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COUNCIL NEWS
Pain Management
COUNCIL UPDATES ITS PAIN MANAGEMENT POLICY
Managing pain while delivering treatment to
animals is fundamental to quality veterinary
care. The College Council approved revisions
to its position statement on pain management
at its June meeting.
Pain management is an important component
of humane veterinary medicine and is a vital
part of safe, effective patient care. Updating
the position statement is part of Council’s
three-year animal welfare agenda.
In drafting the revised position statement, the
College consulted veterinarians who practise
on both small and large animals and who
specialize in analgesia and anesthesia.
The revised position statement states a
veterinarian is expected to maintain current
knowledge and skill in the prevention,
recognition and management of pain in
animals served. The prevention and alleviation
of pain and suffering is considered an
essential therapeutic goal. Appropriate
treatment includes pharmacological therapy,
integrative therapy and environmental
adaptation.
The updated policy document is now
available on the College website at cvo.org/
painmanagement.
After-Hours Care Services
A BALANCE FOR ANIMALS, CLIENTS AND VETERINARIANS
A key part of Council’s work is managing
the risks in veterinary medicine, and the
provision of after hours care services has
been identified as a critical area. After hours
care is an area of veterinary medicine that is
important to the public and their animals and
also has an impact on veterinarians and their
staff. Veterinarians are expected to provide
after hours care services to animals they
have recently treated or treat regularly – this
is an aspect of the veterinarian-client-patient
relationship. health of veterinarians. Through the updated
policy, veterinarians have options for deciding
how to best deliver after hours care, including
the use of on-call services, referrals to 24/7
facilities or an emergency clinic, and referrals
to teletriage.
At its June meeting, Council reviewed a
proposed policy statement on after hours
care, which had extensive changes from the
previous version which had been approved
by Council in July 2014. The requirements for
licensed veterinarians to provide after hours
services are set in regulation. The revised policy also provides an
understanding that veterinarians occasionally
have unforeseen circumstances, such as
severe weather or illness, that affect their
ability to provide services. Council approved
the updated policy statement with just a few
changes.
The revised policy strives to achieve a
balance among legislative requirements,
animal needs, client expectations and the Watch for the policy statement to be posted at
cvo.org/afterhourscare.
Code of Ethics
SHARE YOUR THOUGHTS ON REVISED ETHICS DOCUMENT
Veterinarians hold themselves and their
colleagues to a high standard of ethical
conduct. The Code of Ethics, first introduced
in 2015, outlines six core values that guide
ethical behaviour of veterinarians.
At the June meeting, Council approved a
revised version of the Code of Ethics for
public consultation.
The code is intended to provide a
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framework to guide veterinarians in ethical
decision-making. The code reflects the
core values of compassion, transparency,
respect, trustworthiness, professionalism
and competence. These values form the
foundation for ethical care and service in
veterinary medicine.
The code also explains the ethical principles
of the veterinary profession and provides
guidance on how one is to act as a morally
responsible member of the veterinary
profession. The code provides guidance to
assist veterinarians to earn and to maintain
the public trust.
The consultation on the Code of Ethics opens
in July. Watch your inbox for a notice when
the consultation opens or visit cvo.org/public-
consultations to share your thoughts.