Last updated: Thursday, 10 July 2008

College warning on bogus professionals

Jill Nute: "Ours is a self-regulated
profession and it is important that
employers play their part by ensuring
that practice employees are
appropriately qualified and registered."

The Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons is stressing the need for employers to check the registration status of the veterinary surgeons and veterinary nurses they recruit.

This warning follows several incidences of veterinary surgeons who have either been found not to be registered, or registered in the wrong category. For example, foreign nationals wishing to work in the UK must be registered as home-practising members, not overseas-practising members. The latter category is for those practising overseas who wish to retain their MRCVS status.

Furthermore, there have been some cases of veterinary surgeons registering as 'non-practising' and going on to carry out veterinary nursing roles, in the absence of relevant qualifications or being listed/registered as a veterinary nurse. This may be happening in cases where overseas veterinary surgeons are struggling to find work in the UK, possibly due to language difficulties.

"Vets and veterinary nurses have complementary roles within the practice team," highlights RCVS president, Jill Nute. "If someone wishes to undertake a veterinary nursing role, they should be qualified and registered as such. Many skills are taught in the veterinary nursing training that are not included in the veterinary degree. Although some veterinary nursing tasks can be carried out by veterinary surgeons, they certainly must not be undertaken by those who are not on the RCVS Register of Veterinary Surgeons."

The registration status of vets and veterinary nurses can be checked on RCVSonline at: www.rcvs.org.uk/checkregister or www.rcvs.org.uk/vnlist respectively.

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