The Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons (RCVS) has ruled that the temporary dispensation allowing remote prescribing of prescription-only veterinary medicines will end on Monday 14 March.
The allowance was originally introduced during the opening weeks of the pandemic lockdown in spring 2020 in order to safeguard animal health and welfare, the health and safety vet teams and public health, by allowing prescriptions to be made by vets without having physically examined the animal, subject to conditions and safeguards.
The Committee temporarily removed the dispensation in October 2021 but reinstated it in December 2021 in light of stricter rules on Covid isolation being re-imposed. Given the recent relaxation of the requirement to work from home in England, Scotland and Northern Ireland, and relaxation of restrictions generally across the UK, the RCVS Committee felt it was time to end the dispensation.
