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In this episode we take a break from interviews, and Mary considers the impact of the CMA report on animal welfare.
Recent years have seen many changes in veterinary practice, and in particular the corporatisation of the industry. Whilst there are s...
In this episode we take a break from interviews, and Mary considers the impact of the CMA report on animal welfare.
Recent years have seen many changes in veterinary practice, and in particular the corporatisation of the industry. Whilst there are still independent practices out there, many of the UK's veterinary practices are owned by small number of large corporates. In this situation vets and veterinary nurses are employees of a larger company, and are not responsible for pricing decisions.
The Competitions and Markets Authority recently examined the provision of veterinary services, and has decided to carry out further work in this area.
Healthcare for humans and animals has seen ground-breaking advances in recent years, and, as with the NHS, state of the art healthcare has a financial cost. But how much are owners willing to pay, and how much should practices charge?
As a profession vets and veterinary nurses are not well paid in comparison to other professionals, and much of the cost paid by owners will disappear into practice overheads, including the purchase and maintenance of diagnostic equipment which wouldn't be out of place in a local human hospital. In vet practice, diagnostic tests and surgery are often carried out on the same day - a service which is not always replicated in human healthcare (NHS or private).
Advances in healthcare have saved the lives of many animals but the cost of veterinary treatment is going up. We consider how this could impact on animal welfare, and ask the question, what do owners want?
Competition: As mentioned, during April, we are running a competition to win a copy of One Medicine by Dr Matt Morgan, and Through a Vet's Eyes, by Dr Sean Wensley. To be in with a chance of winning all you need to do is subscribe to our email list which can be found at Animal Welfare Conversations
Vet, Medical Educator, Company Director
Dr Mary Fraser BVMS MRes PhD CertVD MAcadMEd MIoD PGCHE FHEA FRSPH FRSB FRSM FRCVS
Mary has had a varied career, starting out in mixed practice, then focussing on veterinary dermatology, veterinary nursing, medical education, animal welfare, owner support and clinical decision making. She was awarded Fellowship of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons in 2017 for Meritorious Contributions to Practice and is a past Chair of the RCVS Fellowship Science Advisory Panel.
Working both as a clinician and academic, Mary has a PhD in immunological aspects of canine atopic dermatitis and the RCVS Certificate in Veterinary Dermatology, worked in referral practice, and also set up her own first opinion/referral small animal practice in rural Perthshire.
In between this, she had the opportunity to work in veterinary nursing at both FE and HE levels becoming a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy and Member of the Academy of Medical Educators, and alongside Simon Girling, setting up the Advanced Programme in Veterinary Nursing of Exotics a postgraduate training programme for veterinary nurses that has now been running for over 20 years and trained over 1000 vet nurses.
She is a accomplished researcher and author, with over 100 published articles, book chapters, books and papers. Areas of work include veterinary dermatology, medical education, preparing students for practice, the challenges of clinical decision making, providing better support in practice for clients with sight loss, and the application of evidence based medicine in practice.
During her ti…
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