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News & Reports Health and wellbeing

RCVS commits £1 million to mental health and wellbeing initiative THE RCVS has announced that it is to commit £1 million to the Mind Matters initiative, which is aiming to help address mental health and wellbeing issues in the veterinary profession. The five-year initiative was launched in December last year (VR, December 20/27, 2014, vol 175, p 602) and the RCVS says that its Operational Board has agreed to £100,000 of funding for the first year of the initiative, with a view to a similar amount each year for the subsequent four years. It also intends to contribute approximately £500,000 over the next five years to the Veterinary Surgeons’ Health Support Programme (VSHSP), which is

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run by the Veterinary Benevolent Fund (VBF) and offers a confidential service aiming to combat problems with alcohol, drugs, eating disorders and other addictive and mental health issues. This money is a continuation of previous RCVS funding and, the College says, effectively doubles its contribution. Neil Smith, chair of the Mind Matters initiative, commented: ‘I am delighted that we have £500,000 of new funding over the next five years to dedicate to improving the mental health and wellbeing of the veterinary team, together with the increase to our support for the VSHSP. It shows the College’s commitment in this vital area, and

is a substantial amount that will really help change lives.’ The RCVS adds that the funding will be reviewed annually as part of its budgeting process. The Mind Matters initiative is supported by a taskforce comprising the VBF, the BVA, the British Veterinary Nursing Association, the Veterinary Practice Management Association, the Veterinary Schools Council, the Veterinary Defence Society, the Society of Practising Veterinary Surgeons and the Association of Veterinary Students. doi: 10.1136/vr.h1048

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RCVS commits £1 million to mental health and wellbeing initiative Veterinary Record 2015 176: 212

doi: 10.1136/vr.h1048 Updated information and services can be found at: http://veterinaryrecord.bmj.com/content/176/9/212.1

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RCVS commits £1 million to mental health and wellbeing initiative.

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