Here you can find a selection of resources which will be useful to veterinary professionals engaging with innovation or seeking to launch new products or services.
This page will constantly evolve as the ViVet programme develops, so please do keep checking back. We would also welcome any feedback from members of the ViVet network as to resources they would like to see hosted here.
RCVS Workforce Action Plan – Ambitions Explored
During February,March and April2023, the RCVS delivered a series of seven Workforce Action Plan sessions endeavouring to explore in more detail the insights from those within the professions.
Each of the seven webinars had an experienced panel of key stakeholders, and experienced members of the professions talking about their activities, initiatives, experience from their organisations towards showcasing commitment to the ambitions, and overall contribution to making positive change in the areas of Recruitment, Retention and Return, in the professions.
All the webinars were recorded and available below along with a short description for each session.
16 February 2023 - Ambition one: To shape leaders at all levels
Shape leaders at all levels: this includes promoting inclusive everyday leadership; ensuring equality, diversity and inclusion considerations are embedded at all career stages; and launching more opportunities for free and accessible learning resources.
Panel Chair – Amanda Boag FRCVS, Past-president of the RCVS, and Chair of the RCVS Knowledge Board of Trustees
Panellists: Ryan Davis, President Society Pracising Veterinary Surgeons, Emmanuel Oloyede, President Animal Aspirations, Anna Judson, British Veterinary Association Junior Vice President, Sheldon Middleton, CEO Garden Vets & Angharad Belcher, RCVS Director for Advancement of the Professions
In Attendance – Rick Harris, Managing Director, Customer Faithful
22 February 2023 - Ambition two: Confidence, culture, and recognition
Confidence, culture, and recognition: this includes ensuring that there’s a welcoming and supportive environment for the whole veterinary team; and continuing to deliver to raise awareness and signpost mental health support.
Panel Chair – Jill Macdonald RVN, Lead for the VN Futures project
Panellists: Peter Graham MRCVS, British Small Animal Veterinary Association Equality Diversity and Inclusion Lead, Ebony Escalona MRCVS, Founder Vets: Stay, Go or Diversify, Alex Taylor RVN – Senior Vice President, British Veterinary Nursing Association, Charlotte Pace RVN – President, British Veterinary Nursing Association
In Attendance – Rick Harris, Managing Director, Customer Faithful
28 February 2023 - Ambition three: Greater responsibility for veterinary nurses
Greater responsibility for veterinary nurses: this includes demonstrating the capabilities of the veterinary nursing role; ensuring clear career pathways for veterinary nurses; and continuing to progress the need for legislative change which would see veterinary nurses gain more autonomy and responsibility.
Panel Chair – Shirley Gibbins, RCVS Qualifications Manager Veterinary Nursing
Panellists: Charlotte Pace RVN – President, British Veterinary Nursing Association, Belinda Andrews- Jones, RCVS VN Council, Matthew Rendle, RCVS Veterinary Nursing Council
In Attendance – Rick Harris, Managing Director, Customer Faithful
9 March 2023 - Ambition four: Welcoming a modern way of working
Welcoming a modern way of working: this includes promoting return-to-work support for both clinical and non-clinical veterinary roles; continuing to strengthen relations between the UK and overseas regulators and representative bodies; and encouraging the use of innovation and technology to tackle some of the sector’s major challenges.
Panel Chair – Susan Patterson FRCVS, RCVS Junior Vice President, and Chair of the Advancement of the Professions Committee
Panellists: Caroline Argo MRCVS, Dean of Veterinary Medicine and Head of School, SRUC, Catriona Curtis MRCVS, Group Sustainability & Social Value Manager, Pets at Home, Steve Howard, Head of Clinical Services, PDSA
In Attendance – Rick Harris, Managing Director, Customer Faithful
30 March 2023 - Ambition five: General practice – a chosen pathway
General practice – a chosen pathway: this includes encouraging confidence in pursuing a career in general practice and the opportunities it offers; encouraging shared training where appropriate between vets and vet nurses at undergraduate level; and learn and model against other professions, such as the medical profession.
Panel Chair – Dr Chris Tufnell FRCVS, Past President, and RCVS Fellowship Chair
Panellists: Gudrun Ravetz, Group Veterinary Officer – Vets4Pets, Ian Futter, Chief Veterinary Officer Scottish SPCA, Alison Speakman, British Small Animal Veterinary Association President, Kate Tunley MRCVS, Mulberry House Vets
In Attendance – Rick Harris, Managing Director, Customer Faithful
5 April 2023 - Ambition six: An attractive career for everyone, including those who have left
An attractive career for everyone, including those who’ve left: this includes continuing to promote direct RCVS accreditation of overseas veterinary degrees; launching an Extra-Mural Studies (EMS) policy that leads to a more consistent high-quality experience for students and providers; and ensuring employers understand the re-entry process, and the importance of welcoming people back after career breaks.
Panel Chair – Dr Kate Richards MRCVS, RCVS Senior Vice-President and Chair of the Mind Matters Initiative
Panellists: Rob Williams, Head of Talent, VetPartners, Claire Vinten, Head of Education British SmallAnimal Veterinary Association, Jane Clark, Director of Veterinary Services, Food Standards Agency, Chris Gush, Executive Director, RCVS Knowledge, Hattie Lawrence, Equine Director and EDI Lead, CVS
In Attendance – Rick Harris, Managing Director, Customer Faithful
12 April 2023 - Ambition seven: Improving client interaction and communication
Improving client interaction and communication: this includes elevating and driving the status of communication and other interpersonal skills in the professions; and developing clearer and more easily accessible explanations of the veterinary role and the scope of vet and vet nurse roles to the public.
Panel Chair – RCVS President Dr Melissa Donald MRCVS
Panellists: Jennie Jones, Partner at Nockolds and Head of Veterinary Client Mediation Service, Caroline Reay, Joint Head of Veterinary Services, Blue Cross, Jaime Kiem RVR – British Veterinary Receptionists Assoication, Louise Corah, Teaching Associate in Veterinary Education, Nottingham Vet School
In Attendance – Rick Harris, Managing Director, Customer Faithful
Innovation Symposium 2019 – Presentations
Nancy Rademaker
Keynote: Survival in the New Normal: the Impact of Digitisation on Customer Behaviour
Chris Tufnell MRCVS
Guen Bradbury MRCVS
The changing role of the veterinary professional
Iain Maclaren
Low-cost real-time genomics – a revolution in veterinary diagnostics
Dr Jasmeet Kaler
Application of precision medicine, AI, genomics and the use of data for animal health and welfare
Dr Matthew Smith
Artificial intelligence and agriculture
Collette Philip
Driving positive change – communicating to a changing demographic
What’s Your Big Idea?
Student Veterinary Innovation Competition
Kathy Turner
Changing customer attitudes and preventative veterinary medicine
Daniel Berman
Anticipatory regulation – how regulators are proactively addressing innovation
Professor Tony Young and clinical entrepreneurs Dr Mark Martin and Dr Tom Oakley
Chris Gush and Lori Teller DVM
RCVS Knowledge – Evidence into practice & Initial findings of the telemedicine study
Future of the professions debate
Motion: In order to thrive the veterinary professions must become truly ‘customer-centric’
Guen Bradbury MRCVS & Greg Dickens MRCVS
Precision veterinary medicine: a vision of the future
Anthony Roberts
Innovation Workshop Series
Session One – finding a need and having good ideas
Session Two – developing your idea
Session Two – developing and refining business models
Inaugural Symposium 2017 – Presentations
Professor Richard Susskind
The future of the professions: how will technology transform the work of human experts?
Professor Dimitrios Spyridonidis MRCVS
Innovation and disruption demystified
Christopher Woolard
Project Innovate: a regulatory strategy to support innovation
Dr Umang Patel
Telemedicine and clinical standards: a case study in human healthcare
Dr Adam Little
Veterinary innovation in North America – challenges and opportunities
Dr Guen Bradbury MRCVS and Dr Greg Dickens MRCVS
Innovation steps: breaking down the gap between ‘here’ and ‘there’
Panel debate 1 – Here and now: telemedicine, wearables and big data
Panel
Dr James Andrews MRCVS, a vet, entrepreneur and co-founder of animal health data company Felcana
Dr Nuala Summerfield, veterinary cardiologist and founder of Virtual Veterinary Specialists
Francesco Cardoletti of telemedicine company Pawsquad
Professor Ivan Andonovic of the University of Strathclyde
Chaired by Amanda Boag MRCVS, RCVS Vice-President
Panel debate 2 – Coming to a vet near you soon
Panel
Ian MacLaren-Lee of Oxford Nanopore Technologies
Dr Payam Barnaghi, Reader in Machine Intelligence at the University of Surrey
Dr Adam Little, Director of Veterinary Innovation and Entrepreneurship at Texas A&M University
Chaired by Professor Stephen May, RCVS President
Read a report of this panel debate
Anthony Roberts
The RCVS and innovation: what next?
Views from our delegates - short video interviews
Free Massive Online Open Courses (MOOCs)
Understanding Exponentials – Singularity University.
This three hour on-demand MOOC provides an introduction to ‘the pace of accelerating technological change and…the mindsets needed to create awe-inspiring solutions to humanity’s most pressing issues’
Inductions to Computer Science (CS50x) – Harvard University
‘Harvard University’s introduction to the intellectual enterprises of computer science and the art of programming for majors and non-majors alike, with or without prior programming experience’.
In his blog ‘Technology: Creating alternative careers for vets’ James Andrews highlights CS50x as an example of a course allowing veterinary professionals to make a first step in moving to a career in technology.
Webinars, Podcasts and Presentations
Shake-ups and overhauls – innovation in the veterinary sector (Webinar)
In this webinar Chris Tufnell, RCVS Council member, and Anthony Roberts, RCVS Director of Leadership and Innovation, talk about how the veterinary profession can embrace innovation to further animal welfare and the launch of the RCVS’ innovation hub, Vivet.
What will innovation mean for the veterinary profession? (Podcast)
We talk with Chris Tufnell, RCVS Senior Vice President, and Anthony Roberts, our Director of Leadership and Innovation, about past and present veterinary innovation, the launch of our innovation hub, Vivet, and why we as regulators are getting involved.
RCVS Day 2016 - Digital practice: the shape of veterinary medicine in 2030
Guest speaker Adam Little DVM delivers his talk at RCVS Day 2016 entitled:Digital practice: the shape of veterinary medicine in 2030
Reports and Papers
Innovation and Disruption explained
The following articles provide a useful introduction to the different types of innovation and the important concept of disruption.
Harvard Business Review: What is Disruptive Innovation? – Clayton M. Christensen, Michael E. Raynor and Rory McDonald
Harvard Business Review: The 4 Types of Innovation and the Problems They Solve – Greg Satell
Vet Futures
ViVet was inspired by the joint RCVS / BVA Vet Futures project which was launched in 2014. Through research, roadshows and meetings, and via social media, members of the veterinary profession – including veterinary nurses and practice managers as well as users of veterinary services – came together to express their views on where they saw themselves and the profession by 2030.
The Vet Futures report sets out six ambitions. These coalesced out of the huge amount of information gathered and were identified as being key to the future sustainability of the profession.
At the Vet Futures Summit on 4 July 2016 the Vet Futures Action Plan and the VN Futures Report and Action Plan were launched. The Vet Futures Action Plan included a series of 24 work-streams to be completed over five years (2016-2020), building on the six core themes of: animal health and welfare; veterinary professionals’ wider roles in society; the health and wellbeing of veterinary professionals; diverse and rewarding veterinary careers; sustainable businesses and user-focused services; and leadership.
The Future Of Wearable Healthcare In The Veterinary Profession
Jen Rowland’s visionary essay on “The future of wearable healthcare in the veterinary profession” was the winner of the Vet Futures Veterinary Vision essay competition, 2015.
Research and Innovation Centres
UK Veterinary Schools
The following innovation centres are owned or managed by UK veterinary schools.
Roslin Innovation Centre – The University of Edinburgh
The Veterinary Health Innovation Engine (vHive) – University of Surrey
LBIC (London BioScience Innovation Centre) – Royal Veterinary College
UK Agri-tech Innovation Centres
The Centres for Agricultural Innovation are a new collaborative model between the agri-tech sector and government. The centres will help the UK:
- turn agricultural innovation into commercial opportunities for UK businesses
- encourage inward investment
- improve farming practice
There are four centres focus on different aspects of innovation or agriculture
Agrimetrics –big data in agriculture
Centre for Crop Health and Protection (CHAP) – crop threats, pests and disease
Centre for Innovation Excellence in Livestock (CIEL) – livestock technology
Agricultural Engineering Precision Innovation Centre (Agri-EPI) – precision farming
Scottish Aquaculture Innovation Centre (SAIC)
Financed by the Scottish Funding Council, in partnership with Highlands and Islands Enterprise and Scottish Enterprise, SAIC helps support Scotland’s aquaculture sector to tackle challenges and accelerate growth on a daily basis.
N8 AgriFood
N8 AgriFood is a HEFCE funded ‘interdisciplinary research programme that combines world-leading crop and livestock research with extensive expertise in social sciences in a single research initiative’.
Innovation Support
Innovate UK
Innovate UK is the UK’s innovation agency. It is an arm’s length government body charged with accelerating UK economic growth by stimulating and supporting business-led innovation.
Innovate UK supports innovators through advice, funding, events and networking
Nesta
Nesta is a global innovation foundation. It is a UK charity that seeks to ‘back new ideas to tackle the big challenges of our time.’ Using their ‘knowledge, networks, funding and skills, we grow new ideas that can change the world for the better’
