Vet Sustain Welcomes Becky Sedman as New Director

Hi Becky, welcome to the Vet Sustain Board of Directors, can you tell us a little about your current role and professional interests?

Working nights at a small animal hospital that sees first opinion and referral emergency cases has really developed my interest in Emergency and Critical Care (ECC). I am currently at the final hurdle of completing my PGCert (ECC). The fast pace, efficient teamwork, quick critical reasoning, and balance of exciting medicine and surgery makes up for the obscure sleep patterns of the job! Fortunately, my team are also very eager to work as sustainably as possible and we have implemented loads of green initiatives in recent years. So I get to merge my two passions into one!

What does a typical day look like for you?

My shift starts at 7.30pm, at which point I take handover from the day team. Emergencies are seen as and when throughout the night, for which I will work them up and do any procedures they might need. I also look after the inpatients (anywhere up to 30 inpatients per night!), check their plans and manage any concerns the nurses might have. All my clinical notes will be finished ahead of the morning handover to the day team. Then I go home and eat, sleep, work, repeat! The shifts themselves are pretty intense, but I then get a good amount of time off afterwards to recover.

What is your favourite part of the job?

It is NEVER boring. You just don't know what's going to walk through the door! Disclaimer: I love the chaos....some might call it Type 2 fun!

What is the most challenging part of your job?

Adapting to working nights and the backwards sleep cycle. It took me a good 6 months to figure out the best way to make this work for me and reduce fatigue on shift/ learn to cope with a slightly tired brain.

Do you have any tips for achieving a good work-life balance?

Fortunately my shift patterns facilitate a good work life balance. When I am off, I try to get outside as much as I can to soak up the chlorophyll, and spend loads of time with friends and family. My husband and I love a good campervan adventure! I also have a couple of creative side hustles which I love to get stuck in to.

How do veterinary professionals currently help to drive sustainability?

So many ways! I think we all have an inherent respect and fondness for biodiversity and ecosystems, and a stable climate and efficient resource use is paramount to protect this. We have huge sway in our spheres of influence (in the work place, amongst our inner circle) and through professional opinion when we interact with clients and members of the public.

What do you feel are the major opportunities to drive sustainability in the veterinary sector?

Commenting as a small animal vet, I think responsible medicines use is incredibly important. I'm referring mainly to antimicrobials, antiparasiticides and anaesthetic gases as these all have huge environmental and One Health impacts. Plus, this is such an easy thing to work on at both an individual and organisational level, given that we have loads of resources out there to inform best practice!

What are your top tips for veterinary professionals wishing to take the first steps to drive sustainability in their roles?

Just go for it! Don't wait until you have all of the answers (none of us do). But so long as you can identify the problem areas, you'll find there are often many innovative solutions when you brainstorm ideas together. Start with the easy wins to get everyone hyped and onboard, and make sure people understand the 'why' behind the changes - you may find this resonates with them too! People will always be somewhat resistant to change, so make sure you listen to their thoughts and concerns from the get-go as this will help to overcome potential barriers to behaviour change in the future

If you could wave a magic wand and make one improvement to drive the sustainability impact of the veterinary profession, what would it be?

Evidence!! We are in a sector dominated (rightly so) by evidence based medicine, so I think sometimes people need to see numbers to be encouraged to adopt new ideas, or to realise the benefits of their efforts. We are increasingly working on data collection and research, and I'd like to think this will help to drive sustainability within the sector even further.