Page 2 - Clinical Connections - Summer 2020

RVC RESEARCH STUDY VETERINARY SERVICES were overzealous, but as the severity of
the situation became more obvious to everyone, this became much less common.
Inside the hospital things were changing too. Our caseload was obviously hugely decreased due to the lack of non-urgent appointments, but emergency referrals were also lower than usual. We were unsure if this was due to owners not wanting to travel for referral or because they were worried about finances, or perhaps a combination of both.
A major change for us was not having undergraduate veterinary medicine and veterinary nurse students in the hospital. Everyone who works here has a passion for teaching, so this felt like a major loss. Our usually buzzing Intensive Care Unit (ICU) and Emergency Room (ER) were therefore very quiet compared to our usual
standards. But still, we needed to work and care for our patients effectively and this is essentially impossible without close contact between members of staff.
We did our utmost to minimise time spent in close proximity and we changed to virtual rounds and took breaks separately, spending as little time as necessary together. This was hard. Vets and vet nurses are caring and social people and our ECC department has a strong team ethos. We are friends as well as colleagues and we want to spend time together. We tried to make sure people still felt cared for and appreciated, but the hospital certainly seemed like a very different place.
We also felt that we needed to support the practices that referred to us and those that used us as a first opinion out-of-hours provider, recognising that financially and emotionally this is a very stressful time. We are always happy to provide emergency advice 24 hours a day, seven days a
week and we hope this was even more helpful during this period, when many
vets would have been working without the usual support of their colleagues in their practices.
We tried to be flexible, increasing our hours of cover of first opinion out-of-hours care and providing support for those practices’ cases that needed extra care.
We also were able to help the NHS a little by offering our mechanical ventilators and continuous renal replacement therapy machine to them.
Working in a frequently changing and challenging environment is something
that our ECC team do, however these are normally patient and hospital factors rather than global. We have massively increased our internal communication with all other teams, daily conversations about resources and staff shortages. We implemented daily changes to our processes and standard operating procedures, whilst maintaining staff and patient safety. What we actioned one day needed a new plan the next, as evidence and advice filtered through, so we made the best plan for each day, knowing full well we didn’t have the answers.
As with all our colleagues throughout
the globe, we’ve been trying to cope and provide the best service we can at this time. We all really want to get back to normal service, obviously because we love what we do, but mostly because that should mean the COVID 19 pandemic is coming under control.
For small animal referrals, please call:
01707 666399
Email:
qmhreception@rvc.ac.uk
“We are always happy to provide emergency advice 24 hours a day, seven days a week and we hope this was even more helpful during this period”
Karen Humm
LETTER FROM THE EDITOR
Welcome to our summer edition of Clinical Connections.
Since our last publication, the whole world has been in a state of flux. The content of this edition reflects the amazing ability of the human race to adapt to change. And yet, as much as life as we thought we knew it has been turned upside down, this edition is also a timely reminder of how many things stay the same.
Like many of you in general practice, we
have had to adapt our processes to adjust
to the evolving needs of our patients and
our clients. With many practices shut during
lockdown, our hospitals saw a significant
additional influx of emergency cases. We
are very proud of how our teams stepped
up to tackle the challenges we faced. We are also humbled to be asked to support the NHS with much needed supplies and equipment.It is only now in mid-July that we are welcoming back our dialysis machine after it has done some sturdy work for the NHS over the last few months.
As you have come to expect, innovation continues to weave a thread in this edition – whether that be in the application
of advanced diagnostic imaging equipment in RVC Equine through to our evolving research and services for canine stem cell therapy. Our drive for clinical excellence is relentless and
is demonstrated in the articles about both minimally invasive surgery and a very special wound management case study.
This quarter has generated a wealth of companion animal research from diabetes and epilepsy to equine cancer and rabbit welfare.
The College has been at the forefront
of emphasising the importance of our translational research and its role in a One Health context. We are delighted that a new, state-of-the-art ‘One Health’ research hub
will be a part of extensive new teaching and research facilities currently under construction on our Hawkshead campus. We are thrilled The Wolfson Foundation saw fit to provide a grant of £1.25 million to support the initiative.
We hope that this edition strikes the balance between reflecting the biggest upheaval we have faced in more than a generation and illustrating how innovation, research and
clinical expertise can provide hope, inspiration and solutions to problems we are confronted with. No-one knows how our world will change in the coming months and years – we will strive to react positively to change and continue supporting veterinary practices and animal health in whatever guise that takes.
Professor David Church, Deputy Principal and Acting Vice Principal (Clinical Affairs)
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