Following approval from the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons (RCVS) Council earlier this year, the RCVS has now updated its information and guidance around veterinary surgeon registration categories. It has also updated information about activities that are the sole preserve of a veterinary surgeon which may require ‘UK Practising’ status.
The updated guidance, which offers clarification as to what sort of work involves activities that are the sole preserve of a veterinary surgeon, has the potential to impact some veterinary surgeons who are not currently in the College’s ‘UK Practising’ registration category. This could be, for example, those who carry out work as part of employment by government departments or agencies, in academia, on research councils, or in industry and commerce.
This means that those individuals falling into the type of categories described above will need to review their registration status, potentially register as ‘UK Practising’ and pay their full registration fee at the time of the annual renewals. It is for this reason, that RCVS Council agreed that there should be a six-month grace period before the guidance is formally implemented on 1 April 2025, which coincides with the annual renewal period.
The key change to the guidance surrounding what is classed as ‘UK Practising’ is as follows:
Activities that are the sole preserve of a veterinary surgeon may include non-clinical work undertaken in the capacity as a veterinary surgeon, for example, it could include work done as part of employment by government departments or agencies, in academia, on research councils, or in industry and commerce. In other words, “practising” is not limited to those in clinical practice, but includes veterinary surgeons using their professional qualification where the role is only open to those with a veterinary medicine qualification.
Simon Wiklund, RCVS Head of Legal Services and Assistant Registrar, said: “The change to the guidance was brought into place to ensure that all veterinary surgeons who are using the skills and knowledge that only a qualified veterinary surgeon can possess and use in any part of their work, is fully reflected in their registration status. This includes non-clinical skills.
“Generally, a common interpretation of non-practising is that it mainly prohibits those with the status from undertaking acts of veterinary surgery in the context of clinical practice. However, this leaves significant areas of ambiguity in certain areas such as academia, industry and commerce. We hope that the new definition, and the guidance surrounding this, will help resolve this.
“We ask that all registrants not currently in the ‘UK Practising’ category check their registration status alongside the information we have provided, to ensure that they are in the correct registration category. We are formulating further guidance to help those who are unsure of their current status to understand which category they fall into. This information will be available on the RCVS website in the near future.”
Any veterinary surgeons who are in any doubt as to which registration category they should be in, should visit the RCVS Registration categories webpage, where the new definition of ‘UK Practising’ status can be found. This is also where further guidance on which registration category is appropriate for different working scenarios will be available when finalised. This will be particularly relevant to those currently on the ‘Non Practising’ and ‘Practising outside the UK’ categories.
To update a registration category, please visit the RCVS ‘changing your registration category’ page.
For any questions, please contact the RCVS Registration Team on registration@rcvs.org.uk.
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