The Disciplinary Committee of the RCVS has recently restored to the Register a veterinary
surgeon, who was previously removed in December 2018 following an investigation
into her actions whilst working as an Official Veterinarian (OV) in
Staffordshire.
Laura Padron Vega was removed from the Register on 7
December 2018 for dishonestly backdating two statutory Certificates of
Competence submitted to the Food Standards Agency under the Welfare of Animals
at the Time of Killing Regulations 2015. She was also found to have failed in
her duties as an OV by being unprepared for, and unaware of, the new
regulations. She did not take adequate steps to ensure that the two individuals
for whom she had given veterinary certification were licensed to perform
slaughter in accordance with these regulations.
Ms Padron Vega’s application for restoration to the
Register was heard by the Committee on 21 July 2021, following her original
application for restoration that was held on 8 and 9 December 2020. At
that hearing, the Disciplinary Committee decided that Ms Padron Vega’s application
should be adjourned for six months to allow her to prove to the Committee that
it was appropriate to restore her name to the Register. The basis for this
decision was that the Committee had concerns about her keeping up-to-date with
the knowledge and skills needed to return to practice, in particular in the
area that she had suggested she wished to work in.
At the most recent hearing, Ms Padron Vega sought to
address the concerns that the Committee had raised about her professional
development. In addition to the documentation she provided in her original
restoration hearing, which included positive testimonials from colleagues, she
provided evidence of her continuing professional development (CPD) since that
last hearing.
This included a letter from her previous employer, who
confirmed she had more recently worked for them as a Certification Support
Officer from February to March 2021, where they received positive feedback on
her conduct.
The documentation also included a letter from another
practice confirming that Ms Padron Vega had been offered a position of
employment with them, and a separate letter from practice veterinary surgeon,
Dr Khan MRCVS, confirming that he would be her mentor. Dr Khan also confirmed
that she had been coming to the practice for work experience and he considered
her to have good working knowledge of current medicines used within the
practice. He further outlined in his letter what CPD support the practice would
be providing for Ms Padron Vega as part of her employment with them.
An additional piece of evidence was a testimonial from Dr
Max Rutana MRCVS, who worked with Ms Padron Vega from September to November
2018. He confirmed that Ms Padron Vega had worked unsupervised for a period of
three weeks, and that he found her clinical notes during this period to be
satisfactory and they received no complaints about her conduct from clients.
Ms Padron Vega also submitted CPD documentation which
confirmed she has taken a Certification Support Officers’ course and
examination in mid-December 2020.
In response to questions from the Committee about her small
animal practice experience and how long she had been shadowing Dr Khan for, Ms
Padron Vega explained that she had completed 80 hours of shadowing with Dr Khan
and that in her future employment under his mentorship, he would be available
to support her. She also explained that her job offer was evidence that she
would continue to be trained in the relevant area of veterinary work.
Cerys Jones, chairing the Disciplinary Committee and
speaking on its behalf, said: “During the hearing, we heard evidence from Dr
Khan who provided reassurance of Ms Padron Vega’s continued professional
development with his practice and the ongoing supervision that she would be
under. He explained that the supervision would last at least three months.
“The Committee’s view is that Ms Padron Vega accepts the
findings of dishonesty that were made against her at the original Inquiry
hearing. In her Reflective Statement, she acknowledges that veterinarians have
a professional responsibility to ensure the integrity of veterinary
certification, that she is now aware that when signing documents as a
veterinary surgeon they need to be approached with care and accuracy. Further
she has undertaken a CPD course on this very ethical issue and has passed the
examination set at the end of that course. The Committee is confident that Ms
Padron Vega is unlikely to repeat the conduct which resulted in her being
removed from the Register. It is the Committee’s decision that she should be
restored to the Register.”
