Consultation skills in veterinary practice: exploring the links between consultation skills and key performance indicators.

This project was part of a larger research project aimed at researching and supporting the development of a new postgraduate qualification in general veterinary practice. It arose in the beginning from the establishment of an MSc group of 8 experienced veterinary general practitioners in 2001, who researched various aspects of the question ‘what are the postgraduate educational needs of the GP vet in the UK?’ After completing the original work, 5 of the group continued their research into their Doctorates, and this project was the one in the subject of consultation skills.
The subject was very largely unexplored in the veterinary world, but extensive research had been done in the medical field. There were the challenges of formulating methods of collecting primary data in the veterinary field, and looking at the medical field to see if the methodologies were transferable.
The choice of methodologies was strongly influenced by fear factors, in which the researcher had to make choices based on what methods of data collection the veterinary practitioners accepted.
Research instruments were found and developed to explore aspects of the consultation. Key performance indicators were explored firstly separately, and then the research explored possible links between consultation skills and KPI’s. Significant links were found, which lead to a greater understanding of the importance of consultation skills and how they might be analysed in ways that had potential for veterinary surgeons to see ways of identifying their skills and improving them.
The results were of high impact value.