Support For Practice Managers Through New VPMA Member Assistance Programme

Hon Sec Julie Beacham in her practice management role at Wendover Heights Veterinary Centre in Buckinghamshire Veterinary practice managers are now able to access help for themselves and their families through a new Veterinary Practice Management Association (VPMA) member benefit. The new VPMA Member Assistance Programme was created to fill a needs gap for managers with somewhere to go for help on a range of issues from personal to professional. The programme, provided via Health Assured, provides a 24 hour confidential helpline for VPMA members, backed up by a Wellness portal where they can access range of support tools. VPMA Honorary Secretary Julie Beacham stressed the need for such a scheme, “It’s very difficult for some practice managers, who find themselves in a limbo-situation between providing direction and support for employees, while trying to comply with their responsibilities towards their practice principal or employer. We’d had many reports of managers really struggling with no-where to go to find help for themselves. So, working with a provider, we came up with a package that gives each of our members, and their immediate families, support for both work-related issues such as financial and legal support, as well as personal issues such as stress and family matters.” Providing support for practice managers on well-being and workplace issues was one of the goals of now senior vice-president Helen Sanderson, “Our members are our central focus – and along with the CPD and networking opportunities that VPMA provides, we wanted to support well-being. We hope that through the programme, practice managers will feel that they are not alone.” The Member Assistance Programme is available free of charge to all VPMA members. Further details are available from the VPMA Secretariat on 07000 782 324. Non-members wishing to join the association and access the programme as well as a range of other membership benefits, should email the secretariat at [email protected].

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