Fitness to practice hearings against vets could be held in public from now on, the Veterinary Council of Ireland (VCI) says. Until now, all hearings have been private.

Hearings can have serious consequences for a vet should there be adverse findings. They arise from many situations, including a complaint by a client or an accusation of a serious breach of the VCI’s code of practice.

Professional misconduct

The change arose after a complaint of professional misconduct was made against a vet in May 2017, triggering a hearing.

In January 2017, before the hearing took place, an individual, named Mr X by the council, requested it be public.

The fitness to practice committee considered the matter in June 2019. Mr X explained, by correspondence, that he was interested in the hearing because he planned to write a book.

He cited the council’s obligations, as he saw them, of openness and transparency on animal welfare.

The vet opposed a public hearing, asserting that Mr X had made defamatory and prejudicial statements about him/her, demonstrating that he was “no neutral bystander” but a “person with an agenda” and a commercial interest “seeking to intermeddle” “with a view to damaging” the vet’s reputation.

The committee decided that this hearing would be private. Mr X lacked “a sufficient interest in the matter”, it stated in its report.

Private

The vet would have prepared for the hearing on the presumption that it would be held in private.

However, future hearings could be private or public, with this decided case by case, the VCI said.