GP role rebrand and workforce packages among ideas to solve recruitment crisis

Rebranding the GP vet and VN roles, and creating back-to-work packages to draw those who have have left the register back are among ideas suggested to tackle the sector’s recruitment crisis.

The RCVS has released a report detailing the ideas suggested at last November’s Workforce Summit, which also included mandatory interpersonal skill CPD courses for vets.

The event, held on 30 November 2021, brought together 80 stakeholders from across the professions to discuss ways to keep more vet staff in practice.

Career framework

Also included in the list of possible solutions was a call for practices to prioritise workload, to ensure people’s skills are maximised, and to introduce a professions-wide career framework.

The summit was based around six key themes:

• readiness for work
• work-life balance
• workplace culture
• client interactions
• career development
• return to work

Attendees were divided into groups and after discussing the six key themes, asked to develop ideas and pitch a potential solution to a problem the sector was facing.

Considered solutions

The six solutions considered were:

1. Rebrand the GP role (for both vets and vet nurses) to emphasise its benefits and rewards, which will encourage people to choose general practice as an active career choice that they wished to pursue long term.
2. Develop ways for practices to prioritise workload and ensure people’s skills are maximised. This could include developing legislation that allows nurses to take on greater responsibility, and developing efficiency models that focus on delegation and outsourcing rather than working longer hours.
3. Introduce a compulsory curriculum for developing interpersonal, leadership and personal skills to be considered as important as mandatory CPD. This could be achieved through developing a workplace charter and identifying leaders with a passion for personal progression who could spearhead the initiative.
4. Create a compulsory communications skills programme, which would be introduced in a sustainable way.
5. Introduce a professions-wide career framework to help everyone in the veterinary team achieve job satisfaction at the time they wanted it, at a salary that recognised their value and met their needs.
6. Create a flexible back-to-work package of support to help people return to the veterinary professions after leaving the register.

‘Robust debates’

RCVS president Kate Richards said: “I want to thank everyone who attended the summit and for taking part in robust debates throughout the day. We know that one organisation can’t solve all the issues facing the veterinary workforce, which is why it was so important to have the expertise and experience of numerous people and organisations present at the summit.

“Although the issues affecting the UK veterinary sector aren’t new, they have been exacerbated over the past few years by factors outside of the sector’s control. We know that putting in place solutions to address and solve the issues that the veterinary sector is facing will take time.

“We want to reiterate that the summit was the first, albeit an incredibly important first step in co-creating innovative solutions to workforce shortages.

“I look forward to working collaboratively with our veterinary colleagues from across the professions to bring the workforce action plan to life and work on the solutions that come out of it.”

Next, the RCVS will consider the feasibility of some of the suggestions made at the summit and integrate any that seem the most likely to prove beneficial into a future action plan.

• This article was amended on 3 March to change retired to left the register in the introduction.