Congress Programme

Synopsis

The focus of the session from Rebecca is how communication is the lifeblood of healthy practice, when information can flow freely all parts of the organisational system are energised and oxygenated. Have you ever wondered why communicating with some people can feel really hard? No matter what we try, or how we approach it nothing seems to make it easier. The answer doesn’t lie in learning new models or approaches, it lies in developing an understanding of the heart of communication (and why it fails) rooted in the psychological barriers, blocks, and challenges that can exist in a relationship. Rebecca will consider how to make a real and lasting difference with an opportunity to reflect, learn and plan for change.
The focus of the session is how communication is the lifeblood of healthy practice, when information can flow freely all parts of the organizational system are energized and oxygenated.
Have you ever wondered why, when we give feedback to some people it doesn’t seem to land, no matter how well we deliver it and what model or approach we take? The answer doesn’t lie in a feedback skills course, it lies in developing an understanding of the heart of communication (and why it fails) rooted in the psychological barriers, blocks, and challenges that can exist in a relationship. This talk focuses on how to make a real and lasting difference with an opportunity to reflect, learn and plan for change.

Synopsis

We know the cliché that feedback is a gift, but at some point we’ve probably all received some that left us wondering if we could have the receipt instead! Praising good work may come naturally to many of us, but it can also be easily forgotten when we are snowed under with other things. Taking time to call out the things that need improvement is even harder, and we often fall into the trap of letting the little things slide until they reach a critical point. In this session Jacqui will explore ways to incorporate feedback more consistently and safely into our workplaces, and build confidence with tackling problems earlier. She’ll discuss the different roles and responsibilities that our team members have when it comes to giving and receiving feedback, and think about how we can get everyone on board with the process.

Synopsis

This lecture from ex-Army officer and Management Trainer, Cathie, explains the Second-in-Command (2IC) system developed by the military for every job-role and every function, and how it can be applied to any organisation to increase the motivation, capability and functioning of the team. The 2IC principle is key to coping with work surges, staff shortages or loss of key people and ensures the next generation of leaders at every level. Not only does it play a positive role in reducing turn-over, it leads to the assumption of responsibility at every level which is absolutely KEY in an industry that employs a large number young people, and is easy to implement!

Synopsis

It’s time to be the change you want to see in the profession. It starts with you.
In this session, Rachael will look at the 5 key ingredients for inspirational leadership, and share some top tips on how you can get started mastering these areas today:
1) Time, Energy, and Flow
2) Identity, Values, and Authenticity
3) Structure, Focus, and Accountability
4) Self-Mastery and Self-Leadership
5) Recruitment

Synopsis

When you’re running a business grabbing the ‘low hanging fruit’ is a great idea, it’s also one of aims of SPVS new Thriving In Practice strategy. With that in mind this session focusses on a marketing skill that may also inform other areas of practice life. WRITING A BRIEF is a simple to learn process that will save almost everyone in your practice time, money or frustration. They are a great starting point for almost any project or process. Want a new bit of kit? Write yourself a brief. About to go into a development review? Clarify your approach with a quick written brief. Looking for someone to build you a website? A written brief is an essential starting point. You can write a useful brief in five minutes, and Andrew will teach you how to do that in just twenty.

Synopsis

Is continuous improvement (CI) a buzz phrase? Should you be doing it? In this session, Howard will aim to convince you of it’s worth and inspire you to include it as part of your working process. He will take you through how he has successfully set up and maintained continuous improvement in his practice. He’ll also show how this process helps with moving things forward, increases team morale and autonomy, and can free up your time and headspace. Along with the positives, this session will also identify the pitfalls to avoid as well as some of the issues you may face along the way.

Synopsis

This session from ex-army officer, Adam, will discuss the common frictions within meetings and how to overcome them through effective planning and delivery, be it in person or online. From analysing a meeting agenda framework to managing participation, this lecture will draw upon lessons learnt on military operations and apply them to a veterinary setting. The ever-increasing time constraints within practice life requires meetings to be to the point yet sufficiently informative, so flexibility and time efficiency become of paramount importance.

Synopsis

One issue at a time is easier to focus on and combat, than the overwhelming chaos of trying to search out each and every fault. Dr. Thom Jenkins breaks down the process of understanding why you can only ever have one bottleneck within your practice. Attendees will learn how to identify the single bottleneck that is causing success rates to be constrained within their clinic and then how to begin actively seeking ways in which to restructure the team to resolve the issue as efficiently and effectively as possible. That is until your next bottle neck emerges!

Synopsis

What do Gen Zers want from their careers in the veterinary profession? And how can veterinary leaders and managers adapt their practices and policies to attract and retain this new generation of talent? Join behavioural scientist, Naeema, as she shares insights and suggestions based on the latest research and evidence. For one thing, Gen Zers are not just looking for a job, they are looking for a purpose. Veterinary practices now need to be even more explicit in how they market the criteria Gen Zers want, which is all about purpose, flexibility and diversity.

Synopsis

Building on his popular workshop at SPVS Congress 2023, Huw will offer his unique outlook on the veterinary digital marketing industry, and what the future might hold based on other industries who are further ahead in their journey. His career in Digital Marketing working with over 500 clients in 20 different industries including 2 years spent in Silicon Valley working with tech giants, and now 4 years immersed in the veterinary industry, provides him with an unparalleled perspective on the trends, technologies and strategies that can successfully be implemented in your own practice.

Synopsis

Join Brian and Rich as they explore the cause and impact of inefficiencies within the two main veterinary practice situations: consultations and in-patient procedures.

Inefficiencies that lead to clinicians running behind during consultation sessions are a common cause of stress and frustration for pet-owners, receptionists and veterinary surgeons. Brian will focus on identifying the common causes of these inefficiencies using the ‘CSI’ model analysis – Culture, Systems, and/or Individual habits within practice.

When it comes to ‘ops days’ in practice, we’ve all had good days and bad days. It is a vital area of our working day where teams are under high pressure to ‘get things done’. Drawing from his personal experience and in-practice examples, Richard will help you identify inefficiencies and understand common pinch points.

Sign-up for the follow-up workshop to help develop strategies to resolve these inefficiencies to enable a successful, thriving practice life.

Learning outcomes

1. Understand the ‘CSI’ model of analysis to identify inefficiencies which originate as a result of your practice’s culture, your practice’s systems and individual habits
2. Identify and analyse inefficiencies for both consultations and ops days considering both the satisfaction of the veterinary team and the impact on the business’s health

Synopsis

If concerns are raised with the RCVS about you, it is naturally a very worrying time. This session from Registrar, Eleanor, provides an overview on the RCVS disciplinary process. She will cover what one should expect from the system and hopefully demystify and clarify any misconceptions you may have about the process.

Learning outcomes

1. Why the process is in place and what it does
2. How long things take and why
3. Bust any myths associated with the process

Synopsis

Is the way practices work currently sustainable? Reducing waste of resources is vitally important, but so is reducing waste of time, energy, team talent or ideas. The ‘Lean’ philosophy and Quality Improvement tools can be used to reduce the various types of waste in veterinary practice. Lean is about a constant dialogue with the whole practice team. In this session, Pam will use practical examples to illustrate Lean principles: keeping stock to a minimum, reducing waiting or idle time, movement around the practice and duplication,
improving workflow, streamlining procedures and paperwork, reducing errors and realising human potential. Applying these principles can then encourage team members to speak up with additional ideas for becoming a Lean practice.

Synopsis

Coming shortly

Synopsis

The most important issues shaping the veterinary industry today include associate wellbeing, career progression, staff development, and creating a culture that is supportive and just. Human Factors is the science that uses many disciplines (such as anatomy, physiology, physics, biomechanics) to understand the interactions between humans and other elements of a system to optimise human wellbeing and overall system performance. In this interactive session, British Airways Captain Mark Parbhoo and EBVS Specialist in Veterinary Neurology Tom Cardy will use examples of Human Factors techniques and training, adapted from the aviation industry, to demonstrate their positive impact on the current veterinary profession. This session will allow new vets and leaders alike to understand the potential of Human Factors in improving their self-awareness, critical thinking, decision making and wellbeing, allowing them to achieve their full potential in a supportive and engaging work environment.

Synopsis

A recent survey of autistic veterinary surgeons (Smits, 2022) revealed their mental wellbeing profile was considerably poorer than that observed in the national veterinary surgeon population, with 57% of respondents reporting probable depression and a further 17% possible depression. Similarly, job stressor exposure was higher among autistic veterinary surgeons than in previous surveys of the profession. It is likely that veterinary surgeons with other neurodivergent conditions experience similar workplace stressors and wellbeing. This session will provide a discussion of strengths and challenges of common neurodivergent conditions and explore the opportunities that neurodivergent members of staff bring to a veterinary team. It will also provide practical solutions to allow neurodivergent staff to thrive in practice using small group, case-based scenarios to explore a framework for providing reasonable adjustments.

Synopsis

In this session, Veterinary Voices RVN Robyn alongside Paul Horwood ‘The Leadership Vet’ will explore how veterinary teams can collaborate effectively to result in improved work flow, offloading pressure, better efficiency, greater career satisfaction, increased customer/client experience, satisfaction and engagement, increased treatment plan compliance and upskilling RVNs to be revenue generators and integral to management of cases. The session will include RVN clinics in disease management, trust, communication, training and micromanagement. Robyn and Paul will highlight how this will benefit all aspects of the practice – the client, the patient, the team and the business.

Synopsis

Sharing the experiences of delivering a structured framework for improving team and system performance across over 60 veterinary practices, Mark will discuss the findings and learnings, and give you strategies to empower your team to improve the system within which they work. With the simple steps he will outline in this lecture your practice can become a joyful place to work.

Synopsis

Financial measures are commonly used in practice but create understandable tension when animal and client welfare are fundamental drivers of veterinary teams. What companion animal measures should we use, and which should be left by the roadside? In this talk Joe will discuss key measures, what they mean, how they can be manipulated and the positive impact they can have when effectively implemented.

Synopsis

Does the thought of quality improvement fill you with dread? Does it feel like yet another thing that hard pressed, understaffed veterinary teams need to juggle alongside their increasingly demanding clients? Maybe it feels like a tick box exercise which is never really going to change anything. Recent research in the veterinary industry shows that both understanding and improving how we deliver care is hard for veterinary teams. There are barriers to speaking up, teams frequently feel frustrated that changes won’t happen or won’t be focused on the things that matter to them most. Increasing attention is being paid across a range of industries to the difference between work as imaging (what me might think happens or what leaders think happens) and work as done (what actually gets done in real world). Frameworks for learning from work as done, including what goes well as well as what goes wrong can be used to ensure quality improvement work targets what really matters to teams. Creating conditions for psychological safety, exploring different viewpoints on how work is actually happening and identifying what is getting in people’s way most are all central to putting people at the heart of quality improvement efforts. When leaders learn the approaches and skills do this, teams feel safe to speak up, to ask for change and drive the improvements and changes they want to see.

Synopsis

An interactive and engaging session to understand the importance, and requirements, of strategic forward planning when embarking on SMARTER projects in order to avoid any legal pitfalls. With the introduction and implementation of any ‘project’, such as creating effective multidisciplinary teams and resolving conflicts through to employee engagement, the legal structure of the management team and optimising Practice profitability, there will always be activities and outcomes which are intertwined and will impact upon each other. This session will guide delegates through the importance of strategic planning, identifying short, medium and longer term goals from business start up, to expansion and ultimate exit which contribute to a SMARTER workplace, understanding the legal attributes arising from the plan and gaining interpersonal skills to effectively implement the project aims and achieve a win: win outcome.

Synopsis

The wellbeing of every member of the veterinary care team matters if we want to thrive and flourish in practice – that means you too! But what does that actually mean? What do we need to do on a practical level in? How do we prioritise and structure a wellbeing programme with traction in a way that resonates? Wellbeing is great for retention, for client experience and for business too. This Wellbeing Means Business session will share with you the 6 priority areas for wellbeing in veterinary practice, including real life practical examples researched from four years of shared learning in shortlisted entries for the Veterinary Wellbeing Awards by SPVS and Mind Matters. So, if you want to save time in finding out the what to do and how, benefit from collaborative examples of what really works and help create a magnetic place to work, this session from double Veterinary Wellbeing Award winner Tracey is for you. Joining Tracey will be Mark Johnston, from Vets in Mind Alliance, to talk through the mental health support resources they offer and how to use them to support your team.

Synopsis

A successful team is a diverse team but a diverse team is only successful if everyone is supported and able to be themselves within the workplace. In this engaging and interactive workshop, participants will explore the vital topic of addressing discrimination and fostering inclusivity in the veterinary workplace. We’ll also examine the concept of labelling employees as ‘difficult’ when their actions or behaviours become problematic in the workplace. Most people are trying their best but often they are facing unseen or unknown challenges meaning they fall short of what we need. Chronic illness, neurodivergence, mental health difficulties, stress, burnout and personal challenges can all lead to individuals being labelled ‘difficult’. If we are to create a sustainable workforce we need to start to examine and understand what might lead people to act and behave the way they do.

Through the innovative use of ‘Cards Against Inclusivity’ scenario-based discussions, attendees will delve into real-life experiences of discrimination and challenging behaviours, examining their impact on individuals and the work environment. Guided by experienced facilitators, participants will gain a deeper understanding of various forms of discrimination, develop strategies for addressing incidents effectively, and be equipped with the skills to understand and address ‘difficult’ behaviours, leading to improved communication, increased team cohesion, and a more supportive and effective work environment.

Synopsis

Following on from their morning session, Brian and Richard will further consider the causes of common cultural, systemic and individual inefficiencies for both out-patient consulting context and in-patient ‘ops’ with contributions from receptionist, Anna and nurse, Hannah.

Through applying a systemic view of practice culture, systems and individuals, this interactive workshop will enable attendees will develop effective solutions to optimise their working life and create smoother, more productive days, benefiting both team satisfaction and business health.

Attendees will be provided with a template sheet to take home to help categorise and identify inefficiencies, their origins and potential solutions in their own practices.

Learning outcomes

1. Apply a systemic view of practice culture, systems, and individuals to understand the root causes of inefficiencies
2. Develop strategies to enable successful days in practice, fostering a sense of pride and reducing stress while optimising practice resources

After the success of our inaugural Vet Times BIG 6 LIVE, join James Westgate and a panel of industry experts, including Sue Paterson, RCVS; Thom Jenkins, Pets App; Jack Peploe, Veterinary IT Services and Liz Barton Vet-CT, as they discuss how AI will be impacting the veterinary world and what you need to consider in this brave new world of innovation!