NSW Division President Update - December 2023

This month NSW Division held our annual face-to-face committee meeting at the AVA offices at St Leonards. We have continued our advocacy this month on pounds, and we need your input to protect our ability to prescribe drugs to our patients in NSW.

Face-to-face meeting

Once a year the NSW committee gets off zoom and gets together in person – this is a great chance to get together to discuss complex topics, and also to do some planning for the year ahead. This year we struggled to get through everything we needed to discuss so our annual plan for 2024 isn’t quite ready, but when it is, we will be sharing it with the division for comment. At our meeting we also discussed changes to the election of committees that the board is considering, and the fact that we will have some positions become vacant in March next year, so if you have been thinking about joining the NSW committee, the time is approaching!

Vet Board AGM

The NSW Vet Board held their AGM in November and we heard about some demographic statistics of vets in NSW, as well as data surrounding complaints. This data is available on the NSW Vet Board Website for anybody who missed the meeting: https://www.vpb.nsw.gov.au/annual-general-meeting-2023

One item of discussion was the need to modernise the veterinary practice act in order to bring it in line with current practices, and recognising that complaints against veterinarians are often linked to systems problems in teams and hospitals, rather than individual errors by practitioners. The AVA is supportive of reforms to the act, and we look forward to working with the DPI, the Vet Board and relevant ministers on a review that in our opinion is well overdue.

Pounds Inquiry

Earlier this month, Anne Quain and I represented NSW Vets in a NSW upper house inquiry into pounds in NSW. This was our second appearance before parliament this year for NSW vets, and we had the opportunity to share the experience of veterinarians who interact with pounds. We covered the inconsistencies between LGAs, the expectation for pro-bono work, and the complexities of burnout and the impact of veterinary shortages, plus more. You can read a summary of our activities here: https://www.ava.com.au/member-updates/ava-represented-at-the-nsw-parliamentary-inquiry-into-pounds-in-new-south-wales/

Medicines, Poisons, and Therapeutic Goods regulations 2023

If the sub-heading didn’t seem too exciting, this might! Under proposed regulations, vets in NSW may no longer be able to compound eye drops for client use or dispense compounded drugs such as compounded trazodone from an emergency supply.

We believe this will negatively impact animal welfare, and there are ways to manage risks to patients that are inherent in compounded drugs, while also retaining therapeutic options for practitioners in NSW. We are deep into the consultation process with a range of SIGs within the AVA. We have already arranged meetings within the Ministry of Health to discuss our concerns and work on solutions. Thank you to Stephen Page from the AVI SIG for his efforts on this project so far.

We will be encouraging all members to participate in the public consultation process in the coming week so please make the time to contribute when the time comes!

Christmas and New Year

Lastly, I’d like to wish all of you in NSW a merry Christmas from the AVA. 2023 has been a big year for many of us. The challenges of practice continue to compound, and as we enter a per-capita recession there are increased pressures on vet businesses. I’d encourage you all to focus on what matters, looking out for yourselves and each other and I hope you have a great Christmas and New Year.

Happy Vetting!

Zachary Lederhose

AVA NSW Division President