RCVS approves mediation service

The RCVS Council has unanimously approved the establishment of an alternative dispute resolution (ADR) service to help resolve lower-level complaints about veterinary services through mediation. Since 2014, the College has trialled two different ADR services with the aim of helping to resolve complaints between owners and veterinary practices that do not meet its threshold for serious professional misconduct. The approved service was the Veterinary Client Mediation Service (VCMS), which has been trialled since October 2016. Administered by Nockolds Solicitors, the VCMS is free to both owners and veterinary professionals, and cases are only taken with the consent of both parties. During the trial period, 165 of the 870 enquiries received by the VCMS went to mediation and, of these, 129 were successfully mediated with the other 36 remaining unresolved. Of the other enquiries, 297 resulted in the animal owner being referred back to the practice so that internal complaints...
Source: Veterinary Record - Category: Veterinary Research Tags: News section Source Type: research