Category: General

SOAP would like to wish all its members and followers a bright and prosperous new year. The profession is entering a phase of great change and with your help, we will continue to work tirelessly to support you. Please know that every day, a member of the SOAP team is fighting on your behalf to maintain the profession and move it from strength to strength. It’s no mean feat for a voluntary group, so any support is welcomed. If you feel that you could spare some time for the profession this year, please let us know. The more of us that worked together the better. This is not a solo performance.

With thanks to all.

Dustie Houchin (Chair)

Communicating with SOAP

SOAP is a voluntary specialist interest group that endorses best practice methods in animal osteopathy and request law-abiding practice as per The Veterinary Surgeon’s Act 1966 from all full members.

If you are a member of SOAP and wish to communicate with us, here are three methods you can use.

Ways to communicate with SOAP

1. Blog contact
2. Email
3. Internal Complaints Procedure

1. Blog

The SOAP website is set up with blog options, so you can go into the members section at any time and enter a question or query on the blog – under the section that is relevant to your comment. We would like to remind members that anything you post is placed in the public domain, so we suggest you avoid anything of a personal nature or comments that you aren’t happy for the world to read. General questions or comments, or sharing of education information are perfect for these methods.

2. Email

You are welcome to email us (mailto:soap.secretary@gmail.com) if you have a suggestion or request that is inappropriate for the public domain i.e. the blog. We are happy to hear any ideas you may have for SOAP or concerns about the profession at large. We also welcome correspondence from experienced members who wish to join the SOAP team on an active basis.

3. Internal Complaint Procedure

Although we do our best to support our members, there maybe times when we fail to meet your expectations or you may hear something about another member that you wish to report to us on a more formal scale. If you wish to file a formal complaint about SOAP or a SOAP member, please send your complaint to the SOAP Secretary at secretary.soap@gmail.com

Our Internal Complaints Procedure process:

1. We will acknowledge your complaint by email (or letter if requested) as soon as we receive it.
2. Your complaint will be brought to the attention of the SOAP committee at the earliest opportunity.
3. The committee’s feedback and (if appropriate) plan of action will be shared with you by email (or letter if requested).
4. SOAP will action the points included in this communication and/or may ask you for more information.
5. Once all the necessary information has been collated and any necessary actions implemented, you will be asked to confirm that you are happy with the outcome of the process or whether you wish to take further action.

 Please note:

SOAP is not a legal or regulatory entity and as such, is only be able to assist in communications between you and the aforementioned individual. If your complaint has been raised against a SOAP member and includes concerns about malpractice or poor professional conduct you may need to consider a more formal approach as outlined in our External Complaints Procedure. This can be found in the Terms & Conditions section (under the Membership tab).

Could we urge all members to read the news section of the website this month, as there is important news, pertaining to the future of osteopathy and your support would be welcomed.

With thanks

Nadine Hobson

Yesterday, Nadine, Tony and myself spoke at the iO conference in Runnymede, Berks. The talk covered various facets of animal osteopathy, from the current political arena, to research, into clinical practice. The talk was well received and a number of delegates came to speak with us afterwards.

During the day we had some great conversations, including a discussion with a member of the iO, which will hopefully lead to a regular animal column in the iO journal. We also made contact with an osteopath in France, who is interested in hearing from members who have written research papers in the field of AO. This is very exciting for those of you who are currently writing your undergraduate dissertations in this area.

The overriding feeling at the conference, was of change. Change for the greater good of the profession. This rings true also within animal osteopathy, where the political and educational environment is progressing by the day.

SOAP is committed to helping the profession through this time of change, but in order to do the job properly, we need your help. At present, our team works on a voluntary basis, but in order to stand tall, next to the other mainstream manual therapies, we must be progressive and visible. Whether that be at conferences or educational events. All this takes time and money, even though our committee give their time for free.

Please remember that your subscriptions are vitally important to the future your profession.

If you feel passionately about your profession, please help us by keeping your subs up to date and where possible, making additional donations. Every penny takes us a step closer to the unified profession we all need. 

With thanks

Dustie Houchin (Chair of SOAP)

A client is seeking an animal osteopath in the Manchester area. If you treat in this region, please drop me an email: animalosteopaths@gmail.com and I will connect you.

With thanks,

Dustie Houchin

I have been asked to locate an Osteopath in the Southampton region to treat a Toy Poodle with previous suspected disc herniation (5/12).  If you treat in this region please email soap memberships@gmail.com for further details. – Thank you.

Elea

I talked recently to a SOAP member who said that she often had questions she wanted like to ask, but because the new forums aren’t utilised yet, she felt embarrassed to ask.

This isn’t an uncommon comment and something I’d like to change.

Firstly, when you join WordPress, you can use a pseudonym, so no one will ever know who you are. This means you can ask any question you wish, without feeling embarrassed or awkward. Secondly, no question is ever a stupid question. We’d be more concerned about practitioners who don’t ask questions and carry on regardless.

Please use the forums, that is why we provided them. We want our members to feel supported, but we can’t do that if you don’t join in.

We look forward to hearing from you.

Dustie Houchin 

Have you got an interesting case or article  to share?

As a way of sharing knowledge and experience across the profession, SOAP is actively seeking case studies and research papers that support or assist animal osteopathy. If you have a interesting case study that you are willing to share or have read an article or paper that would be of interest to other members, please send it to Dustie Houchin at: animalosteopaths@gmail.com 

All those who contribute a case study of their own, will be offered the opportunity to include a small write up/advertorial about their practice for the website entry. Supporting photographs will be welcomed to show the animal named in the case. 

For the first time ever, the Institute of Osteopathy (formerly the British Osteopathic Institution) is conducting a profession wide census to help us to understand more about osteopathy in the UK. SOAP is supporting this important venture and would like to invite all osteopaths (both iO members and non-members alike) to participate so that we can improve our knowledge of the profession and inform future developments.

To find out more and to take part, go to:

http://www.osteopathy.org/the-io-census-2014

 http://www.osteopathy.org/the-io-census-2014