Yorkshire Vets honoured as Quality Improvement Champions for RCVS Knowledge Awards 2024

The latest RCVS Knowledge Award recipients have been announced and Yorkshire Vets, who are part of the IVC Evidensia network, were celebrated as Quality Improvement Champions.

There were also six additional entries from IVC Evidensia practices who were deemed as highly commended by the judging panel.

The team at Yorkshire Vets, after learning a few worrying truths about the heavy contribution of anaesthesia towards the practice’s carbon footprint, decided to audit their current Fresh Gas Flow Rates (FGFR) against more ideal figures, and in turn suggested ways they could improve. 

This is directly aligned with overall group commitments outlined in the Positive Pawprint report published in January, which included the establishment of a Low Carbon Anaesthesia Working Group and transitioning to lower flow techniques through the use of new clinical equipment in UK practices.

The re-audit process was taken on primarily by two members of the team who were both integral to this process: Corinne Ackroyd, RVN and Clinical Supervisor, and Emily McGill, SVN. Their efforts, along with the dedicated team at Yorkshire Vets, led to a reduction of oxygen use by 9,951 litres and a reduction in the use of volatile anaesthetic by 1 litre. 

Corinne elaborated on the audit process and the award win:

“As clinical supervisor I was so proud of my student Emily for her commitment and hard work on this project. She was an incredible presence to get the whole nursing team motivated to prioritise our sustainability efforts in practice, encourage low flow anaesthesia whilst still delivering excellent care to our patients. 

“We as a practice have been working incredibly hard this past 18 months to ensure that we take a sustainable approach to everything we do at Yorkshire Vets and this RCVS award shows just how far we have come.”

Highly commended efforts

In addition to the QI Award won by Yorkshire Vets, there were several applications from IVC Evidensia practices that were classified as Highly Commended by the RCVS Knowledge Awards judging panel.

In total, there were five Highly Commended applications considered in the QI category and one in the Antimicrobial Stewardship (AMS) category. They were as follows:

QI Highly commended:

• Hannah Jones from Avenue Veterinary Centre (Malvern) outlined her prospective audit using post-operative pain scoring to assess the analgesia protocols for neutering in feline patients. A change in protocols led to a 61% reduction in the number of cats requiring rescue analgesia post-operatively
• Harriet Peck from McMurty and Harding Veterinary Practice looked at the prevalence, duration and management of hypotension during canine and feline anaesthesia. The audit process and subsequent new hypotension troubleshooting documents empowered the team to make positive changes in the way they approach hypotension
• Lauren Jobson from Cogges Veterinary Surgery created an audit to reduce their carbon footprint from isoflurane use in routine neutering. Team training and the introduction of a new protocol for using local anaesthetic at the site of surgery helped to reduce their carbon footprint, related to oxygen and isoflurane use and improved patient recovery time
• Maxine Richards from Straid Veterinary Clinic audited the use of blood pressure monitoring equipment during anaesthesia. Team discussions and further training on new equipment led to 100% of patients having their blood pressure monitored under anaesthetic
• Wendover Heights Veterinary Centre initiated a process audit looking at pain scores in cats and dogs undergoing ovariohysterectomy and ovariectomy. Interventions included further team training and the introduction of the feline grimace scale to aid pain scoring in cats, resulting in improved compliance with pain scoring protocols to over 80% in cats and 100% in dog

AMS Knowledge Highly Commended:

• Orchard Veterinary Surgery created a clinical audit to identify where improvements could be made to their responsible use of antibiotics and introduced Antibiotic Rounds discussing cases where antibiotics had been prescribed. The team developed strategies based on ‘Plan, Prevent, Protect’ to responsibly reduce the use of Highest-Priority, Critically-Important Antimicrobials (HPCIAs), which resulted in a 76.6% reduction in HPCIA use

To read about all the finalists and winners in the RCVS Knowledge Awards for 2024, head over to the website here.