1 Mar 2023
The Veterinary Human Factors Conference was told the sector must fully embrace new ways of working or risk “going backwards”.
Allister Webb
Job Title
Veterinary professionals have been urged to get involved in the process of change or risk the sector “going backwards” in the future.
The plea came as senior figures discussed how to sustain passion for the profession during the annual Veterinary Human Factors Conference, staged by VetLed and supported by Vet Times.
Issues including legislative reform, the “under care” question, and the recruitment and retention crisis have dominated the agenda for the industry’s representative and regulatory bodies in recent months.
However, when asked how professionals could support their representative bodies better, BVNA president Charlotte Pace shared a blunt message she herself once received.
She told the virtual session: “I was told during COVID: rather than complain, get involved.
“Whether or not it’s a representative or a regulatory body, we can only actually affect change if we’re part of that solution.”
Both Ms Pace and her RCVS counterpart Melissa Donald revealed in the session that they had themselves considered leaving the profession on occasions during their own careers.
But while Dr Donald said her current work was focused on making the sector fit for the future, she also acknowledged to see the good in life as a vet.
She said: “Sometimes, you don’t see how good it is what you’re doing when you’re in the middle of it.”
Ms Pace also defended the industry bodies against claims of a lack of joined-up thinking in their approach to key issues, highlighting the “Protect the Title” campaign as an example of effective collaboration.
And BVA president Malcolm Morley said he had been reminded the veterinary profession’s workforce issues were not unique after attending the NFU Conference in Birmingham on 21 to 22 February.
He said the sector needed to embrace new ways of working, adding: “The world is changing around us.
“How we interact with our employees, team members and employers is all changing. The world is not staying the same, and we have to move with it or we’re going backwards.”
Meanwhile, Andrea Jeffery, a former RCVS VN council chair, and chief nursing officer for Linnaeus, argued now was the time to properly consider legislative reform as she urged professionals to make their voices heard in surveys from either the college or their representative groups.
She said: “We can’t expect other people to do things for us. We need to have that confidence to speak as a profession and we’re getting there with that.”
