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Posted: 26th September 2024

CMA appoints veterinary advisory panel
The panel will provide the Inquiry Group with clinical and practical insight.
Four vets and two vet nurses will keep the Inquiry Group informed.

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has appointed a new advisory panel of four veterinary surgeons and two veterinary nurses to support its investigation into the sector.

The appointees, from a variety of backgrounds, will provide the Inquiry Group with clinical and practical insight on an ad hoc basis during its investigation.

The panel’s insight and analysis is intended to keep the Inquiry Group notified on the daily matters which affect veterinary teams. The CMA says this will ensure they are able to make informed decisions.

Among the topics that the panel will report on is the operation of veterinary practices. Appointees will explain the roles and relationships between veterinary professionals, other staff members and related organisations.

They will also advise how practices interact with pet owners. This includes explanation on how decisions are informed in different treatment scenarios, how they communicate recommendations and costs, and how communication differs across professional roles.

Their experiences with clinical practice and regulations are also expected to inform the Inquiry Group’s decisions.

The CMA’s veterinary advisory panel includes veterinary surgeons and veterinary nurses from independent and corporate-owned practices.

The two veterinary nurse panel members have been named as Abi Harland and Helen Rippin.

Ms Harland graduated in 2017, and currently works at a Medivet practice. She originally graduated through an independent practice, before working with Linnaeus, VetPartners and Vets4Pets.

Ms Rippin graduated in 2007. She is part-owner of an independent practice in South Wales and is also a clinical coach.

Of the four veterinary surgeons, three appointees are founders of independent practices.

Alistair Townsend, who graduated 1995, sold his first independent practice to Medivet in 2017, progressing to deputy head of clinical operations during his time there. He returned to independent practice in 2019, before founding his own independent practice in 2020.

Cees Bennett had previously founded two practices under the Vets4Pets brand, before joining CVS as a regional director. He was a practice standards assessor for RCVS until 2023 and, in 2021, founded his own independent practice.

Caroline Gardner is an RCVS advanced practitioner who went on to become clinical director of a practice from 2021-2023. The practice was acquired by IVC Evidensia in 2021 – she still works at the practice and is a member of the IVC Small Animal Clinical Board.

After qualifying in 2015, Claire Smith began her career in independent practice. She went on to work as a locum in a number of independent and corporate-owned practices, before founding her independent practice in Kent in 2020.

Martin Coleman, chair of the Inquiry Group, said: “This is far more than a paper exercise – hands-on site visits, teach-ins and roundtables are helping us build a true picture of how vet services operate day-to-day and where the challenges lie.

“Our new advisory panel – made up of practising vet nurses and surgeons – will also bring immeasurable experience to the process, all of which will help us make well-informed decisions and reach the right conclusions.”

Image © Shutterstock



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