Cumbria animal hospital becomes one of world’s first ‘Zero Pain’ practices for pets

The team at a Cumbrian animal hospital have been recognised as one of the world’s first ‘Zero Pain’ practices for pets.

Kentdale Referrals, located in Milnthorpe, have just been verified as one of the first official Zero Pain Practices globally by the authoritative Zero Pain Philosophy.

Katie Stott, a registered veterinary nurse at Kentdale, said: "Achieving this recognition as a Zero Pain practice is fantastic news as it underlines the fact we are providing the highest quality care and service to our patients.

"Our success demonstrates to owners we take pain management seriously and are using the very latest evidence-informed medications and techniques to best treat their pets."

Ms Stott and her colleague, Lauren Bowe, have been instrumental in this process.

The pair, who both have advanced certificates in anaesthesia, were able to implement their knowledge in pain management to improve the hospital's protocols.

Their changes led to a successful accreditation application.

Sharon Murtagh, the director at Kentdale hospital, shared her thoughts on the impact.

She said: "We saw the Zero Pain Philosophy accreditation as an excellent opportunity to both recognise the work we are doing and to continue to build on the knowledge and skill base within the team to further improve patient care.

"To achieve accreditation, we had to provide evidence of a wide variety of pain management such as team education, the use of appropriate and evidence-based effective analgesics, validated pain scoring techniques and auditing of pain management."

She also said: "We consider every patient who comes through our doors as an individual and plan bespoke pain management protocols accordingly."

As part of the accreditation process, the team at Kentdale had to provide evidence of several pain management techniques.

This included education for the team, usage of validated pain scoring techniques and the application of appropriate analgesics.

A notable improvement was seen in their auditing of pain management where Ms Stott led an audit on existing pain scoring protocols.

The Zero Pain Philosophy, a creation of top UK vets Matt Gurney and Carl Bradbrook, is a worldwide accreditation scheme for veterinary practices working to the highest standards of pain management.

Mr Gurney said: "At Zero Pain Philosophy, we help vet professionals achieve excellence in pain management in their clinics."

He also added: "A really impressive part of the Kentdale application was the team’s approach to clinical audit, led by Katie.

"Zero Pain Practice encourages vet professionals to embrace quality improvement and the Kentdale team are doing just that."

Kentdale Referrals offers a comprehensive range of specialist services, including diagnostic imaging, anaesthesia, orthopaedic surgery, spinal surgery, soft tissue surgery and physiotherapy.

Those interested in more information on Kentdale Referrals and the Zero Pain Philosophy, can visit www.kentdalevets.co.uk and www.zeropainphilosophy.com respectively.