Using effective communication tools in veterinary practice

Hi, my name is Ben, and I’ve been a part of the BVA membership team for 6 months now. I've been inspired to write this blog post about a recent BVA CPD course I attended. But why would a BVA staff member who is not a vet attend a BVA CPD course?

Most importantly, it’s a perfect opportunity to improve my understanding of what professional life for our members is like. The core of my job is to keep in contact with our members, keeping you informed of membership benefits or the renewal dates of your membership. I do most of my work via the phone, so it’s also very important for me to take every chance to interact with members face-to-face. It gives me a chance to learn more about our members, who they are, and the challenges facing them as vets.

Exceeding client expectations through effective communication tools

The BVA CPD course was about using effective communication tools in veterinary practice and was run in conjunction with The Veterinary Defence Society (VDS) and Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons (RCVS).

While the opening presentation by Eleanor Ferguson from RCVS was very much focused on the complaints procedures that are handled by RCVS, it provided me personally with a fascinating insight into the challenges facing our members in an environment of ever increasing expectations.

The skills that the VDS team focused on are the kind of skills that are applicable to anyone professionally dealing with a customer. While I might have occasionally been swimming upstream in trying to understand some of the veterinary terms that everyone surrounding me nodded along to, there were a lot of lessons in communication methods I was able to take away from the course to aid me in my own day-to-day member-facing role.

From the ‘3 As’ of handling complaints - acknowledgement, apology and assurance - to the fascinating ways to understand the psychology of difficult conversations. The course tutors were very good at teaching practical skills in a way that was relevant to the veterinary workplace and beyond.

Euthanasia and bereavement: handling sensitive communication

It’s no surprise that one of the themes that came out of the day was how to handle the death of an animal in veterinary care and communicating with bereaved clients about the death of a pet. As someone who has experienced bereavement, I can understand how it can be a tragically common stress placed upon our members.

BVA and the VDS both provide advice on how to handle euthanasia and bereavement. In fact, Robin Hargreaves, a past president of BVA wrote the wonderful blog post Separating sadness from guilt which discusses the decision-making process of euthanasia.

A great day well spent

It was a great way to spend a day, learning more about the challenges facing our members as well as techniques for communication, whether it's managing bereavement or handling a client who likes to talk a bit too much.

If you’re interested in picking up the kinds of skills covered in the CPD course I attended, view our upcoming non-clinical CPD.

Thank you to those members who attended, it was lovely to meet you all. I look forward to meeting more of you soon.