Veterinary Events and Conferences

New BSAVA survey results inspire ‘lockdown learnings’ session at Virtual Congress

vetreportFebruary 12, 2021

Findings from a recent BSAVA survey have influenced a session on ‘lessons from lockdown’ at the BSAVA Virtual Congress 25th-27th March 2021.

The recent survey of BSAVA members found that the way technology is being used by the profession could lead to long term beneficial changes to the consultation process.

BSAVA Congress Telemedicine session

Results of the survey have helped refine content for the BSAVA Virtual Congress for the session, ‘Lessons from Lockdown: Telemedicine is here to stay’ which can be found as part of the ‘current topics’ stream on Saturday 27th March. Brian Faulkner will discuss the changing dynamics with remote consultations, as well as identifying the challenges and opportunities with these changes in communication. Matt Flann will follow the session with ‘A practical perspective – how have we use it, what have we learned?’

BSAVA survey results

75% of respondents reported feeling that changes in practice as as result of the Covid-19 pandemic were positive, and could result in long term changes for their practice. Some of these changes were associated with an accelerated use of technology, and increased efficiencies and customer service.

More than 25% of respondents felt that the use of technology for triage and consultations had improved efficiency of the service offered to clients. More than 10% reported that practices had improved with streamlining client processes such as talking payments and booking appoints online or by phone.

BSAVA President Professor Ian Ramsey said: “The survey results have given us an important insight on how technology is being deployed to help the profession continue to help pets and their owners safely and to the best of their ability in these difficult circumstances.

“Vets have embraced innovations in practice such as telephone triage, remote consultations and digital communications. These have shown us that, as within the human healthcare sector, we can continue to deliver our vital services, possibly to an even more efficient and effective standard, despite the restrictions. “Our Congress session on lockdown learnings promises to make for compelling listening with important ramifications for veterinary practice even after the pandemic has receded to a bitter memory. As we return to degrees of normality these innovations should not be discarded, but equally must not be allowed to generate the inequalities that go hand in hand with them if some practices and owners are inadvertently left behind.”

BSAVA Virtual Congress 2021 will provide a flexible online delivery of over 130 hours of CPD, providing live and on-demand content that will be available to delegates for 60 days, before then being accessed via the BSAVA Library. The Congress will run four simultaneous live streams providing over 80 sessions covering 24 module topics.

The programme can be found here.

Prices for BSAVA Virtual Congress start at just £99 +VAT for members. Register here. For information on how to become a BSAVA member visit here.

Read more articles on the BSAVA Virtual Congress here.