Speech By The Incoming President Nick Blayney At The AGM
17 years ago
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Posted
1st October, 2007 00h00
I’m not one for white knuckle rides. A bit feeble in that respect. But you know that feeling just after they’ve strapped you in and the carriage and you are waiting for the ride to begin. Well I guess that is where I am at the moment. I expect the next 12 months to be exhilarating and perhaps a little scary at times. I have had a year to learn the ropes and see the huge workload that the president has to shoulder.
The BVA cycle is but a year long and this change of officers is an excellent time to take stock. The BVA has been through its structural review and views have been gathered. The Board has made some small adjustments and areas that need strengthening have been recognised. Now it is time for a change of mindset from consolidation to development. The first steps for the new officer team will be to take a 48 hours retreat from the issues of the day in order to plan what we wish to achieve in the next annual cycle. It is important to hit the ground running and it is undoubtedly an exciting time to be in the chair.
The last twelve months has seen the fruition of a strategic plan, a road map if you will. I will pay tribute to our past president David Catlow who must take the credit for leading the work and bringing this difficult and nebulous task to such a successful conclusion. It answers the question about what BVA is for and it provides a set of guidelines against which to measure future ideas and developments. This document will guide our activities over the coming 12 months, together with the lessons learned from our recent membership survey. The survey of our membership was undertaken using external consultants so that the data generated would be credible. The response rate to the online questionnaire was a remarkable 10%, which is well ahead of what we hoped for. Now we will be able to develop our membership services based on the outcomes.
Informing the members about our activities is difficult in these days of information overload. All officers can recall anecdotes about members who have not let their lack of understanding cloud their confident judgement on issues which crop up. We intend to improve the effectiveness of BVA communications through increased use of the new database facilities now coming on stream, with its links to the website, which is being developed and also with two major new web based services which we will introduce soon – Vets TV and a vet locum web based service for our members. These are exciting and innovative projects. We have the confidence to move forward in these areas safe in the knowledge that the finances and management of the BVA are sound.
One of my particular interests is the European dimension. We feel in this house that we must raise our game in this respect. By all accounts, the real decisions are made in Europe not in Westminster and it is at the European level that we must strengthen our lobbying activity and our input into the affairs of the FVE. The FVE is an association of the veterinary associations of all European states. The UK contingent, made up of the college, BVA and its divisions, coordinates its activity and represents one voice in the FVE. In this respect the College and the BVA work for common interests. The UK group is in a position to assist in the development of the FVE, most recently having driven a definition of what is a veterinary act, i.e. act of veterinary surgery. The definitions which we take for granted under the current VSA are not recognised across Europe. We may need to protect them here. I am delighted to be one of the BVA representatives on FVE and we intend to increase our input in policy and lobbying in Europe through a variety of means in the coming year.
The profession has some major challenges to face this year and the announcement that the EFRA parliamentary committee is to review the workings of the Veterinary Surgeons’ Act is one of the most significant issues to face the profession for a generation. This has been a policy issue that has been aired from time to time at Council and for which we have had a working party convened. The Association recently commissioned an independent report which proved to be very timely in aiding our understanding of the issues around the VSA and to help inform the Working party in responding to Efracom together with input from Council.
The profession is small but represents an important knowledge base, important to the government and society. The importance of animals both socially and economically is well recognised.
Veterinary surgeons are better placed by virtue of their training and experience than any other discipline to advise on animal related issues. However, if we are to speak then we must speak with authority and with one voice. Time and time again we are told by those that know that disparity of opinion weakens the message. Getting vets to agree on anything is no easy task. However, it is incumbent upon us to try to achieve consensus and to that end we look to our divisions to provide us with specialist knowledge and also support. We need to develop further this cooperative approach. The BVA is the cement within the divisions. An example of this is the recent two FMD outbreaks, where the association was able to speak with the full support of those specialist divisions affected and colleagues - experienced pig, sheep and cattle and goat practitioners - were involved in discussion at the highest level on behalf of us all.
There are many issues that will exercise us during the year not least FMD, Btb, Vets & Veterinary Services which has set up a concentrated programme for the coming year under the chairmanship of Professor Peter Lowe, LVI negotiations which we feel are coming to a head, medicines, waste disposal and probably a few that I have not even suspected.
For BVA, as the representative body for the profession, it has been extremely heartening to see the long list of applicants applying to sit on our committees in the last round of recruitment. Surely a sign that this association is doing what its active and interested members want it to. By means of our committee structure we can inform out debate with specialists in pretty well every area of veterinary endeavour. The renaissance of our ethics and welfare committee is a particularly encouraging development.
A busy year ahead and one which I look forward to enormously. I am proud to be part of such a strong officer team, with David Catlow as Past President who has set a high standard for me to follow and Nicky Paull as President Elect.
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