BVA Live 2024 to focus on contextualised care

The British Veterinary Association (BVA) has unveiled its programme for BVA Live 2024, taking place at the NEC in Birmingham on 6-7 June. This year’s event will have a particular focus on contextualised care throughout each stream; recognising that appropriate and proportionate care is tailored to the needs of both the animal and the client, and includes an understanding of the owner’s finances, lifestyle, preferences, and their ability to provide suitable care.

BVA Live is a unique, interactive event that offers 2 days of stimulating CPD and the chance for vet teams to connect with fellow professionals and have their say on the issues that matter. This summer there is another incredible line-up of veterinary speakers, panellists and experts ready to share their perspectives, knowledge and expertise. For the first time BVA Live is offering not only small animal clinical content but also sessions featuring equine and farm, allowing accessible CPD for vets at every stage of their careers and covering a wide range of specialisms.

Programme highlights include:

• Does running a successful practice jeopardise our commitment to animal welfare and contextualised care?

In this session, in partnership with the Animal Welfare Foundation (AWF), Vicky Ford-Fennah, Professional Development Manager at Linnaeus and Kate Higgins, Director of Village Vets Formby, consider how contextualised care can be balanced with the financial needs of veterinary practices in the current climate.

• Would you euthanise a healthy XL Bully? And other challenging questions: ethical decision making and conflict resolution in practice
  Rosie Allister, Consulting Manager on the Vetlife Helpline and Hamish Morrin, of Vet Values, consider the impact challenging ethical dilemmas can have on vet teams.
• Closing down fertility clinics – are UK vets stepping into the gap?
  Angelika von Heimendahl, Director at Veterinary Reproduction Service, explores vets’ roles and responsibilities in the growing sector of canine fertility.
• How sustainable is modern pet ownership?
  BVA Past President Justine Shotton in discussion with Jen Gale, Founder of Sustainable(ish), will explore how vets can support clients to be more sustainable in their approach to pet ownership.
• Gut instinct: what’s the influence of the gut microbiome on animal behaviour and wellbeing?
  In this pioneering session, sponsored by Protexin Veterinary, Fergus Allerton, Veterinary Surgeon Diplomate, Sarah Heath, Veterinary Specialist in Behavioural Medicine and Lecturer in Translational Pharmaceutical Sciences Jatin Nagpal explore the relationship between the gut microbiome and animal behaviour.

British Veterinary Association President Anna Judson said: “This has been an incredibly challenging year for the profession, with the review by the Competitions and Marketing Authority (CMA) prompting increased scrutiny of the value of veterinary care. We know that all veterinary professionals strive to provide the best possible care for the animals they see and we hope our focus on contextualised care at BVA Live provides a timely opportunity to explore this concept in more depth and consider how it can be applied in practice to support both decision-making and communication with clients.”

BVA Officers – President Anna Judson, Senior Vice President Malcolm Morley and Junior Vice President Elizabeth Mullineaux – will lead the debates, digging into ethical dilemmas and exploring contentious issues in the BVA Interactive Zone which returns once again to BVA Live.

• The BVNA Nursing stream also returns to BVA Live in 2024.
• The full programme is available online.
• New, fully funded educational bursaries are enabling more BVA members than ever before to attend BVA Live.
• Open to all BVA members at all stages of their career, applying for a funded ticket is simple, just visit https://bvalive.vetshow.com/  or call 02476 719 687.