3 Mar 2022
Vets4Pets Project Listen report shows almost half of veterinary professionals are struggling with work-life balance while 40% described personal well-being as “not that good” or “poor”.
James Westgate
Job Title
Image © Olivier Le Moal / Adobe Stock
One of the UK’s largest veterinary groups has acknowledged the need for change after releasing a report showing a significant number of vets and nurses are struggling with their well-being.
Vets4Pets has published its inaugural Project Listen report after engaging with more than 700 vets, nurses, and support teams to better understand the key challenges facing the profession and discover opportunities to drive positive change.
Research and polling for the report was conducted against the backdrop of the COVID-19 pandemic and ongoing recruitment challenges, with results suggesting these factors have led to a significant number of veterinary professionals (47%) expressing concerns over their work-life balance.
The report showed that while 60% of veterinary professionals rated their current health and well-being as ”excellent”, “good”, or “neutral”, the remaining 40% selected ”not that good” or “poor”, based on increased pressures and a substantial workload.
Respondents also highlighted the negative impact that client behaviour can have, with 61% citing the need for more support in this area as the most important factor in achieving good health and well-being.
This was ahead of mental health support, which was acknowledged as the second most important factor.
Prior to publishing the results, Vets4Pets had already started work on its own change agenda including a entering into a partnership with the veterinary flexible working group, Flexee, as well as introducing systems to increase the proportion of time that vets can dedicate to clinical work and improve the overall work-life balance within practices.
Vets4Pets has also committed to providing a trained mental health first aider in every practice, developing an enhanced leadership development programme and partnering with VetLed for additional training to support teams in client engagement.
The company is also aligning its working values and behaviours with those of the BVA’s Good Veterinary Workplaces Code.
Huw Stacey, director of clinical services at Vets4Pets, said: “In publishing this report, we wanted to start a vital conversation on protecting the well-being of veterinary teams and the future of the profession.
“We’ve listened to the feedback from hundreds of professionals and while it’s encouraging to see the huge passion that we all share in providing clinical excellence, we recognise that there are still many opportunities to improve the perception of the profession as an attractive, long-term career option.”
Gudrun Ravetz, former BVA president, added: “Vets4Pets has been proactive in its commitment to understanding the needs of the veterinary workforce and designing a practice-led solution.
“Adopting the BVA’s Good Veterinary Workplaces Code as the foundation for positive progression across the organisation will bring focus and practical, achievable solutions that can drive positive and enduring change; a Good Veterinary Workplace.”
