Co-Produced Care in Veterinary Services: A Qualitative Study of UK Stakeholders' Perspectives

Changes in client behaviour and expectations, and a dynamic business landscape, amplify the already complex nature of veterinary and animal health service provision. Drawing on prior experiences, veterinary clients increasingly pursue enhanced involvement in services and have expectations of relationship-centred care. Co-production as a conceptualisation of reciprocity in service provision is a fundamental offering in the services sector, including human medicine, yet the role of co-production in veterinary services has been minimally explored. Utilising a service satisfaction framework, semi-structured interviews (n = 13) were completed with three veterinary stakeholder groups, veterinarians, allied animal health practitioners, and veterinary clients. Interview transcript data were subject to the qualitative data analysis techniques, thematic analysis and grounded theory, to explore relationship-centred care and subsequently conceptualise co-production service for the sector. Six latent dimensions of service were emergent, defined as: empathy, bespoke care, professional integrity, value for money, confident relationships, and accessibility. The dimensions strongly advocate wider sector adoption of a co-produced service, and a contextualised co-production framework is presented. Pragmatic challenges associated with integration of active veterinary clients in a practitioner–client partnership are evident. However, adopting a people-centric approach to veterinary services and partnerships with clients can confer the advantages of improved client satisfaction, enhanced treatment adherence and outcomes, and business sustainability

The ABC130 barrel module prototyping programme for the ATLAS strip tracker

For the Phase-II Upgrade of the ATLAS Detector, its Inner Detector, consisting of silicon pixel, silicon strip and transition radiation sub-detectors, will be replaced with an all new 100 % silicon tracker, composed of a pixel tracker at inner radii and a strip tracker at outer radii. The future ATLAS strip tracker will include 11,000 silicon sensor modules in the central region (barrel) and 7,000 modules in the forward region (end-caps), which are foreseen to be constructed over a period of 3.5 years. The construction of each module consists of a series of assembly and quality control steps, which were engineered to be identical for all production sites. In order to develop the tooling and procedures for assembly and testing of these modules, two series of major prototyping programs were conducted: an early program using readout chips designed using a 250 nm fabrication process (ABCN-25) and a subsequent program using a follow-up chip set made using 130 nm processing (ABC130 and HCC130 chips). This second generation of readout chips was used for an extensive prototyping program that produced around 100 barrel-type modules and contributed significantly to the development of the final module layout. This paper gives an overview of the components used in ABC130 barrel modules, their assembly procedure and findings resulting from their tests.Comment: 82 pages, 66 figure

Experiences of Interdisciplinary Working from the Perspective of the Society of Master Saddlers Qualified Saddle Fitters

Horse owners seek the advice and support of a number of equestrian professionals in carrying out their duty of care for their animal. In some instances, these professionals form a multi-disciplinary team (MDT). The aim of this study was to explore the experiences of the Society of Master Saddlers’ qualified saddle fitters (SMSQSFs) working with other professionals and to understand the nature of inter-disciplinary working from an SMSQSF perspective. Semi-structured, one-to-one online interviews with fourteen SMSQSFs were completed. Areas explored included the nature of the participant’s client base; the frequency and nature of their interactions with other professionals; their perceptions of horse owner expectations of an MDT approach; and any benefits, challenges, and barriers to an MDT approach within an equestrian setting. Interviews were video and audio recorded (MS Teams), transcribed verbatim (Otter ai), and imported into qualitative data analysis software (NVivo, version 12). Data were analysed using thematic analysis. Six themes were identified: (1) effective communication; (2) multidisciplinary expectations; (3) horse welfare; (4) professionalism; (5) relationships; (6) working together. Communication was recognised as a crucial component of an effective MDT. Most participants valued and desired an MDT approach. They felt they had a key role to play within the equestrian MDT, not only in the prevention of deterioration in horse welfare but also in improving the functionality and performance of the horse–rider partnership. Effective MDT working was also seen as having benefits to SMSQSFs and other professional stakeholders alike, although time and financial constraints were identified as barriers to MTD working. The role of the horse owner within the MDT was unclear and potentially complex, and this and other factors such as the professional identity of the SMSQSF, personal relationships, and input from others outside of the MDT team were identified as challenges to effective MDT working. This present study found that SMSQSFs experience similar benefits and challenges to an MDT approach as seen in human healthcare settings. The role of the horse owner, communication, and professional recognition are indicated as pivotal to MDT effectiveness in achieving optimal saddle fit

Temporal trends in equine sperm progressive motility: a systematic review and meta-regression

There is increasing evidence reporting geographically sensitive adverse trends in human semen quality, with parallel trends observed in the dog sentinel. Despite significant economic and welfare complications associated with poor testicular function, trends in current equine populations are undetermined. Given the predictive value of sperm progressive motility (PMOT) in male factor infertility and fertilisation potential, research determining trends in this parameter is warranted. This research analysed trends in stallion sperm PMOT through systematic review and meta-regression. Using a comprehensive search strategy; Scopus, Embase (Ovid), Medline (Ovid) and VetMed (CAB direct) were scoped for eligible data. Using best practices, 230 meta-data points from 229 articles published from 1991 to 2021 were collated for meta-regression analysis. Sperm PMOT declined significantly between 1984 and 2019 (simple linear regression: b -0.340, p=0.017; meta-regression: b -0.610, p≤0.001). Overall and yearly PMOT declines were predicted at 33.51% and 0.96%, respectively (1984: 63.69 ± 5.07%; 2019: 42.35 ± 3.69%). Trends remained consistent irrespective of sensitivity analyses. Yearly and overall declines were stronger in western (yearly: 0.75%, overall: 26.29%) compared to non-western (yearly: 0.46%, overall: 10.65%) populations. Adverse trends contribute vital data to the debate surrounding declining semen quality, supporting the use of equines as novel comparative models for human reproduction. Results could have significant economic, health, and welfare consequences for equine breeding sectors. A comparable decline in human, dog, and horse sperm quality are indicative of a common environmental aetiology, indicating the need for a holistic One Health approach in determining causes and developing preventative strategies

The ABC130 barrel module prototyping programme for the ATLAS strip tracker

For the Phase-II Upgrade of the ATLAS Detector [1], its Inner Detector, consisting of silicon pixel, silicon strip and transition radiation sub-detectors, will be replaced with an all new 100% silicon tracker, composed of a pixel tracker at inner radii and a strip tracker at outer radii. The future ATLAS strip tracker will include 11,000 silicon sensor modules in the central region (barrel) and 7,000 modules in the forward region (end-caps), which are foreseen to be constructed over a period of 3.5 years. The construction of each module consists of a series of assembly and quality control steps, which were engineered to be identical for all production sites. In order to develop the tooling and procedures for assembly and testing of these modules, two series of major prototyping programs were conducted: an early program using readout chips designed using a 250 nm fabrication process (ABCN-250) [2,2] and a subsequent program using a follow-up chip set made using 130 nm processing (ABC130 and HCC130 chips). This second generation of readout chips was used for an extensive prototyping program that produced around 100 barrel-type modules and contributed significantly to the development of the final module layout. This paper gives an overview of the components used in ABC130 barrel modules, their assembly procedure and findings resulting from their tests