Vet survey reveals management recognition need

A first of its kind veterinary management survey has revealed fresh insights into the challenges facing sector leaders, as respondents highlighted increasing regulatory demand and a lack of recognition for the practice management role.

The results of the survey, commissioned by Agilio Veterinary and the VMG, were unveiled by Vet Times editor James Westgate and VMG president Rebecca Robinson at the Agilio Live health care conference in London.

The Veterinary Practice Management Challenges and Evolution report 2026-27 accrued responses from 215 practice managers, owners and others in leadership roles.

Around two-thirds (67%) worked in first opinion practice and 82% at sites with 11 or more staff, with 49% being corporate, 45% independent and 6% employee-owned.

Valued

More than one-third of independent respondents (35%) rated their sense of being valued as “very good”, compared with just 13% of corporate respondents. Almost half (44%) of corporate respondents reported staff leaving over pay and benefits while 33% left over lack of career progression, compared with 13.5% and 12% of independents, respectively.

More than one-third (35%) of corporates reported losing six or more staff in the last year; only 12% of independents said the same.

Both groups agreed practice management was more difficult than it was two years ago (68% of total respondents), with 30% describing it as “much harder”.

Respondents named client affordability (47%), staff well-being (40%), administrative workload (33%) and cost inflation (32%) as their biggest challenges, followed by recruitment (29%).

Time drains

Biggest time drains included HR administration (49%), client communications and complaints (47%) and team well-being conversations (43%), although 91% felt very or fairly confident managing their role’s administrative demands.

Agilio chief of staff Emma Barnes said: “One of the most important things this research shows is that this isn’t a capability problem.

“Practice managers are incredibly capable people – the overwhelming majority feel confident managing the administrative demands of the role – but the role itself has become broader, more complex and more people-intensive.

“They are managing HR, difficult client conversations, team well-being, recruitment, compliance and increasingly strategic decisions, often all at once.”

Growing requirements

Nearly four in five (79%) reported regulatory and compliance requirements have grown over the past three years, but just 23% felt recognition of the practice management role had increased over the same period, while 21% said recognition had fallen.

Almost half (46%) felt the profession’s bodies should prioritise recognising practice management as a distinct profession. Almost all (96%) the respondents reported at least one staffing pressure within the past year, with almost two-thirds (65%) highlighting the need to recruit veterinary nurses.

Nearly half (49%) identified burnout or emotional exhaustion among their team, while 43% reported compassion fatigue. Just 20% described a settled team facing none of these pressures.

Infrastructure

Mrs Barnes added: “What needs to change now is the infrastructure around them: better recognition of practice management as a profession, more joined-up systems and, crucially, the time and headspace to lead rather than simply absorb the next operational problem.

“The opportunity coming out of this research is to move the conversation from simply acknowledging how hard the role has become, to asking what we can practically do to make it more sustainable.”