British Veterinary Association presents Outstanding Service Award 2025

Now in its second year, the BVA Awards celebrate the professionalism, dedication and achievements of vets and vet teams across the UK and was followed by a reception, sponsored by Lloyd & Whyte.

BVA Outstanding Service Award

Dr Rachel Dean BVMS PhD MSc(EBHC) DSAM(fel) SFHEA FRCVS

The BVA Outstanding Service Award (Chiron Award) is given for contributions to veterinary science or for services to the profession, judged as being of a calibre commanding international or interprofessional recognition.  This year, the award is being presented to Dr Rachel Dean to recognise the extensive contributions she has made to clinical practice and veterinary education. Having graduated from the University of Glasgow, Dr Dean has worked in mixed, dairy and small animal general practice in the private, charity and academic sectors. She is passionate about veterinary healthcare and is a recognised international leader of evidence-based veterinary medicine and encourages authentic collective clinical leadership and progressing care through developing professional connections, research, innovation, quality improvement and professional development.

Dr Dean holds the RCVS diploma in feline medicine, has a PhD in epidemiology and an MSc in Evidence-based Healthcare. She was the founding director of the Centre for Evidence-based Veterinary Medicine at the University of Nottingham from 2009-2018 before joining vetPartners in her current role. Rachel chairs the Clinical Board for the VetPartners group (UK and Europe) where she develops and supports international clinical communities and drives the clinical quality improvement and clinical research programmes.

Dr Dean said: “This was a most unexpected surprise and even more unbelievable when I look at the list of previous winners - I am a lifelong James Herriot fan! I am a curious person so have had a varied career and have worked in many sectors with many different people. It’s facing the challenges, failures and successes of veterinary healthcare with these marvellous colleagues, students and friends that have made my career so enjoyable. I am passionate about evidence-based veterinary medicine and improving the quality and utilisation of evidence in clinical practice whilst staying focused on the health and welfare of the animals we treat. I am humbled to receive this award from the BVA and will continue to support our profession to the best of my ability as we continue to progress and develop care.”

BVA President Dr Rob Williams said: “This award recognises the extensive contributions Dr Dean has made – and continues to make - to clinical practice and veterinary education. Her work on evidence-based veterinary medicine (EBVM), including founding the Centre for Evidence-based Veterinary Medicine at University of Nottingham’s School of Veterinary Medicine, has been truly pioneering and she is an impressive educator, having delivered education and mentoring in the fields of feline and shelter medicine. Her warm, engaging and person-centred approach to leadership deserves to be highlighted and she is certainly a most worthy recipient of this award.” 

The awards presented on the day were:

• BVA Young Vet of the Year 2025, supported by Zoetis
• BVA Wellbeing Awards 2025, supported by ManyPets
• BVA Outstanding Service Award(Chiron Award) 
• BVA Advancement of Veterinary Science Award (Dalrymple-Champneys Cup and Medal)
• BVA Animal Health and Welfare Overseas Award (J.Trevor Blackburn Award)

British Veterinary Association President Dr Rob Williams said: “It’s been a difficult time for the veterinary profession, and vets have been feeling the pressure from all sides. Whether working in a small animal practice, as a farm or mixed vet, in a non-clinical role or as a government vet, vets are highly skilled professions who play an invaluable role in society. The BVA Awards is a chance to shine a light on those exceptional vets who really go the extra mile to care for their patients, support the wellbeing of colleagues or make a lasting contribution to the veterinary community. A big congratulations to all of our winners for 2025, you should be incredibly proud of all your achievements.”