BEVA Projects

Council member, Helen Bickerton, is creating a one-stop-shop for vets and nurses to better understand this sometimes essential aspect of treatment and rehabilitation. Now with a greater understanding of the behavioural needs of our patients, and how the potentially negative impacts can be minimised, we can do better than has been possible in the past and see the beneficial effects this has on patient outcomes. 

MonitorME is BEVA President, Bruce Bladon's raison d'être this year. He hopes to gather as much data as possible on antibiotic usage in equine practices so that this may be reported yearly. This would not only allow the industry to keep track of usage quantities and patterns, but also for individual practices to benchmark their usage against the average. 

Senior Vice President, Roger Smith, had a dream... he wanted to bring research groups and practising vets and nurses together to make great things happen! With Nicole Larkin from the Royal Veterinary College, he is creating the Research Portal where the worlds of research and clinical practice can meet their matches!

Radiography skills are essential to most in equine practice, both vets and nurses. While we will not all be dedicated radiographers, we have a duty to ensure our skills are sufficient in order to carry out diagnostic procedures which involve ionising radiation, both within clinics and out in the field. Insurance companies see a wide range of quality of radiograph amongst those taken for pre-purchase examinations. BEVA endeavours to help improve the skillset of all members who are willing to try, by way of offering practical CPD, live online and membership app discussion forums, and recorded webinars. There are hopes and plans afoot to produce an online platform for interactive learning, which should see a one-stop-shop created to reference technique and appraise outcomes in order to enable learning and improving skills across the board.

At this year’s Equine Insurance Providers Meeting, it was noted that BEVA’s ‘Guide to Best Practice for Veterinary Surgeons When Considering Euthanasia on Humane Grounds: Where Horses are Insured Under an All Risks of Mortality Insurance Policy’ was due for review. Council member, Ian Beamish, was tasked with leading a small group to review the current guidance and work together with the equine insurance providers to update if and where necessary.

The guidelines were redrafted and discussed with key members of the equine insurance industry, and are currently being reviewed by the Veterinary Defence Society (VDS). Following this, phase 2 will commence where the Table of Conditions will be reviewed.

Council members Nicola Housby-Skeggs and Ian Beamish have been busy creating an easy-reference, digital guide to splinting limb fractures in the field. There is everything from what equipment you need, technique, rationale and how to make splints out of a wooden pallet. There will be photos and videos to help you make the right decision under pressure, and to give the patient the best chance of a good recovery.

Tim Mair’s original BEVA Pre-Purchase Examination manual has stood the test of time, and together with the ever-popular PPE – The Essentials CPD course, have guided equine vets through this tricky part of equine practice for years now. A few years ago Council members set about reviewing the manual and have created a digital PPE Toolkit, which contains all the information and documents you need to confidently navigate the PPE process in the UK. 

A new Seller Declaration document is undergoing refinement with the VDS and RCVS, and will be promoted as an industry standard in collaboration with the British Horse Society. The aim is that all parties involved will clearly understand their roles and responsibilities as they proceed through a vetting, from start to finish, with minimal potential for misunderstanding and confusion.

Following completion of the above, a new BEVA PPE Worksheet will be available without the Seller Declaration part. And there will be some useful tips for sellers and purchaser to help them make the process as smooth as possible for themselves and each other.

President Elect, Imogen Burrows, is embarking on a project which aims to provide a toolkit for vets and nurses in practice to help them deal with emergency cases where standard methods of handling and restraint are not applicable, and neither is behavioural retraining. With guidance on everything from oral sedation in feed, to injection poles and dart guns, this resource will be available on your phone, in the field, just when you need it most. 

Imogen Burrows is creating a toolkit for situations where a horse requires treatment or euthanasia but an owner can not be identified.