Family Campaign For RCVS To Review Complaints Procedures
A family in Essex has launched a campaign to modernize the existing RCVS complaints procedures after the tragic loss of their Great Dane Ted earlier this year.
Chris Deadman rushed his wife’s 3-year-old Dane to an emergency out-of-hours vet in Witham, Essex having shown signs of the potentially fatal condition ‘bloat’. Twelve hours later he was dead – and the family were left with a £2,772.30 for their dog’s unsuccessful course of treatment.
Despite being taken in at 9pm, Ted was not x-rayed until 4am by which time his condition had worsened. It is this delay, which Sarah Deadman believes was a significant factor in her dog’s death.
Sarah Of Benfleet in Essex said: “He was attached to a drip and it was such a horrible sight. I went to him and said ‘hello Teddy’. It was then than the heart monitor started to beep faster and the lines on the machine started to spike. One of the vets present then turned the monitor off”
The family is demanding to know why Ted was not ex-rayed sooner as almost 75% of dogs can survive bloat, if it is diagnosed soon enough and operated upon. Sarah has also raised concerns with Vets Now Limited about other aspects of Ted’s treatment including the frequency of observations made and the absence of an initial diagnosis.
As a result of Ted’s death, Sarah was surprised to learn that under the current Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons (RCVS) complaints procedure, the RCVS has no power to take action against veterinary surgeons deemed guilty of negligence.
Sarah said: “Practically every other professional body these days has a robust and transparent complaints process that affords complainants the opportunity to have their concerns properly considered. It is nothing short of astonishing that the RCVS only have the power to take action against vets proven to have been guilty of seriously professional misconduct. The only redress available to owners who have suffered through negligence is through the court system, which is time-consuming and expensive and is only likely to recover the cost of the dead animal. Pet health is big business theses days and the millions of pet owners in the UK are being poorly served the profession’s governing body”
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Sarah has launched a national campaign www.justiceforted.com to lobby for a change to the existing complaints procedures and to make the veterinary profession more accountable for its actions. Already Sarah has already been besieged by pet owners recounting examples of where veterinarians have failed to exercise their duty of care in the treatment of animals, suggesting that this is a widespread problem.
Sarah said: “Within 24 hours of launching the blog and the website, I was inundated with calls from aggrieved owners supporting what we are trying to achieve. It is clear that there is a problem with out-of-hours veterinary care both in terms of the fees charged to desperate pet owners and the competence levels of those veterinary staff charged with dealing with emergency cases. It is also apparent that owners are often dissuaded from airing their complaints by the narrow scope of what the RCVS are prepared to consider.”
Justice For Ted has enlisted the support of Castle Point Member of Parliament Bob Spink who said: “The fact is, there isn’t a proper procedure to investigate the problem and that’s why we want to see the law changed.” Dr Spink has already submitted 3 parliamentary questions, answers to which are awaited.
Matthew Watkinson, a veterinary surgeon who last year broke ranks and spoke out against the profession is also a supporter. Matthew is concerned about the increased commercialisation of the profession and the absence of any meaningful regulation.
Justice For Ted has 2 online petitions running and readers can find these on the website www.justiceforted.com.
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- Wirral Vet’s RCVS Register Restoration Application Refused
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If you have had problems like this is the past, please please sign the petition or offer help to these people in order that they succeed. Several people have launched campaigns in the past which have just fizzled out. Please, for the sake of our animals, help get these vets dealt with in a way which gives the profession a very strong message. They are there to serve our pets. If they can’t handle that, they should get out of the profession.
There are some brilliant vets out there who are extremely dedicated, but the one’s who aren’t coping (for whatever reason) really must be called to account.
I write this in memory of dear Flicka, Nalle and Lotte, who all suffered at the hands of two veterinary practices who saw their chronic conditions as a way to line their bank accounts! Thank goodness there was another group of vets locally who helped Nalle back to full health and were caring and sensitive when his real time came.
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Stuart Reply:
July 17th, 2010 at 8:54 pm
I am so shocked to learn how badly monitored our vetrinary practices are. We have had a dreadful experience only this week with the death of our beloved dog, Billy.
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