Vet’s take: progress, pressures and what’s next – four decades on

It has been almost 40 years since I qualified as a veterinary surgeon and began what has been a fulfilling and diverse career. I dreamed of being a vet from the age of four, was completely obsessed with animals and constantly wanted to be around them. That eventually led me to the RVC, where I spent five years laying the foundations for everything that followed.

The early days

When I started out, the profession looked very different to the one our new graduates face today. My first job was in a mixed practice near Cheltenham, as small animal-only jobs were much more unusual. Over time, I gradually built up the small animal work, as my boss was happier on the farms.

The working day began at 8am with morning surgery. We operated on an “open book” basis: clients would call that morning and turn up the same day. Consults lasted just five minutes. Everything was handwritten: clinical notes, prescription labels, consent forms, even receipts. Clients paid in cash or by cheque, and some ran monthly accounts. There were no invoices, estimates, or automated systems available to enhance care and efficiency. There was no internet, no email, just post and phone, until the advent of the fax machine.

Client expectations and knowledge were more limited, and specialist referral care was almost non-existent beyond the five UK veterinary schools. Most clinics had radiography, but few had ultrasound or in-house laboratories, while even fewer always had qualified nurses in attendance.

Back then, clients tended to visit more for urgent care rather than routine, as there wasn’t much information about preventive care; pay-per-month pet health “clubs”, puppy parties and nurse clinics were not on our horizon. Work-life balance was not part of our vocabulary at the time, either, and a jam-packed work schedule was just the norm.

The next chapters

At my second job in the early 1990s, change was already happening – especially in technology for our small animal patients. I won a competition at the much-lamented BSAVA Congress, and the prize was an in-house blood machine. This was a game changer for diagnostics, but it was also met with a certain scepticism. We checked its findings against the external lab for reassurance until we gained confidence in reliability. Today, we wouldn’t want to be without such fast turnaround times – especially as most quality control systems are now built in.

In the early 1990s, my career took a different path, and I joined Hill’s Pet Nutrition as veterinary affairs manager for the UK. Looking back, I realise this was also a period of rapid change within the profession driven largely by the large pet food companies such as Hill’s and then Waltham.

But, like today, this sudden change was also met by a certain fear and scepticism. The persuading we had to do to convince senior partners to allow a pet food stand in their reception; today you would be surprised not to see nutritional choice and advice clearly displayed.

I spent several years at Hill’s lecturing, launching diets, doing PR work, writing articles, and teaching vets about nutrition and the business side of practice. Through Hill’s innovative Practice Health programme, we covered HR, marketing, interviewing, performance reviews, creating contracts and financial analysis of a veterinary practice.

The early days of corporate groups started as practices were able to advertise themselves more widely. That’s when I decided to open my own small animal practice in the basement of my family home with a single qualified nurse and my sister helping on reception. The name itself, Vets on the Park, was left field for the time, as most practices were still named after their partners. It was such a beautiful space.

At Hill’s, I had spent a lot of time visiting practices all over the world, and so I felt that my practice was the culmination of the things I had seen and what I’d felt were good ideas.

The digital revolution

Computers and the internet marked a sea change. We moved from handwritten records to computerised notes; from hand-typed prescriptions to auto-generated labels; from casual cash payments to proper invoices and credit card terminals. Now, there was access to so much data and this fuelled the growth in targeted bespoke marketing to our client base.

Client expectations also started to change, driven by popular TV shows where they could see behind the consulting room doors. More clients began comparing our service to human health care. When I started, there were no real benchmarks. If you wanted to speak to your friends or colleagues, you would need to call them or write them a letter. Social media has completely changed all of that. Now, vets can have a video call with an expert, look up research and easily send test results to whoever needs them.

A changing landscape

Corporate ownership now dominates the profession, and the workforce is largely female. At the same time, rising stress levels have resulted in many vets leaving the profession early in their careers, leading to large gaps in staffing levels.

Work-life balance has become increasingly important for us all. The role of the pet has also changed dramatically. Our pets have moved from the backyard to the bedroom and are now considered part of the family, or even as child substitutes. Client numbers have soared since the pandemic, and Brexit exacerbated vet shortages. The workload has only intensified, and so has the strain on mental health.

Client behaviour and knowledge have shifted as well. The internet and the ubiquitous mobile phone have brought pet care information to the fingertips of our clients. While this can be helpful, it also means that our clients not only question our advice, but often seek their own totally independent of you, their vet.

There’s now a whole generation of clients who instinctively go online first. That convenience is what they’ve come to expect from every service they use. But inaccurate or misleading online advice, from a social media influencer, for example, can delay treatment or result in pets not getting the care they need.

After running busy practices on the ground, I was ready to reduce my working hours and enjoy some real flexibility, which is what attracted me to Joii Pet Care. It was created by Vet-AI and I joined its clinical team in December 2024. I must admit, I joined the team with a degree of scepticism myself as to how much telemedicine could really achieve – and boy was I wrong.

Looking forward: a hybrid model

The profession is at a crossroads. If we want to reach more pets, support our workforce and give our clients what they really want, we must take a fresh look at veterinary care and embrace technology to really embed ourselves in a society that operates 24/7.

A staggering 40% of pet owners in the UK did not visit a vet in the past 12 months and when surveyed, they gave cost and inconvenience as their main reasons. Cat owners especially prefer to seek advice from the comfort of their homes without the need to stress the cat with a basket and car journey.

In my opinion, we should look towards developing telemedicine to become part of everyday practice. So, you offer all your clients telemedicine consults while keeping the option to ring in and book an appointment in-person.

If it’s a follow up to an ear or skin problem, or a postop wound check, for example, then you can look at that remotely, offer advice or recommend the client comes into the clinic if you are concerned.

There is potential for time savings, too. I recently consulted on a dog with a fractured dew claw;  it was bleeding and clearly needed removal under sedation. I told the owner not to feed their pet and to call their vet immediately.

Had the dog been fed, the procedure might have been delayed, wasting valuable time and clinic slots.

Through Joii, we regularly help manage complicated skin cases and often advise clients to seek face-to-face care, perhaps for blood tests or prescription medication. We cannot do everything, but the vets can point them in the right direction and offer some reassurance or relief in the meantime.

If more clinics offered telemedicine, vets could truly be offered hybrid working, allowing them to fit in the school run and then check back in from home to consult remotely later in the day, as an example.

Most of us here at Joii work both in practice and remotely, which allows us to keep doing what we love.

Embracing what’s next

Anything new is scary. Anything you don’t understand can seem threatening. But, it would be groundbreaking to move to a stage where you have your regular vet and a telemedicine vet working together.

If I think about the time when I was running my own practice, I would have really welcomed a service like Joii.

One thing I’ve learned is that many clients we help haven’t seen a veterinary surgeon for at least two years. Stress, time and logistics are the main reasons they quote.

Telemedicine should not be seen as competition to dilute your footfall, but as an additional tool that will, and does, propel those clients directly to your door.

Having experienced both traditional practice and telemedicine, I believe the future lies in a hybrid approach. I’ve seen how it improves access, educates owners, eases pressure and creates new opportunities.

Telemedicine is here to stay; it absolutely cannot and should not replace in-person consultations, but if it allows more animals to get the treatment they need and deserve, then our profession should embrace it with open arms.

• This article appeared in Vet Times (2025), Volume 55, Issue 37, Pages 17-18