RCVS Practice Standards Scheme Awards
Awards are the way that the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons (the RCVS) recognises clinics that are outstanding in specific areas of practice and animal care.
Awards are the way that the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons (the RCVS) recognises clinics that are outstanding in specific areas of practice and animal care. This allows clinics who excel to have the ability to be recognised for their achievements. These awards are rigorous and require a lot of input and commitment from the whole clinic team.
Clinics must first have achieved RCVS accreditation, to prove that they have a high level of base care across all relevant aspects of practice. Once they have this they can choose to work towards any of the available awards.
There are six available awards, and there is no limit to the amount of awards a clinic can achieve. Amazingly some Companion Care clinics achieve all six!
Team and Professional Responsibility
The Team and Professional Responsibility Award allows clinics to demonstrate that they have systems in place to make sure that the welfare and safety of colleagues is paramount and that their knowledge and training is kept up-to-date. Furthermore, it also recognises the clinic’s dedication to taking responsibility for areas that impact on the level of service offered to clients and patients, such as clinical governance, clinic hygiene, record-keeping and prescription and medicines services.
Client Service
The Client Service Award is given to clinics who demonstrate high levels of care for their clients. This award encompasses practical and behavioural steps that clinics can take to improve client service.
Patient Consultation Service
The Patient Consultation Service Award recognises how the quality of the clinic is reflected in the first-opinion services it offers to clients and patients. For example, it recognises further qualifications and training, maintenance of clinic hygiene and ensuring high standards of nursing care.
In-patient Service
This award allows clinics to demonstrate excellence in the service they provide to patients staying within the clinic. So, for instance, it assesses factors such as facilities, nursing care for hospitalised animals and maintaining an aseptic surgical environment. The role of veterinary nurses is also highlighted in this award, in recognition of the vital role they play in caring for hospitalised patients.
Diagnostic Service
The Diagnostic Service Award recognises the clinic’s services in terms of the use diagnostic of techniques, such as radiography and ultrasound, and the training and safety measures in place for these. These clinics have more advanced diagnostic services than is considered standard and are skilled at using them. It also includes a module on Laboratory and Clinical Pathology which assesses the clinic in terms of its use of laboratory technology to allow diagnostic tests to be carried out and reported promptly. This will help the clinic support or rule out potential diagnoses in a number of clinical areas, which underpins the effective and efficient treatment of the animal.