New ‘Under care’ rules for prescription medicines – what it means for you, your pet, and the new way we need to work
Our governing body – the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons (RCVS) have given us new guidance on the way we can prescribe prescription-only veterinary medicines (POM-V’s) and this took effect on September 1st 2023.
The ruling asks that animals under our care (this covers all pets we have been asked to care for by their guardians) must have a clinical assessment before we can prescribe medication. There isn’t a huge change in what we need to do, but to remain compliant we need to see your pet for a physical examination each time a new prescription is required.
What is a clinical examination and why is it required?
To state the RCVS “A clinical assessment is any assessment which provides the veterinary surgeon with enough information to diagnose and prescribe safely and effectively”.
What this means in practice is that we need to ensure that the pet has been given the right treatment for their current state of health, and nothing has been missed that might have been should the discussion take place remotely. For example, when dealing with medicines for chronic (long term) illness including but not limited to arthritis, heart conditions, diabetes, and high blood pressure we would need to check their organ functions, their blood for signs that the medicine isn’t agreeing with them, and make sure their condition remains managed by the drug they are on.
Does it just apply to long-term medicines?
No, it’s anything that needs to be prescribed (POM-V’s) So this ruling also includes preventative health prescription-only drugs for flea and worm protection, as well as short-term use drugs for things like infections.
Why are flea and wormers included in this as they’re preventing infestation not treating sick animals, and how will this affect me?
Flea and wormers have been included in this new guidance as the usage needs to be controlled for resistance and environmental reasons. It also makes sense to check the dose prescribed is right for the current weight of the pet to prevent under- or overdosing them.
This shouldn’t change much of what we do as we like to see your pets for regular health checks anyway, we just need to prescribe their flea and wormers at the time a physical exam is carried out. This can still be a prescription that lasts a year and monthly/quarterly instalments given out to you throughout that year as normal.
If you’d like to speak to us about any of these changes, please do so by calling 02921 851 632, emailing us or mention it at your next appointment.
