In the months that preceded the formation of the Alnorthumbria Veterinary Group there was much debate about how best the new practice could serve its clients in a new era of changing requirements and levels of expectation.
In fact, on most subjects there was very little debate, just endless excited and enthusiastic discussion about how our combined resources would enable us to achieve levels of clinical care that were previously unobtainable in rural mixed practice. We would strive to create a model that would set the standard for modern mixed practice across the land.
I'm sure none of us under-estimated just how much work would be involved in the first task of bringing the two original practices under one umbrella, after all how different could the two businesses have been?
However, until that very task began it was impossible to know exactly how many of the day-to-day processes would have to be reviewed, which brings us back to skinning cats, metaphorically of course!
Undoubtedly there have been mix-ups with mutterings of "right hands not knowing what left hands are doing" which is all very frustrating when you have a clear picture of what you are trying to achieve.
A typical example was the pricing of small animal medicines which seemed to go a little awry when the computer systems were merged, the two entirely different pricing methods combining in an unpredicted way.
Quite rightly we received complaints from a number of clients who had experienced sudden increases in the cost of prescription medications. The situation was quickly investigated and consequently drug prices are now significantly lower than before the practice merger, one of our initial goals. Unfortunately though, something that should have been roundly welcomed as an early benefit of the merger was introduced against a backdrop of polite grumbles.
In spite of these initial frustrating set-backs, thankfully all the hard work is beginning to pay off and this was no more apparent than during our Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons (RCVS) Practice Standards Scheme inspections last week.
The scheme sets out to provide the general public with a guarantee that registered practices meet the very high standards of care that should be provided by the best veterinary professionals. The inspection, lasting two days, investigates in minute detail every aspect of our business ranging from how we take care of our patients to how we look after ourselves, particularly with reference to "Health and Safety".
Though we were confident of meeting the exacting standards set by the scheme, preparing for the RCVS visit certainly focused our attentions on how we were skinning our cats so to speak. By using Royal College best practice as our starting point we have made significant strides in pulling all areas of the practice onto common ground and though we are fully aware that these changes are only the start of improvements to come it was still very rewarding to receive extremely positive feedback from the inspectors.
As we continue to strive to bring new standards of care to rural practice, such compliments from our governing body are extremely welcome and hopefully confirm that we are on the right track.