Tim Parkin, Royal College Day 2026 speech

I was very fortunate to become Head of School at Bristol Veterinary School in November 2020 at a time when all other Heads of Veterinary Schools had been in their roles for a number of years. That meant I was able to lean on in excess of a collective 50 years of experience – particularly important as we were obviously in the midst of the pandemic. 

However, the more direct impact for the RCVS was that many, if not all had already served multiple terms of office on Council, so when it was time to identify new Veterinary Schools Council nominees to RCVS Council it was clear that the newbie was expected to step up.…and so I joined Council for my one and possibly only meeting at Belgravia House in 2021. 

As I said last year, when incoming… we are in a time of enormous change, but reflecting back on the last five years – I don’t think anyone would have been able to anticipate how much change has occurred in such a short space of time. 

Probably what is really important to recognise is that I am not sure we can assume we will return to a more sedate pace of change anytime soon. That is quite daunting and feels somewhat relentless – but we do need to embrace and anticipate that this will be the case. 

This has again been a year dominated by three-letter abbreviations: 

I do not mean OMG, LOL or even WTF – although it is fair to say that these utterances (and others) have been heard more than a few times over recent months!  

I am of course referring to CMA and VSA – the two ‘ever presents’ over the last few years.  

We have already heard much about these two and, before I add my thoughts, I wanted to mention a few other notable highlights – of which there have been many and some, I will, I am afraid have omitted: 

Without doubt one of the most memorable events was welcoming a record number of overseas veterinary surgeons to the Register after passing their Statutory Membership Exam – a record that will in all likelihood be surpassed again. 

Earlier in the year 80 candidates passed the exam and we welcomed 53 of them from 26 different countries to the ceremony in London in December, along with their friends and families. 

Some of those in attendance arrived in the UK under very difficult circumstances and particular credit must go to them. 

Equally important were the two ceremonies, in London and Edinburgh, where I was able to welcome more than 100 new Registered Veterinary Nurses to the profession. As I said on that day, with my other hat on as Head of School at Bristol, where we have a veterinary nursing programme running alongside our veterinary science programme, I am so proud when I see vets, vet nurses, vet students and veterinary nursing students working and studying alongside each other.  

The clear sense of teamwork this generates from before graduation is, I am convinced, critical to ensure the whole Veterinary Team operates to maximise the benefit to our patients and clients.  

More recently: the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons hosted its second VN Educators’ Conference:  

Following the successful inaugural event last summer, the second conference – based around the theme ‘The future RVN: people, practice and technology’ – brought together veterinary nurse educators to consider how developments across the profession could shape the veterinary nurses of tomorrow. 

Such a vital piece of work that will continue, given the very likely changes to the Veterinary Nurse title, role and scope of work which will arise from the reformed VSA. 

As Chair of Education Committee and someone who has been in academia for the whole of my career I do want to make special mention of the work that has gone into the development of the Veterinary Clinical Career Pathways. In particular I would like to highlight progress made toward a future programme of specialty training for primary care veterinary surgeons. 

 A detailed curriculum has been developed with the aim of expanding and diversifying the career options available to the profession.  

The College will begin consulting the profession on the proposals in the coming weeks, starting with stakeholder and employment groups, before progressing to a full consultation with the wider profession. That, alongside the Postgraduate Veterinary Education conference in December, have made it a particularly busy year for Linda Prescott-Clements and the education team. 

One other very important area that the College has again led on this year, that we are all in some way affected by, is Artificial Intelligence.  

We have already heard from Lizzie about this work – but it is just yet another example of our ability to go beyond our regulatory remit to help advance the work of all veterinary professionals – something that is so important to recognise. 

Turning now to the CMA and VSA. 

We anticipate Defra responses to both the CMA outcomes and the VSA consultation imminently. At that point we will have greater clarity on what the future holds. 

With regard to the VSA it has been notable the significant amount of common ground and positivity from all stakeholders to the vast majority of that contained within the consultation.  

We have met on several occasions with the Defra Minister, Baroness Hayman, and look forward to the publication of the White Paper soon. 

An enormous amount of credit must go to the teams at the College for dealing with requests and needs to respond, sometimes in haste. The volume of additional work created by the CMA and VSA work is not sustainable and I think all at the College are looking forward to getting close to the end of the beginning – as we all recognise there will be significant additional work to undertake over the next few months and years to both monitor CMA remedies and put into place what comes from a reformed VSA. 

I had to somehow ensure there was recognition of the greatest movie of all time in my speech today, namely: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly. 

In terms of what has been The Good of this last 12 months: 

I have said it before and will continue to say it over and over to anyone willing to listen. The incredible team, led by Lizzie, at the College deserve so much more than mere thanks.  

I am so full of admiration for the work they do – it is truly inspiring how much they care for the professions of which they are mostly not members. It has been a genuine privilege to spend a year trying not to get in your way and help in any way I could. 

To Lizzie, on my last day as your boss, keep up the fight, keep the faith, believe in the work you are doing. The path we are on, although sometimes bumpy and certainly lengthy, now more than ever has that clear goal at the end – it is in sight and with a fair wind will be within touching distance soon. Our professions are indebted to your leadership – you deserve all of our thanks and the highest possible recognition. 

In terms of The Bad… 

The workload and external deadlines imposed on RCVS staff fall into this category. I have observed some ridiculous work-life balances which, yes, many of us experience, but for some these are in the extreme and we need to somehow recalibrate. 

The relentless nature of work imposed from external sources alongside very busy ‘business as usual’ is difficult for anyone to sustain. When getting in touch with the College please do remember we are all human and there are only 24hrs in the day. 

Unfortunately, there has also been some that might be regarded as ‘Ugly’ 

This time last year I requested respectful dialogue in a period of change. In the main this has been the case, with very many incredibly useful discussions at Regional Question Times, with other stakeholders and Defra and the CMA. I have learned more than I could have thought possible and for that I am extremely grateful.  

But – I am going to call out some of the abuse that comes the way of College staff, Officers and Council members. 

There is a very small minority of the profession who think it is fine to be continually abusive to RCVS staff.  

It is not fine - it is totally unjustified and would not be tolerated in any workplace.  

To those who do this – in particular the repeat offenders - please reflect on your actions.  

We endeavour to be a compassionate regulator that always treats those with whom we communicate with respect and thoughtfulness.  

But this is a two-way street and, while you can sometimes disagree with what the College does and why, there is no excuse for some of the behaviour I have witnessed over the last 12 months.  

I hope you use this as an opportunity to reconsider how you treat the staff who work so very hard for our professions and animal health and welfare.  

To my last few words as President: 

From sitting in a freezing post-mortem room in N. Ireland in January, judging clinical talks from local vets... to being placed in the wrong green room waiting to do a live lunchtime news piece on the VSA and having to run into the studio with the presenter swearing at the ‘people in her ear’ and then turning to me to apologise before we immediately went live. 

It is easy to see why ALL past presidents say: ‘it will fly by’. It most certainly did. 

But for those closest to me I can understand the year may have seemed like it was on go slow and dragged on a bit! 

Thank you for allowing me to ‘indulge’ myself over the last 12 months. It is an enormous privilege to hold this position and one which I never thought would be on my horizon. 

The tolerance shown by those who supported me has been very gratefully received, and noted. Don’t worry there is quite a lot of credit in your banks which I will endeavour to make good over the years to come!

To my teenage kids – who I am not sure they noticed I was away anyway (at least they did not want to show it), I will be around more!  

To Lisa – Dean at Dick Vet – I know it has been tough, I owe you one or more! 

And finally, to ‘my significant other’…. simply thank you so much for sticking with it, love you back.