Royal College Day 2025 speeches: Linda Belton, Outgoing RCVS President

I have served on RCVS Council, and several of its committees, since 2019 and have had the privilege to serve as President for the last 12 months.

During this time, I’ve not only had to think deeply about many things of which I have experience and knowledge but also had to think about the work of the veterinary profession from the perspective of those who depend on us to do our work, in all its guises.

They may be our clients – or, as termed by the Competition and Markets Authority “consumers” – and these clients come in many different shapes and sizes.

Our clients may be owners of businesses, such as those producing food or trading in food products, or working with animals in the leisure and sports industries, or owners of animals which are very much part of the family, or in fact, our client might be the government.

There is also, of course, the public at large to consider, many of whom may be essentially unaware of the work the veterinary profession does, such as around border controls or disease surveillance and monitoring to protect their health as well as the health of both kept animals and wildlife.

With a protected title and work reserved for us under this title, we do need to think about how we as a profession deliver what is needed in all these areas where our veterinary skill set is fundamental to securing and enhancing animal health and welfare and public health.

How do we as veterinary professionals ensure that we have a veterinary market in the UK that meets societal needs in all these areas?

Looking to others to solve this for us is not the way.

We need, as a profession as well as individuals, to ensure we remain at the heart of decision-making around how veterinary care and services are delivered on the ground across the UK.

The veterinary voice is a wise one – with a deep understanding of the complex world of animal health and welfare and also the animal human interaction which influences this.

Ours is not a world of work where purely transactional relationships are likely to produce the best outcomes. We also work in a world where delivering value is important.

Whilst we may be viewed by animal owners and keepers as an essential service, we provide this service in a  commercial environment. It is incumbent upon us to understand the economics of the delivery of veterinary care such that we are well informed and can make good value professional judgements in the context of the needs of the animals and their owners and keepers.

There is, in many areas, a call for more enforcement of the code of professional conduct and Veterinary Medicines Regulations – this cannot be done for us as a profession but only with us.

The CMA investigation has highlighted more widely the regulatory gap that exists in the veterinary world but, again, we need to be clear that any closure of this gap under a new Veterinary Surgeons Act or under a CMA order, will still require our integrity and professionalism to ensure that its goals are met.

We cannot as a profession expect the provision of the platform from which we work to be successfully regulated without our ongoing input into the monitoring and enforcement of that regulation.

Regulation is both a sword and a shield. Actively understanding the benefits regulation of veterinary work brings, as well as the obligations it imposes, and working to support this is the most likely way to help maintain the high level of public trust in which veterinary professionals are held.

The CMA investigation brought into sharper focus the distinction between the veterinary professional and the veterinary businesses in which they may work. 

The CMA have expressed their opinion that the public value the work of the vets they see and the CMA’s January 2025 published report detailed high levels of satisfaction from clients about the care received for their animals.

This is set against a backdrop of surveys such as that from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, or OECD, which reported a general decline in trust in public institutions and the decline being greater in the UK than in other countries.

High levels of public trust in the veterinary professions is something precious, which we should value, defend and seek to build on further. It is integral to allowing us to do our work well and to enhance animal health and welfare.

We all have a contribution to make, not just in holding each other to account but also the systems and processes under which we work. It is difficult, and arguably impossible, to do so alone.

However, together we can support our professions to not only have individuals fit for practice, but professions fit for purpose that meet the needs of today’s society and the animals we care for and does so in a sustainable way for both the people working to deliver veterinary care and services and for the wider environment.

As mentioned this morning by the CEO in her report, the year has been a very busy one for the College and I want to take this opportunity to extend my thanks to all the team for not just the quantity and quality of work delivered across the spectrum of the College’s activities, but also for the spirit and dedication shown to achieve this.

On top of the additional workload imposed by the requirements of the CMA investigation, and the efforts made to pro-actively engage and inform the CMA about the complexities and relevant inter-relationships of components of veterinary care, there has also been much work with DEFRA colleagues around the make-up and potential of a new VSA.

This all comes in addition to business as usual at the RCVS – now taking place from a new office. Moving the organisation into a well-designed location, created with the needs of all users in mind – college team, veterinary professional members and RCVS Knowledge – has been done with enormous efficiency and forethought, adapting to and supporting today’s ways of working and with minimal disruption to the work of the college. Thank you to all involved.

I have already observed the benefits of the RCVS having a home of its own again and as, over the coming months, we continue to complete the testing phases of using all the facilities of the building, we will be in a position to both metaphorically and physically hold the space for the conversations that we need to have about how the veterinary professions continue to move forwards towards tomorrow – sharing the value of veterinary medicine with the public, making the veterinary voice heard beyond the professions themselves, championing our essential role in society and promoting the visibility of the veterinary professions, such that there is recognition and understanding of our role and contribution to society.

The more we can also inform the public – be they animal owners and keepers or not – about our work, the more opportunity there is to build trust and manage expectations of veterinary care.

What is possible and what is right are not always one and the same.

All of this continues to contribute to the outreach work at the college, looking to help widen participation and engage more young people with the veterinary world and its work.

In conjunction with the vet schools, we have been looking at the ongoing RCVS contribution to teaching professional studies during the undergraduate course, aiming to increase positive student engagement and understanding of the advantages of being a regulated professional.

Being accountable for the way in which we work is a big part of building public trust. The increased interest amongst many vets in having regulated veterinary practices, as opposed to only regulated people, has provided an opening to look at regulation with a different mindset, seeing its benefits for people and animals, as opposed to perceiving it only as a heavy responsibility.

I have enjoyed the opportunity to visit so many of our vet schools and discuss this with the students, usually in person but also through live online webinars. I’ve also attended many of the veterinary congresses this year including the opportunity to participate in discussions around medicines, mutual clients, under care, education, VetGDP, potential impact of a new VSA, workplace culture and veterinary leadership.

I particularly enjoyed a panel discussion which included a livestock producer who clearly articulated what they valued in their relationship with their veterinary surgeon and how much veterinary advice and input added to their farming business.

With so much around farming in the headlines, it was great to hear from the client perspective how much vets have to offer in navigating changes to how we farm livestock in the UK.

This brings me on to another area where there is much for the profession and the RCVS to think about – how we best use Artificial Intelligence and embrace its benefits whilst mitigating the risks – a fast-moving world and with different attitudes towards it amongst individuals.

The RCVS workforce modelling report was published in December 2024 and the model showed a largely, but not entirely, positive picture for the UK.

This model is based on how we work now but, on top of this, we may have significant changes to working patterns and culture impacted by multiple factors, one of which may be AI but also potentially a new VSA enhancing the role of RVNs and allowing regulation of para-professionals to strengthen the veterinary team.

There are also the potential benefits to come of the workforce recruitment, retention and return activities and the developing veterinary clinical careers pathway -  all projects underway at the RCVS that are looking to help develop a veterinary profession fit for purpose, not just for today but for tomorrow and beyond.

I’m very much looking forward to our awards and honours presentations this afternoon which showcase just some of the fabulous work and people both within and allied to the veterinary professions. It’s a very special part of RCVS Day.

We will also have the opportunity to hear from our keynote speaker today – Dr Klara Saville.

I first met Klara when she was working at Brooke – a charity looking to improve the lives of working equids and the communities that depend upon them. In this role she brought her passion for one health and her ability to understand all the moving parts and how they need to interlink to achieve lasting sustainable change for the benefit of animals, people and the environment.

Klara’s ability to present issues such that the audience see things they may perhaps have overlooked before has stayed with me. I particularly remember my discussion with her about the future need for working horses, donkeys and mules as mechanisation spreads and at a pace.

My hope that increased mechanisation would mean a declining role and need for working equids was sadly scuppered as Klara painted the really big picture, showing large populations globally still using people to carry burdens and unlikely to go straight to a mechanised solution without the support of working equids first.

I hope you all enjoy listening to Klara and go home with some new ideas and thoughts percolating gently…

Thank you all for listening and now it is time for me to hand on both the chain of office and, with it, the office of RCVS President…