A colourful start to the year

This week kicked off with a radiance of colour within the BVA offices. Monday 19 January has been identified as a gloomy dark depressing day. I suppose the excesses of the festive period have faded into a memory, only to be jogged back into life with the credit card bills hitting the mat. Spring seems an eternity away. And what is there to like about that third Monday in January?

So it’s been flagged up as a day for change by the charity Mental Health Research UK (MHRUK) and we were asked to wear some brightly coloured clothes to turn it from “Blue Monday” to “Blooming Monday” (and as you can see I did my bit!). The issues highlighted of course are much more serious and relate to the mental health and wellbeing of the veterinary team which can cut across the whole profile of the profession.

Modern day life stresses are not unique to the veterinary profession, but further challenges that face us every day dealing with patients, managing clients’ expectations, striving for perfection in what we do (which can sometimes be confounded), and a general work/life balance that can be out of step with the ideal. This can all add up to a toxic mix that leads to anxiety and a feeling of isolation, depression and sometimes much worse.

Thankfully we are breaking down the barriers of discussion on many of these issues, trying to identify the trigger points, and putting systems in place reduce the likelihood of people falling into the downward spiral. The Veterinary Futures project, being led by BVA and the RCVS, aims to focus on the challenges that the profession of tomorrow will face and, more importantly, how we can shape that future and deliver a vision of what we want it to look like.

This month’s guest blogger on the Vet Futures site is Rosie Allister (Chair of Vet Helpline, Director of VBF and a researcher studying veterinary wellbeing) who discusses the issues of wellbeing within the profession and poses the question “To help our colleagues do we need to change ourselves?” It’s well worth a read and indicates quite clearly that this small profession has a collective responsibility to itself to conquer this evil.

In other news, the BVA e-petition calling for an end to non-stun slaughter is almost there! At over 95,000 signatures it is a clear indication that there is concern amongst the general public about the animal welfare impacts of the failure to render the animal insensible to pain by stunning at the time of slaughter. We are increasingly confident that the petition will exceed the 100,000 signatures required for us to make a bid for a full parliamentary debate on the issue, which is purely focussed on animal welfare. (If you haven’t yet signed, please do – it closes at the end of March.) We’re very grateful for the help and support we’ve had (particularly on social media) from members, divisions, RSPCA, CIWF, and others. We couldn’t have got this far without that help.

Heading for a busy end to the week as I travel to the SPVS/VPMA congress in Newport, and then in the other direction for the AVS Congress in Glasgow to deliver a presentation on “Dealing with Large Animal Emergencies” and to support the wider BVA team in ensuring the next generation of veterinary surgeons are very much a part of OUR association. Look forward to seeing some of you there.

John