Page 20 - Eclipse - Autumn 2015

The Beaumont receives a royal visitor
On Thursday 26th February 2015, Her Royal Highness The Duchess of Cornwall spent the morning meeting staff, students and patients at the RVC’s Beaumont Sainsbury Animal Hospital (BSAH) in Camden.
As an animal lover, The Duchess became Patron of the Animal Care Trust (ACT) in 2005. This is her third visit to the RVC since 2005, but the rst in which she has visited the Camden campus.
During the tour, The Duchess saw how donations from
the ACT have helped to purchase laparascopic surgical equipment. This has enabled the hospital to provide cutting edge key hole surgery for routine neutering procedures, bringing welfare bene ts to the animals, and allowing students to develop their rst-day skills needed in veterinary practice.
Professor Stuart Reid, Principal of the RVC, said, “The generous donations to the ACT are invaluable in helping
us to deliver the best possible care to our patients and world-leading veterinary education to our students. We
were delighted to welcome The Duchess of Cornwall to our teaching hospital in Camden so that she could see just how much of an impact these donations have on the work that we do.”
As well as spending time in the hospital the tour also took
in the RVC’s anatomy museum where the Head of Anatomy Service at the College, Andrew Crook MBE, demonstrated how an investment from the ACT in plastination facilities is helping the College to preserve valuable anatomical samples in a form that can be handled by students without fear of decomposition.
The visit nished with a reception, where supporters of the Trust, as well as some of the College’s students had the chance to meet the Duchess.