“vet practices of excellence”

Aust Vet J Vol 79, No 1, January 200172

News

MANAGING EDITOR DENNIS RINGROSE

SCIENTIFIC EDITORCOLIN WILKS

CLINICAL EDITORMAUREEN REVINGTON

DESIGNNEWS MANAGEMENT

NATIONAL ADVERTISING MANAGERTONKIN MEDIA

PROFESSIONAL ADVERTISEMENTS CO-ORDINATOR

VERONICA KELLS

BOARD MEMBER RESPONSIBLE FOR PUBLICATIONSKERSTI SEKSEL

AUSTRALIAN VETERINARY ASSOCIATION

CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICERBRUCE WYNN

AVA BOARDPRESIDENT IAN DENNEY, VICE-PRESIDENT

GARTH McGILVRAY, PRESIDENT-ELECT ROBERT BAKER, BOARD MEMBERS BILL MORGAN, NICK KANNEGIETER,

KERSTI SEKSEL, JO TOIA, JOANNE SILLINCE AND NORM BLACKMAN.

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The Australian Veterinary Journal (AVJ) is the official journal of theAustralian Veterinary Association. It is produced each month and isdistributed to members of the AVA and to subscribers. The publisher,The Australian Veterinary Association, does not hold itself responsiblefor the statements made in the AVJ. Unless so stated, material in theAVJ does not reflect the endorsement, official attitude or position of theAustralian Veterinary Association or the Editors. Advertisers areresponsible for complying with the Trade Practices Act 1974, asamended.

CONTRIBUTIONSNews and general correspondenceNews items and general correspondence should be submitted to theManaging Editor, AVA House, 134-136 Hampden Rd, Artarmon NSW2064, Australia or PO Box 371 Artarmon NSW 1570 Australia.Telephone (02) 9411 2733, fax (02) 9411 5089, emaileditor@ava.com.au Web address www.ava.com.au

Scientific sectionArticles for the Scientific Reports section of the AVJ should besubmitted to The Scientific Editor, AVA House, 272 Brunswick Rd,Brunswick Victoria 3056. Telephone (03) 9387 2982, fax (03) 93880112, email avjsc@ava.com.au

Clinical section:Articles for the Clinical Section should be submitted to The Editor,Clinical Section, AVA House, 272 Brunswick Rd, Brunswick Victoria3056. Telephone (03) 9387 2982, fax (03) 9388 0112, emailavjsc@ava.com.au

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Australian

VETERINARYJOURNAL

COVERThis photograph of a dairy cow(Box taurus) was submitted byaward-winning wildlife photo-grapher, Johanna Campbell, ofVincentia, NSW. She has a rangeof landscapes and wildlifepictures available for purchase ashand-made greeting cards or asframed works. She can becontacted on: Tel) 02 4441 7997 orC/- PO Box 290, Vincentia, NSW2540.

Australian

VETERINARYJOURNAL

• AVA helps launch docking law • “Vet Practices of Excellence” awards• Call for AGM motions • BSE: special Exotic Animal Diseases Bulletin •Macropods unlikely hosts for JE • Ivermectin moved to S5 • Spinalmetastasis from mast cell tumour • Treatment of canine congestiveheart failure • Treadmill videoendoscopy in horses • Anthelmintics andsurvival of dung beetles

FEBRUARY 2001 VOLUME 79 No 2

THE JOURNAL OF

THE AUSTRALIAN

VETERINARY

ASSOCIATION LTD

ACN 008 522 852 ISSN 0005-0423

The AVA and one of our majorsponsors, Pfizer, have agreed toestablish an annual award for six

“Vet Practices of Excellence in CustomerService” around Australia.A fundamental requirement of the awardsscheme is that at least two of the winnerseach year must be mixed practices wheresmall animals represents less than 70% of the overall workload. Another entryrequirement is that at least one of theprinciples in a nominated veterinarypractice must be a Member of the AVA.Each winning practice will receive a cashaward, plus recognition at the followingyear’s AVA Conference. All successfulpractices will be profiled in the AVJ in themonths following the announcement of thewinners, expected to be in August each year.A full list of eligibility criteria is to bepublished in the March AVJ. It is hopedthat the first round of entries can beprocessed by June this year – to fit theschedule for judging the entries andarranging a formal announcement of thesix winners.The new awards scheme is a refinement of– and replacement for – the original PfizerVet Practice of the Year concept,announced at the AVA’s Perth ConferenceDinner last June and published in theAugust 2000 edition of the journal. It was decided that nominating multiplewinners would do more to encourageimproved customer service at AVApractices than the idea of choosing one.This was particularly so when the newconcept ensured that rural and semi-rural

mixed practices could be guaranteed abetter chance of competing against highlysophisticated large metropolitan practices.Nominations will be called from individualpractices. They will involve a writtenreport on the overall operation of thepractice, with special emphasis on preciselyhow it aims/plans to provide and improvethe level of customer service, in its broadestsense. Customer service will cover directcustomer relationships but will also extendto: staff management issues, continuingeducation, communication within thepractice, the use of IT, the presentation ofthe practice and the use of accreditedveterinary nursing staff.A nomination kit will be sent to eacheligible practice in coming months. Theselection process will involve a wide rangeof expertise from the profession, Pfizer andfrom non-veterinary consumer representa-tives – to ensure the widest range of viewson what constitutes excellence in customerservice are involved. Among those to berepresented on the selection panel are:AVA, Pfizer, ASAVA, AEVA, AACV,AVPMA, with nominees from theveterinary industry sector. The currentPresident of AVPMA, Dr Lindsay Hay, willbe the first Chairman of the selection panel.

“Vet practices of excellence”

VET PRACTICES

OF EXCELLENCE

Special BSE reports in this issue

The increasing prospect thatEuropean farming practices maynow mean a world-wide BSE threat

to consumers who have eatencontaminated beef or beef products israpidly capturing the attention of theinternational media.It also recently led to a joint ban byAustralia and New Zealand on all forms ofEuropean beef until the potential risk topublic health has been eliminated.This month’s AVJ includes three full pagesof information about BSE and the actions

being taken to protect consumers from therisk of developing Creutzfeldt-Jakobdisease, which has been linked to BSE.AFFA (Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry– Australia) has prepared a special editionof its two-page Exotic Animal DiseasesBulletin (p90-91).The former Scientific Editor of the AVJ,Dr Jouko Koppinen, has also devoted hisbi-monthly, Letter from Europe, to a morelight-hearted summary of the human,political and diplomatic hypocrisysurrounding the BSE problem within theEuropean Union (p92).