Standards and Advice: autumn 2025 update

Please note: this article contains references to suicide 

Since the last guidance update in spring, the Standards Committee has agreed two substantive updates to the supporting guidance to the Code of Professional Conduct.

Both of these updates are to Chapter 4 ('Veterinary Medicines') and concern reducing misuse of lethal medicines and the prescribing cascade respectively. This update also covers related changes to Practice Standards Scheme (PSS) Core Standards.

There have also been some minor updates to the supporting guidance to the Code in respect of the requirement to maintain minimum practice standards at a level equivalent to the Core Standards of PSS and the use of ‘hospital’ by practices going through the PSS veterinary hospital accreditation process.

New guidance to reduce misuse of lethal medicines

Earlier this year, we responded to two separate ‘prevention of future death’ reports. These reports were issued following coroners’ inquests into the deaths of individuals who had taken their own lives using pentobarbital.

One of the individuals was a veterinary surgeon who sourced the pentobarbital from a veterinary practice, the other was a lay person and the source of the lethal medicine unknown.

In our responses, we outlined a number of areas to be explored with the aim to preventing future deaths as per the Coroners’ requests. As part of this, our Standards Committee reviewed the current guidance relating to lethal medicines such as barbiturates to ascertain what, if any, additional measures could be implemented to reduce future misuse. As a result of this review, the Standards Committee agreed to:

1. Include additional guidance on storing controlled drugs (CDs) in vehicles in the Supporting Guidance to the Code of Professional Conduct. As well as signposting to practical guidance on how to secure Schedule 2 and 3 CDs within a vehicle, this guidance also requires that, wherever practicable, these medicines be returned to the practice when a vet is off duty.
   
   Similar guidance is already contained within the guidance notes for achieving PSS Core Standards. The Standards Committee hopes that including the requirement the supporting guidance will give the provision more prominence and encourage all veterinary professionals to review their systems for handling CDs away from the practice.
   
   For the guidance in full, see paragraph 4.55 of Chapter 4 ('Veterinary Medicines').
2. Introduce a requirement for practices to implement a practice specific suicide prevention plan. This requirement will form part of the PSS Core standards for all species.
   
   A ‘suicide prevention plan’ is a collection of measures which aims to protect staff and the wider public by reducing incidences of suicide. To achieve the standard, practices are required to carry out a risk assessment covering all areas of potential risk (for example, access to lethal medicines, firearms and captive bolt, lone and late-night working) and to implement measures to address and/or mitigate each risk identified.
   
   The Standards Committee recognised that these plans will be highly subjective as they need to balance reducing risk with allowing the practice to deliver care appropriately. As such, each plan should be bespoke and tailored to the specific needs and challenges of individual practices.
   
   

   These new requirements can be found in the standards for small animal (16.1.41), equine (15.1.41) and farm animal (14.1.40) practices. 

In addition, the Standards Committee also approved some minor updates to the Core Standards of PSS to ensure consistency between the existing standards.

The new requirements will come into effect immediately, however PSS Assessors will not actively assess against the new standard until 1 January 2026 to give PSS practices time to prepare. Although non-PSS practices will not be assessed, it remains a Code of Professional Conduct requirement that all veterinary surgeons and nurses maintain minimum practice standards equivalent to the Core Standards of PSS.

The prescribing cascade and distribution of veterinary medicines in Northern Ireland

In June 2025, the following note was added to Chapter 4 of the supporting guidance to the Code of Professional Conduct:

Please note: The VMD has announced that new rules governing the distribution of veterinary medicines in Northern Ireland will apply from 1 January 2026, which will change the way the cascade operates in Northern Ireland. Please see recent RCVS press release for further information. Please also see the updated cascade steps that will apply from 1 January 2026 in the VMD’s, The cascade: prescribing unauthorised medicines guidance. RCVS guidance in this chapter will be updated to reflect these changes in due course and will be explained in detail in the RCVS’ autumn guidance update.

Chapter 4 of the supporting guidance has now been updated accordingly. The update was prompted by the Veterinary Medicines Directorate’s (VMD’s) new rules governing the distribution of veterinary medicines in NI, the Veterinary Medicine Health Situation Scheme, and the Veterinary Medicines Internal Market Scheme.

To support veterinary surgeons working in NI, we have published further details about the way the prescribing cascade will operate in NI until 31 December 2025, and from 1 January 2026, in light of these new rules/schemes.

This feature includes the relevant risk-based decision tree steps applicable for both periods, and where possible, these are set out side by side for ease of comparison. This is therefore essential reading for all veterinary surgeons practising in NI.

Minor guidance changes 

Chapter 23 ('Protection of title, advertising and endorsement') of the supporting guidance has been updated to recognise that a practice going through the process to be accredited as a veterinary hospital must be functioning at that level before the accreditation can begin. See paragraph 23.18 of Chapter 23.

Chapter 4 of the supporting guidance has been amended to clarify that the Code of Professional Conduct obligation to maintain minimum practice standards equivalent to the Core Standards of the RCVS Practice Standards Scheme applies to all veterinary surgeons and veterinary nurses, whether or not they work for a PSS accredited practice. See paragraph 4.3 of Chapter 4.

If you have any queries about the above updates, please contact [email protected]