CVS’ third annual QI report reflects its proactive promotion of a culture where the realities of practice life are discussed openly and honestly; with shared learnings, recent achievements and new initiatives featuring in this report.
Quality improvement continues to be at the heart of care delivered throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, thanks to the dedication and professionalism of teams at CVS. This was achieved despite the many challenges faced in 2020, including a period of being limited to emergency work only and adapting to working in a COVID-19 secure manner.
Rapid changes in the way veterinary services were offered required the equally rapid creation of opportunities for teams to learn during the pandemic. Within days an online Telemedicine course was created and, following the successful launch of CVS Knowledge Hub, a new virtual learning platform at the end of 2019, clinical CPD courses were made free to view online. The virtual learning platform was CVS’ number one communication channel to allow people access to relevant information, continue their professional development, support their wellbeing, stay engaged with their teams and provide them with ideas to entertain their families.
Supporting the wellbeing needs of its people has long been a fundamental focus for CVS, and mental health was a key focus for the Group in 2020. With the aim of normalising, rather than stigmatising, the topic across the Group, a Wellbeing Working Group was introduced and 243 colleagues became Wellbeing Champions and First Aiders for Mental Health, while a “Going Home” checklist was launched to encourage more practical awareness for self-care.
The report this year particularly celebrates the Group’s work to reduce antimicrobial resistance and improve the delivery of pain relief to patients. The work being done to promote the responsible use of antimicrobials across all of CVS’ practices, and in the industry more widely, is shaping the decision-making approach to antimicrobial prescribing across clinical and laboratory teams.
Angela Rayner, Director of Quality Improvement at CVS Group, commented:
“Quality improvement happens when we work together and never before has that been more apparent than in 2020, a year when we learned how to work more effectively to avoid delays in care delivery, as we adapted to life in a COVID world. We also made huge progress in supporting the learning needs and wellbeing of our teams across CVS, and acted to provide the best pain relief for our patients while also combatting antimicrobial resistance.
“We are committed to supporting practice teams in continuous quality improvement to deliver the highest standard of veterinary care in a culture of reflection and learning without judgement or blame. I am delighted to celebrate what we have all accomplished over the past year and look forward to seeing what we can achieve together in 2021.”