition it deserves in the profession.”

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Why do I need a Practice Manager? by Clare Wright - copyright "Veterinary Management for Today" Download this article - available in PDF Format (click here)

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Recruiting a Practice Manager by Paul Manning - copyright "Veterinary Management for Today" Download this article - available in PDF Format (click here)

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Promoting the Role of the Veterinary Nurse (click here)
This article is reproduced by kind permission of Vision Online Publishing. Written for Veterinary Management for Today by Sandra McLaughlin BVMS MRCVS, of Intervet UK .

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CVPM News April 2006
Once again, congratulations to our successful candidates this year. Debby Drinkwater, Kathryn Nankervis and Kerry Scarlett were all successful in attaining the gold standard in quality practice management. Presentations were made at this year’s congress and we are delighted to add these 3 names to the existing 42 holders of the CVPM.

In addition at Congress 2006 we held a very successful ‘find out about it’ meeting in the Telford International Conference Centre. At least 15 people showed keen interested in taking the examination and many of the examining board and existing certificate holders were available to encourage and answer any queries potential candidates may have. Don’t forget also about the mentoring scheme – a scheme designed to take away some of the ‘unknown and mystique’ which may have previously been associated with the exam process. Mentors are existing CVPM holders and are available to guide you through the process towards qualification. If you would like to be a mentor or would like to have a mentor please get in touch with Sarah Hibbert on jvp@vpma.co.uk or by phone on 07714768501.

Additional information on this year’s successful candidates and what the Certificate means to them can be seen in the article first published in the Vet Times by Robert Fearnon on 30 January and can be downloaded from the VPMA website www.vpma.co.uk.

We are also delighted to welcome new CVPM Board members. Brian Wright has completed his preliminary year on the board and is now a fully fledged examiner. Brian is also currently Honorary Secretary of the VPMA as well as full-time practice manager at Stow Veterinary Surgeons, a mixed practice in Stow on the Wold, Gloucestershire. With his special interest in laboratory science and as a holder of the CVPM and an MBA the Board welcome his expertise.

We are also delighted to announce that Peter Gripper will be joining the Exam board and committee. Peter has a special interest in practice management, business finance and marketing and is also co-author of Veterinary Practice Management. He was a partner in a Somerset practice for 20 years spending 60% of time on cattle work but retired from the practice in 2005 to be full time consultant and Director for Anval Ltd. Peter begins his preliminary year in 2006 and becomes an official examiner in 2007.

This year also sees Professional Practice Services continuing to support the CVPM by sponsoring the Mock day held in London on 8th April. These days always prove very popular and are usually held only every two years. However, an extra one has been slotted in for 2006 due to high demand! The CVPM would like to formally thank David Hodgetts and Paul Jackson of PPS for their continued and valuable support. Anyone wishing to find out more about the CVPM should contact the Secretariat on secretariat@vpma.co.uk or by telephoning 07000 782324.

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Practice makes perfect sense by Robin Fearon

AT THE tenth annual Veterinary Practice Management Association annual conference a cross-section of the veterinary industry gathered to find out how business was going and how it could manage its own improvement.

Veterinary Times was there to crunch the numbers and find out from Glynne Davies, chair of the certification and training committee, how the Certificate of Veterinary Practice Management was equipping the profession.

The CVPM is awarded to practice managers who undertake the VPMA syllabus on business principles and six candidates were awarded the certificate at the conference.

Mr Davies confirmed that the VPMA was encouraging vets and veterinary nurses to take on the responsibility of maintaining practice standards.

“There are certainly lots of vets who don't want to manage practices and lots of vets who don't know how to manage and it's probably not their greatest strength,” he said. “If they recognise that and want to hand the responsibility to someone else then that's where CVPM can come in with a qualification which is recognised within the profession as being a worthy qualification.

“It doesn't have to be something that's given over to a VN or an incumbent practice manager to handle. There are a number of veterinary surgeons who wish to take this qualification and out of 38 certificate holders, eight of those are vets like myself who are either particularly interested in management issues or just feel that they want to do the job better.”

The recent discussion of practice standards by the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons has brought about the introduction of the voluntary scheme in April 2004, most likely to be followed by legislation in a new Veterinary Surgeons Act.

Mr Davies agreed it was high time the profession realised the importance of good business practice to its public image.

“The Royal College are recognising that we've got to be able to deliver veterinary practice in a way that the public expects and it's largely to do with the way the organisations are managed rather than clinical work,” he stated. “Veterinary surgeons tend to be quite dedicated clinicians and that's how they choose themselves to go into the profession and more and more we're finding that it's a feminine profession.

“There's a very strong suggestion that as women take over the profession they perceive the management role differently to the men. They want to do their clinical job and then go home and look after the children, whereas the old style of manager was you did your clinical job then took the books home with you at night to do the accounts. That's going by the board, thank goodness.”

But did he agree with the RCVS president Richard Halliwell, that practices not meeting a minimum standard of business practice should be shut down?

“I'd agree with Richard Halliwell's statement, but how you police that sort of thing is another issue. Leaving that aside we see our role in VPMA as encouraging people to do it this way anyway because it's just good practice. It's good for their business and at the end of the day it's good for their pockets.

“We're a service industry and more and more we're no longer a business to business industry, we're business to public. People expect standards of care - not veterinary but personal care - and have their own perceptions. We have to deliver their perceptions.”

Two of the newly qualified CVPM holders were there to give us their perceptions of changes in veterinary practice and how they felt they were now armed to deal with 21 st century vetting.

Tracey Mayne is practice manager of Blythwood Veterinary Practice in Middlesex. Ex-VN she looks after four branches, 100 per cent small animal.

“For the business and the reputation of the veterinary practice, the CVPM is a set standard that everyone understands and it means that the person has an adequate knowledge in a wide array of skills and what it means to be a practice manager.

“The certificate is a statement that you are competent in all the key areas of practice management, I know that that will be very important to my boss.

“For me personally it's the biggest career move I made since I did my VN exams all those years ago. It's nice to be rewarded for that achievement.”

Catherine Coates is an administrator at the Bristol University department of clinical veterinary science who runs two first dominion practices and two referral hospitals.

“There is a lot of so so business practice in the profession,” she said. “In a vet practice it's very busy and people focus on caring for the animals because that's their main concern and so all other aspects of practice management get done most of the time on an adhoc basis, by people who aren't fully qualified.

“Proper management is becoming more and more important, particularly in view of the fact that it's altogether a more litigious society.

“I think about 50 per cent of practices haven't yet employed practice managers. It's a tough world out there but any competitive advantage that you have is going to be good for you.

“There should be a minimum standard for business practice and it should start with undergraduate training. Students are trained in how to treat animals but they get very little training in practice management or client care and communication.

“That should be incorporated into their programmes. I think it's essential for the future success of veterinary practice that they get this training.”

This article written by Robin Fearnon  first appeared in the Veterinary Times 15 th March 2004 Volume 34 Number 9