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The VetPartners Farm Animal Clinical Board
The VetPartners Clinical Board comprises a network of clinical communities, representing all species and disciplines, who are highly motivated and passionate about progressing care together. Everyone within VetPartners is welcome to join our network of clinical board communities to share experience and knowledge.
The Farm Animal Clinical Board (FACB) sits within this network and is made up of ten motivated volunteers from across our practices who represent our farm animal clinical teams and a variety of team roles.
The FACB engage with clinical teams in the wider group to lead quality improvement activities, support in-practice research and champion evidence-based veterinary medicine. They champion collective clinical leadership and support our teams in lifelong professional development.
Farm Animal Clinical Board (FACB)
Leadership Team
Andrew Henderson, Co-Lead
LLM Farm Vets
Sharminda Lockwood, Co-Lead
Westpoint Farm Vets
Mel Julian, Co-Lead
Cross Counties Farm Vets
Members
Kate Butler
Kingshay
Will Gratwick
LLM Farm Vets
Mel McPherson
Avon Farm Vets
Sophie Skyrme
Hampden Farm Vets
Natalie Parker
LLM Farm Vets
The FACB also support our Clinical Interest Groups (CIGs), to share knowledge, skills, experience and expertise and form a conduit for case discussions and advice internally. The farm animal CIGs enable people with similar clinical interests to provide support and mentorship, alongside a variety of other roles including:
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Identifying knowledge gaps in practice
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Driving our quality improvement and clinical research activities
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Holding clinical meetings and CPD events on relevant topics
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Sharing knowledge via case discussions
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Contributing to the creation of clinical decision-making resources
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Providing feedback and representation for our broader clinical communities
The FACB are supported by the Clinical Board Support Team, a designated team with both clinical and extensive research experience, who are well published and known for the work they undertake. The team are dedicated to collaborating with our communities to facilitate the development of new skills, including the assessment and communication of evidence.
Together we want to optimise clinical outcomes for our patients, our clients and our people. We are passionate about evidence-based practice and want to improve our knowledge base for clinical decision-making. Together, we drive new knowledge to support informed choices, providing the right care for our patients and clients, whatever their circumstances.
We work with honesty and integrity, welcoming external partnerships with like-minded people, to contribute to the evidence base for the benefit of the whole profession.
To find out more or get in touch, please contact the Farm Animal Clinical Board at clinical.board@vetpartnersgroup.com
Farm Animal Clinical Interest Groups (CIGs)
Beef
Camelids
Dairy
Ethics
Mobility
Paraprofessionals & Techs
Pigs
Sheep & Goats
Youngstock
Learn more about the work of the Farm Animal Clinical Board
Clinical Quality Improvement
Quality Improvement means looking at our current standards of care and finding ways to make them better and more consistent. This allows us to progress care together for the benefit of the animals we treat, our clients and our teams.
You can read more about clinical Quality Improvement (QI) at VetPartners here:
Clinical Research and Development
We drive the creation of new knowledge to progress practice within the group and the broader profession. This enables us to deliver evidence-based care and give back to the veterinary community.
You can read more about clinical research and development at VetPartners here:
Creating Clinical Decision-making Resources
Working with our Clinical Interest Groups (CIGs), the Farm Animal Clinical Board have created numerous evidence-based resources to support our teams in practice, review new medicines which have come on the market and address knowledge gaps that have been reported to us.
Examples of some of the clinical decision-making tools we have developed include:
NSAIDs for Mastitis in Cattle
This document is aimed at veterinary professionals and discusses the benefits of using NSAIDs in cases of mastitis.
Cow Caesar Audit 2024: A full report following 3 years of data collection
This report contains the full results from an audit of bovine caesareans carried out by colleagues working within VetPartners. Containing data from the past 3 years.
Sheep Caesareans
Aimed at clinicians, this resource outlines caesareans in sheep including pre-operative considerations, positioning, preparation, surgical considerations and post operative care.
Pig Anaesthesia Checklist
This checklist, created by the Farm Animal Clinical Board's Pig Clinical Interest Group, details key steps for anaesthetising pigs.
Farm Animal insights
Twice a year we publish Insights to keep our teams up to date on key Clinical Board activities within VetPartners. The Clinical Board is for everyone in our teams working with clients and their animals. To make us as effective as possible it is important that clinical teams know about us, what we do and know how to join and contribute to our activities. You can learn more about this and access previous editions of Insights below:
At VetPartners we are fortunate to have an engaging and approachable Clinical Board Support Team (CBST) with both clinical and extensive research experience. To learn more about the work of the CBST and how they empower our teams to undertake clinical quality improvement and research, click here.
To find out more about the work we do visit VetPartners Learning or email us at clinical.board@vetpartnersgroup.com
