Case study 1: Antimicrobial resistance
In November 2019, Davies Veterinary Specialists ran an antibiotics awareness week. Led by Ian Battersby, Head of Medicine, who initiated the PROTECT ME campaign, and Danielle Banks, Infection Control Nurse.
The week involved demonstrating effective handwashing using a fluorescent hand wash, posters to highlight good antimicrobial stewardship which were sent to our top 200 referring practices, advice for pet owners, online blogs, five free webinars, online social media messaging and of course, lots of eating cake.
Improving management of diabetes mellitus
Calder Vets in Yorkshire ran a Diabetes Awareness week in June 2020 following their Diabetes awareness Drive in February 2020 Pharmaceutical procurement contributes a significant amount to the NHS carbon footprint.
A focus of the drive was to help owners to be aware of the symptoms of diabetes in pets and how they can help manage the lifelong condition, including the importance of non-pharmaceutical options such as a balanced diet and regular exercise, alongside insulin injections.
The practice produced online blogs and runs weight clinics with trained health advisers to help owners to manage this condition, which keeps pets healthier with lower carbon care.
Reducing transmission of rabies
Around the world, rabies kills someone every nine minutes.
Over 99% of human cases are spread by infected dog bites, including from stray dog populations, and the most effective long-term control strategies are through vaccination of dogs in endemic areas.
Vets and non-clinical Associates from across Linnaeus have worked with Mission Rabies to save lives, including Ian Battersby of Davies Veterinary Specialists (who is the Chairman of the board of trustees for Mission Rabies) and Mars.
Here is a story of the latest Linnaeus employee to get involved in this critical project:
Working by torchlight and performing operations on patio furniture aren’t exactly common challenges faced by our vets – but that was exactly what Ben Safrany from Paragon Veterinary Referrals found himself up against on a "life-changing" trip to tackle rabies in Tanzania.
In 2020, Ben Safrany, an Advanced Practitioner in Small Animal Internal Medicine at Paragon Veterinary Referrals in Wakefield, visited the Meru district in January with the animal welfare charity, Mbwa wa Africa.
Working with others, his job was to sterilise and vaccinate as many animals as possible each day. To do this, he travelled to set up temporary clinics in primary schools, shops and government buildings.
Ben said: “Rabies is a huge issue in Tanzania and is predominantly spread by dog or cat bites or scratches. I feel like the work we do is valuable and makes a difference to the welfare of people and animals.”
Eco-friendly construction
In 2015, Wear Veterinary Referrals received an outstanding award from the County Durham Environmental Partnership for the outstanding contribution to the built environment, use of renewable energy sources and sustainable technologies in the development of their new hospital.
The hospital is powered by a biomass boiler and solar roof panels, and has a ‘green’ living roof, and is currently working towards their Bronze level Investors in the Environment accreditation.