Gwynedd vet suspended for false certification.
The Disciplinary Committee of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons
last week ordered a month's suspension for a veterinary surgeon from
Dolgellau for dishonest certification of bovine tuberculin testing in
the Gwynedd area in early 2007.
At a hearing that concluded on Friday [30 January 2009], Iwan Parry, a
partner of The Veterinary Surgery, Bala Road, Dolgellau, and an Official
Veterinarian, was charged with serious professional misconduct for
certifying on eight separate occasions that he had tested and inspected
cattle for clinical signs of bovine tuberculosis (TB), when he had not
done so. At the outset of the hearing, Mr Parry denied the charges.
The Committee heard that Animal Health (a DEFRA Executive Agency) had
discovered irregularities in TB testing paperwork from Mr Parry's
practice. These included two locum veterinary surgeons, who were not
Local Veterinary Inspectors (LVIs), having carried out TB pre-movement
testing, but the relevant paperwork being signed and certified by Mr
Parry. It therefore suspended him from LVI duties and lodged a complaint
with the RCVS.
The Committee heard that, at the time, Mr Parry's practice was in
difficulty as all eight of his assistant veterinary surgeons had
recently left and he was struggling to maintain services. It was also
reported that the incidence of bovine TB in Mr Parry's area was very
low.
Under questioning, Mr Parry admitted that he had not done the testing,
but had allowed non-LVI veterinary surgeons to do so and then signed the
certificates himself. Denying the charge of dishonesty, he maintained
that he had thought his actions were legitimate, providing he questioned
the veterinary surgeons afterwards and checked their results. However,
he told the Committee he now deeply regretted this "honest mistake",
made at a time of great personal pressure, and that it would not be
repeated.
The Committee also heard evidence from a number of character witnesses,
including Mr Elfyn Llwyd MP, testifying to Mr Parry's good character,
integrity and good standing in the local community and agricultural
sector.
Nevertheless, in view of Mr Parry's long experience as an LVI, his
understanding of the importance of routine herd testing and accurate
veterinary certification and his reputation for keeping up to date with
legislative and professional developments, the Committee decided that
his actions were not just inappropriate, but were the result of
conscious impropriety on his part. It found that he was not only guilty
of dishonesty, but of allowing non-LVIs to perform TB testing, both of
which amounted to serious professional misconduct.
In passing judgment, the Committee emphasised that the integrity of
veterinary certification was of the utmost importance, especially when
carried out on behalf of the Government, in order to safeguard animal
health and facilitate international trade. It also felt that Mr Parry
could not have failed to have been fully aware of what he was signing
and that he should not have done so.
It was, however, prepared to take account of some exceptional mitigating
factors in this case, including the low risk of TB spread following Mr
Parry's actions; that no financial gain had been sought or received by
him; his unblemished career and uprightness of conduct to date; the
esteem in which he was held in the farming community and the potential
(financial) impact on that community if he were to be removed from the
Register (therefore unable to practise) for a significant period of
time.
Nigel Swayne MRCVS, chairing the Disciplinary Committee, concluded: "We
are reminded that the primary purpose of any sanction is not punishment,
but the maintenance of public confidence in the profession and to uphold
professional standards of conduct.
"Whilst only a reprimand is not an appropriate sanction where dishonesty
and false certification have been found proved, and such findings would
normally attract at least a long period of suspension, given the wholly
exceptional circumstances of this case and the strength of the
mitigating factors, we direct that Mr Parry should be suspended for one
month."
Page last
modified
11 February, 2009
|
