RCVS Practice Standards Scheme: How to Prepare for Your Next Assessment

What the Practice Standards Scheme covers

The RCVS Practice Standards Scheme (PSS) is a voluntary accreditation programme that approximately 2,400 UK veterinary practices participate in. The scheme sets standards across clinical governance, health and safety, facilities, equipment, and client communication.

Practices are assessed against three tiers:

• Core Standards — essential requirements that all PSS member practices must meet
• General Practice — standards for practices providing a broader range of services
• Hospital/Specialist — additional requirements for hospitals and specialist referral centres

For most independent practices with 1-5 vets, the Core Standards and General Practice assessments are the relevant tiers.

Core Standards: what assessors check

Core Standards cover the non-negotiable baseline. Common assessment areas include:

Clinical governance

• Written clinical protocols and standard operating procedures (SOPs)
• A nominated clinical director or equivalent
• Documented clinical audit processes
• Adverse event reporting procedures

Health and safety

• Current H&S risk assessments covering all practice activities
• COSHH assessments for chemicals used in practice
• Radiation protection documentation (IRR17 compliance) for practices with X-ray equipment
• Fire safety risk assessments and evacuation procedures
• First aid provisions and trained first aiders

Staff training and CPD

• Records of all staff CPD (beyond the mandatory RCVS 1CPD recording)
• Evidence of induction processes for new staff
• Manual handling training records
• First aid certification records with expiry dates

Facilities and equipment

• Equipment maintenance and calibration records
• Medical gas safety documentation
• Appropriate storage and handling of controlled drugs
• Clean and maintained premises

Client communication

• Displayed practice information (opening hours, emergency contact, fees)
• Complaint handling procedures
• Client consent processes

Common gaps assessors find

Based on publicly available PSS assessment feedback, common gaps at independent practices include:

1. Risk assessments that are outdated or generic — assessors want practice-specific risk assessments reviewed within the last 12 months, not template risk assessments downloaded from the internet three years ago
2. Training records that are incomplete — CPD recorded in RCVS 1CPD is only part of the picture. Manual handling, first aid, fire safety, and induction records often have gaps
3. Equipment calibration records missing — calibration certificates stored in a drawer with no schedule for when the next calibration is due
4. SOPs that staff cannot locate — having SOPs is not enough; staff must know where to find them and evidence that they have read them
5. Clinical waste documentation gaps — waste transfer notes, consignment notes, and contractor registration records

How to prepare: a practical approach

6 months before assessment

1. Request the current assessment criteria from the RCVS through Stanley (the RCVS PSS assessment management tool)
2. Conduct an internal self-assessment against each standard area
3. Identify the biggest gaps and prioritise by effort to fix

3 months before assessment

4. Update all risk assessments — H&S, COSHH, fire, radiation (if applicable). Make them practice-specific with dates, signatures, and review schedules
5. Complete training records — gather evidence for all staff CPD, induction, manual handling, and first aid
6. Review equipment calibration records — confirm all calibration certificates are current and the next calibration date is scheduled
7. Update SOPs — version-control them, ensure they are accessible to all staff, and document staff acknowledgement

1 month before assessment

8. Walk through the practice with the assessment criteria checklist. Check physical evidence: is signage displayed? Are fire extinguisher inspection tags current? Is the controlled drugs register up to date?
9. Brief all staff on the assessment process and their role
10. Gather evidence packs for each standard area so they are ready to present

The evidence challenge

The PSS assessment is fundamentally about evidence. Assessors do not take your word for compliance — they need documented proof. For independent practices managing compliance across multiple binders, spreadsheets, and shared drives, assembling this evidence is the most time-consuming part of assessment preparation.

Each standard area requires its own documentation: H&S risk assessments in one folder, COSHH assessments in another, training records in a spreadsheet, calibration certificates in a drawer, SOPs in a shared drive. When the assessor asks to see evidence across multiple areas, the practice manager is often physically walking between filing cabinets.

A structured compliance system that holds all evidence in one place — with gap detection that flags what is missing or outdated — transforms assessment preparation from a multi-week documentation scramble into a routine check.

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The RCVS Practice Standards Scheme is administered by the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons. Assessment criteria and requirements are set by the RCVS and may change. Always refer to the RCVS PSS pages for the current framework.