Welcome to AGV

The Association of Government Veterinarians (AGV) is a Specialist Division of the British Veterinary Association representing the views of vets working in UK Government Departments and Executive Agencies.

What's New?

Notice of Annual General Meeting Monday 27th November 2023, 6pm

The Annual General Meeting of the Association of Government Veterinarians was held on Wednesday 27th November at 6pm. The meeting was held virtually (via MS Teams).

 

A note of the meeting will be published shortly.
 

RCVS President reflects on the 2023 VPHA/AGV Conference

Susan Paterson, RCVS President (2023-24), attended our conference in Septeptember.

 

She wrote an article about her experience:


"A packed and varied programme under the umbrella title of 'What can we control?' showcased the diversity of roles undertaken by veterinary professionals working in and for the Government Veterinary Services (GVS) delivering animal health and welfare and veterinary public health outcomes for society."

 

 

"I have to congratulate the organisers for the exceptional level of student engagement. I don’t think I have ever been to a conference where students have been so involved in the delivery of the event."

 

Click here for the full article

VPHA/AGV 2023 Conference

15-16 September 2023

Leeds, Weetwood Hotel LS16 5PS

AND online

"What can we control?"

In the 4th consecutive VPHA & AGV conference led by UK VPHAmbassadors we will be exploring the roles of vets and allied professionals in “controlling” animal and veterinary public health risks for the benefit of animals, people and the environment.

 

Click here for the programme

VPHA/AGV Autumn 2022 Conference

16-17th September 2022

Cambridge Bar Hill, Best Western Hotel CB23 8EU
AND online

VPHA/AGV Autumn 2021 Conference

25 September 2021

Mercure Bedford Centre Hotel, Bedford and online

Join us in September for a wide range of exciting presentations and lively debate on veterinary education & EMS, environment/sustainability, emerging pandemic threats, trade, one health and more!

 

The programme includes a keynote lecture by David Hadrill, Consultant to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN (FAO).

 

We plan the conference to be a hybrid online and in-person event. Please do attend in person if you can - but you can also attend online if you wish to or need to.

 

IMPORTANT NOTE: The venue has changed due to the unexpected closure of Dunchurch Park hotel. The conference venue is now Mercure Bedford Centre Hotel, Bedford, MK42 0AR

 

Timings:

Friday night dinner 19:30 for 20:00

Saturday Conference 09:40 to 17:00

 

For a full programme click here

 

Poster competition - deadline 01 September 2021

 

AGV Past President Rebeca Garcia, along with the One Welfare World Conference organising team have announced a scientific conference supporting the development, dissemination and implementation of the One Welfare Concept led by One Welfare.

 

The conference will be virtual and will be held on 15 and 16 September 2021.

 

Click here for more details and to register

AGV Council Member Kate Richards elected as RCVS Junior Vice President

We are delighted that on 15 April 2021 our AGV Council Member Kate Richards was elected as RCVS Junior Vice President. She is due to become the next RCVS President on 9 July 2021.

 

AGV President, Liz Kelly, said “I've known Kate as a friend and colleague for several years and was delighted to welcome her to AGV Council last year. Her election as RCVS Junior Vice President is wonderful news and I offer her warm congratulations in the knowledge that she will provide inspiring leadership in the role. Kate has worked in various government roles as well as practice and industry and will bring these diverse experiences to the Presidency of the RCVS."

 

Click here to read more

What is AGV all about?

Click here to read an article from our new Council member Osiris Ointa giving an overview and insight into AGV.

 

"AGV collaborates with other specialist BVA divisions to influence government policy and improve processes, where government vets work with other vets"

 

"Membership of AGV also provides an opportunity for mentoring and networking across all the different branches of Government Service within both the UK and in Europe." 

EASVO General Session, November 2020

AGV Council member and EASVO President Jane Clark chaired a virtual meeting of the European Association of State Veterinary Officers on 5 November 2020.

 

A summary report of the discussions is available here

 

A detailed record of the discussions at this meeting is also available to AGV members.

AGV/VPHA Autumn Conference

10-17 October 2020 FREE ONLINE!

As we celebrated 60 years of the Veterinary Public Health Association, we joined an online conference including a series of pre-recorded lectures and group discussions led by veterinary students focusing on the contribution of the UK vet profession to one health over the past 60 years and what more we could do in the future.

 

Veterinary students led small group discussion sessions on:

Sat 10th Oct 10-12pm

Mon 12th Oct 9-11am

Wed 14th Oct 3-5pm

Thurs 15th Oct 3-5pm

 

A concluding live plenary session was held on Saturday 17 October 2020 from 2-4 pm

AGV/VPHA Spring Conference POSTPONED

**Coronavirus update:**

Our Spring conference was postopned on the basis of Public Health advice and as a precuationary step to assist the UK Government's response

 

Setember update - due to ongoing coronavirus restriction we were unable to host an in person conference in October as previously hoped. Ticket holders for the spring conference who have not yet been refunded will be contacted in due course.

Outstanding work of Government vets recognised by BVA president and Defra Minister

Vets working in government and public health roles were praised as "unsung heros" and "a credit to our profession" by BVA President Daniella Dos Santos in a speech at the BVA's annual London dinner in Westminster on 04 February. Over 80 guests attended including Minister for Rural Affairs and Biosecurity Lord Gardiner of Kimble, England’s Chief Veterinary Officer Christine Middlemiss as well as key representatives from animal health and welfare organisations and colleagues from across the veterinary profession.

 

Speeking in reply, Lord Gardiner also praised "the outstanding work undertaken by vets working for the Government Veterinary Service" adding that "the Government Veterinary Service offers the chance to make a real difference on matters of national, and international importance. Our vets work hard to protect public health, ensure high levels of biosecurity, advise on innovative animal welfare policies and new and emerging threats such as the new coronavirus from China."

A busy year for AGV Council

In the past year, AGV Council has provided input on behalf of our members to at least 13 BVA consultations. At our latest Annual General Meeting we were commended by the BVA President Simon Doherty who stated that BVA could not do its work without our input and recognised that as one of the smaller BVA specialist divisions we ‘punched above our weight’.

 

In addition to providing input to BVA we have been actively championing the voice of govenment vets through our work on the Government vet wellbeing survey and in communications with Secretary of State Michael Gove and we continue to provide AGV representation on several national steering groups as well as internationally through the European Association of State Veterinary Officers (EASVO).

 

Click here to download details of our activities over the past year.

AGV Launches Vet Wellbeing Survey Report

On 14 February 2019 AGV launched its Government Vet Wellbeing Survey Report. This is the first report of its kind and provides unique insight into the state of wellbeing of vets who work directly for or provide services to UK Government.

 

The full report including the list of recommendations can be found here.

 

Rebeca García, AGV President said:

 

“We are proud to be publishing our pioneering Wellbeing Survey Report today to highlight the positive aspects and challenges to personal wellbeing faced by vets working both directly for and providing services to the UK Government Departments.

 

We are very pleased to see that this report has raised considerable interest in this area. The report summarises responses from over 700 vets and highlights key issues impacting on wellbeing.

 

We have made over 30 recommendations and would like to thank everyone who has supported this initiative, particularly those who have taken the time to respond to the long list of questions circulated.

 

We hope that this report serves to help identify both the positive aspects as well as the challenges of government veterinary work.

 

This report is a great opportunity and tool for those working with and employing government vets to follow up on the themes identified and work to support and improve the wellbeing of their teams.

 

AGV will continue to work to support the wellbeing of our members and, where possible, to help implement the recommendations”

 

Christine Middlemiss, UK Chief Veterinary Officer, welcomed the publication of this report:

 

“I welcome this report and thank the Association of Government Vets for their initiative in grasping the well-being ‘nettle’, a subject that can be difficult and awkward but must not be ignored. Tackling well-being must not end up in the ‘too difficult’ box.

 

The first steps in the journey of resolving a problem is to first recognise it and secondly understand it beyond the superficial and anecdotal. In my opinion this is what AGV have done with this report.

 

We are lucky to work in a profession that can be so rewarding. Our profession is lucky to have bright, dedicated, hard-working members up-holding it. Let’s work together as a profession to achieve the well-being we all deserve.”

 

The full report including the list of recommendations can be found here.

Spring Conference 2019

23 March 2019, Gloucester

 

Conference programme

Registration form

Poster competion

 

Solving future veterinary dilemmas by building resilient vets and a strong profession for the future. An interactive and thought-provoking day with plenty of time for discussions.

AGV responds to Michael Gove's "EU vet snub"

On 13 June during and oral evidence session at the House of Commons (Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Select Committee) Secretary of State Michael Gove stated:

 

“...other countries have people who are skilled and valuable who fulfil a vet med function, but who are not trained to the same level. That is one of the reasons, for example, that in our abattoirs we often have people from other countries who do a great job, but who do not necessarily have the same level of qualification as full-dress vets here.”

 

AGV members raised severe concerns over the implications of this statement. In a letter sent to Michael Gove on 21 June 2018 AGV president Rebeca Garcia wrote:

 

"The RCVS verifies that the qualifications are to the appropriate standard and this means that every veterinary surgeon, without regards to their career path or country of origin, is “a full-dress vet”. Within the Association of Government Veterinarians we continue to remind everyone that veterinarians working in Government, as an example, are fully qualified and trained veterinarians. The fact that they have chosen a particular career path as public health experts, for example, does not mean that they have any lesser level of qualification. It is their career choice."

 

She asked for the Secretary of State to "rectify the erroneous impression [the] statement has given as soon as possible, to mitigate the potential damage that it has caused"

 

The British Veterinary Association also responded to Michael Gove's comments. BVA President John Fishwick said:

 

“The UK workforce is heavily reliant on the skills of our veterinary colleagues who qualified in the EU. Without them the public health and meat hygiene sector would grind to a halt."

 

“Mr Gove’s comments to Efra Committee are incorrect and insulting to EU vets who are highly qualified for the roles they undertake. We are asking him to retract these comments to demonstrate that the UK Government recognises the value of the whole veterinary profession in the UK, not just those who qualified here."

Launch of Govenment Vet Wellbeing Survey

The Association of Government Veterinarians (AGV) in close collaboration with Government Veterinary Services (GVS) has launched a wellbeing survey.

This survey seeks to capture information relating to the wellbeing of veterinarians undertaking Government roles, including vets directly employed by Government departments and also vets working for the Government under contract, such as Official Veterinarians. This is to recognise and help raise awareness of the multiple challenges faced by veterinarians undertaking roles for Government as a distinct subset of the veterinary profession.

 

Following the survey, a report will be collated to present key information that:

  • Identifies existing issues affecting government vets wellbeing
  • Identifies existing tools to promote wellbeing within Government and consider developing new ones if necessary.
  • Identifies best practice and any gaps in the wellbeing services currently available that veterinarians in Government roles would benefit from.

 

This initiative also has support from the UK Chief Veterinary Officer, Government Veterinary Services, Defra, APHA and FSA wellbeing advisers and the Veterinary Public Health Association (VPHA). The survey was launched at the spring AGV/VPHA conference that took place on the 17th of March under the theme “Brexit and the Vet Profession”.

 

Further Information

Contact: Rebeca Garcia - Rebeca.Garcia@apha.gsi.gov.uk

New president Rebeca Garcia

Rebeca Garcia was voted in as the new AGV President at our Annual General Meeting on 17 March 2018. As part of her new Presidency Rebeca is keen to help raise awareness and promote the role of Government Veterinarians supporting animals and society. As part of this Rebeca launched a new AGV Wellbeing Survey for Government Vets at the 2018 Spring Conference

NEW AGV Careers page

We have launched a new careers page containing a selection of blog posts and useful links for vets looking to start or develop their careers in the Civil Service.

 

To recommend additional links to include please contact Anthony Ridge - AGV webmaster

anthony.ridge@apha.gsi.gov.uk

Strengthening the voice of UK Government Vets in Europe

We are pleased to announce that AGV Council member Jane Clark was elected to serve as President of the European Association of State Veterinary Officers (EASVO) in November 2017.

 

EASVO represents the interests of State Veterinary Officers at a European level and is a section of the Federation of Veterinarians of Europe (FVE).

 

The Presidency gives Jane the opportunity to build relationships with members of the FVE and the other 3 FVE sections - UEVH (Veterinary Hygienists), UEVP (Veterinary Practitioners) and EVERI (Vets in Education, Research and Industry) - during the EU Exit negotiations.

 

The FVE/BVA/RCVS have recently issued a joint press release calling on Brexit negotiators to secure animal welfare, surveillance and medicines.

EASVO Board 2017-19

L-R: Ole-Herman Tronerud - Secretary General; Pavel Bravek - Vice President; Jane Clark - President; Ray Finn - Senior Vice President;
Fabien Loup - Vice President; (Absent -  Cornelia Rossi-Broy - Treasurer)

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