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News & Reports
rcvs veterinary nurses disciplinary committee
Veterinary nurse removed from Register for welfare and medicines failings THE RCVS Veterinary Nurses Disciplinary Committee has directed that a veterinary nurse should be removed from the veterinary nurses Register after finding her guilty of the unlawful possession of veterinary medicines and failing to give regard to welfare in respect of six animals. The RCVS reports that Lindsay Newell, who did not attend and was not represented at the disciplinary hearing held from November 16 to 18, faced two main charges. The first charge was that, on November 29, 2012, she had been found in possession of a number of veterinary medicines without lawful permission. It reports that during the hearing, the Disciplinary Committee heard that the RSPCA and police officers had attended Ms Newell’s home on the day in question and had found veterinary medicines, including controlled drugs, stored in an insecure cabinet within an insecure shed. It also heard that, during a police interview, Ms Newell had agreed that she was not allowed to possess some of the drugs and that she had subsequently accepted a police caution. The RCVS reports that the Disciplinary Committee took this as an admission of the offence and therefore found the charge proved. 584 | Veterinary Record | December 12, 2015
The second charge faced by Ms Newell was that, between November 1 and 29, 2012, at the Burton Wildlife and Rescue Centre in Etwall, Derbyshire, she had failed to give any or sufficient regard to the welfare of six animals in her care. The RCVS reports that this charge related to an RSPCA investigation of the rescue centre on November 29, 2012, which found two animals dead and the rest of the animals emaciated and in poor physical condition. The charge also cited Ms Newell’s failure to supply an adequate diet, obtain any or any adequate veterinary attention and explore and address the cause of the weight loss for these animals. The RCVS reports that the Disciplinary Committee found all parts of the second charge proved and was satisfied that Ms Newell had failed to give sufficient regard to animal welfare as required by the Code of Professional Conduct for Veterinary Nurses. It also reports, that, when deciding on the sanction against Ms Newell, the committee considered a number of aggravating factors, including that the misconduct had been sustained over a period of time in both charges, rather than being a single, isolated incident. Also, in respect of the second charge,
there had been actual harm caused to animals. While the committee felt that this constituted ‘reckless disregard for animal welfare rather than deliberate acts’, it noted that the animals had suffered unnecessarily for at least four weeks due to inadequate diet and that, as rescue animals that were already vulnerable, the expectation was that they would have been given appropriate care. It also considered that Ms Newell had demonstrated limited insight into her behaviour and noted that a Magistrates’ Court had disqualified her from keeping sheep, goats, pigs and equids for a period of five years. The RCVS reports that, in mitigation, the committee considered that Ms Newell had shown some insight into her behaviour in relation to the first charge by making admissions during her police interview. Also, the animal sanctuary in question had opened in 2008 and had had no complaints or cause for concern before 2012. Speaking on behalf of the committee, its chair, Ian Green, said: ‘The committee is of the opinion that removal of Ms Newell’s name from the Register of Veterinary Nurses is the only appropriate sanction based upon the severity of the facts found proved.’ doi: 10.1136/vr.h6657
Downloaded from http://veterinaryrecord.bmj.com/ on September 21, 2017 - Published by group.bmj.com
Veterinary nurse removed from Register for welfare and medicines failings Veterinary Record 2015 177: 584
doi: 10.1136/vr.h6657 Updated information and services can be found at: http://veterinaryrecord.bmj.com/content/177/23/584.1
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News & Reports
rcvs veterinary nurses disciplinary committee
Veterinary nurse removed from Register for welfare and medicines failings THE RCVS Veterinary Nurses Disciplinary Committee has directed that a veterinary nurse should be removed from the veterinary nurses Register after finding her guilty of the unlawful possession of veterinary medicines and failing to give regard to welfare in respect of six animals. The RCVS reports that Lindsay Newell, who did not attend and was not represented at the disciplinary hearing held from November 16 to 18, faced two main charges. The first charge was that, on November 29, 2012, she had been found in possession of a number of veterinary medicines without lawful permission. It reports that during the hearing, the Disciplinary Committee heard that the RSPCA and police officers had attended Ms Newell’s home on the day in question and had found veterinary medicines, including controlled drugs, stored in an insecure cabinet within an insecure shed. It also heard that, during a police interview, Ms Newell had agreed that she was not allowed to possess some of the drugs and that she had subsequently accepted a police caution. The RCVS reports that the Disciplinary Committee took this as an admission of the offence and therefore found the charge proved. 584 | Veterinary Record | December 12, 2015
The second charge faced by Ms Newell was that, between November 1 and 29, 2012, at the Burton Wildlife and Rescue Centre in Etwall, Derbyshire, she had failed to give any or sufficient regard to the welfare of six animals in her care. The RCVS reports that this charge related to an RSPCA investigation of the rescue centre on November 29, 2012, which found two animals dead and the rest of the animals emaciated and in poor physical condition. The charge also cited Ms Newell’s failure to supply an adequate diet, obtain any or any adequate veterinary attention and explore and address the cause of the weight loss for these animals. The RCVS reports that the Disciplinary Committee found all parts of the second charge proved and was satisfied that Ms Newell had failed to give sufficient regard to animal welfare as required by the Code of Professional Conduct for Veterinary Nurses. It also reports, that, when deciding on the sanction against Ms Newell, the committee considered a number of aggravating factors, including that the misconduct had been sustained over a period of time in both charges, rather than being a single, isolated incident. Also, in respect of the second charge,
there had been actual harm caused to animals. While the committee felt that this constituted ‘reckless disregard for animal welfare rather than deliberate acts’, it noted that the animals had suffered unnecessarily for at least four weeks due to inadequate diet and that, as rescue animals that were already vulnerable, the expectation was that they would have been given appropriate care. It also considered that Ms Newell had demonstrated limited insight into her behaviour and noted that a Magistrates’ Court had disqualified her from keeping sheep, goats, pigs and equids for a period of five years. The RCVS reports that, in mitigation, the committee considered that Ms Newell had shown some insight into her behaviour in relation to the first charge by making admissions during her police interview. Also, the animal sanctuary in question had opened in 2008 and had had no complaints or cause for concern before 2012. Speaking on behalf of the committee, its chair, Ian Green, said: ‘The committee is of the opinion that removal of Ms Newell’s name from the Register of Veterinary Nurses is the only appropriate sanction based upon the severity of the facts found proved.’ doi: 10.1136/vr.h6657
Downloaded from http://veterinaryrecord.bmj.com/ on September 21, 2017 - Published by group.bmj.com
Veterinary nurse removed from Register for welfare and medicines failings Veterinary Record 2015 177: 584
doi: 10.1136/vr.h6657 Updated information and services can be found at: http://veterinaryrecord.bmj.com/content/177/23/584.1
These include:
Email alerting service
Receive free email alerts when new articles cite this article. Sign up in the box at the top right corner of the online article.
Notes
To request permissions go to: http://group.bmj.com/group/rights-licensing/permissions To order reprints go to: http://journals.bmj.com/cgi/reprintform To subscribe to BMJ go to: http://group.bmj.com/subscribe/
