‘Don’t wait for law change to address nursing issues’ – BVNA

The veterinary sector should not wait for legislative reform to address the issues which are persuading some nurses to quit the profession altogether, senior figures have warned.

The plea comes after the RCVS’s inaugural Exit Survey revealed that more than half of all nurses leaving the college’s register were also moving into another field of work.

The finding has already prompted calls from the BVNA for a collective response to address the underlying problems.

But while she described the prospect of legislative change as a “huge positive”, senior vice-president Lyndsay Hughes cautioned against seeing it as a single solution to current challenges.

She said: “There is so much that we could be doing now already that we don’t need legislation for and I think that’s a really frustrating thing.”

Although overall departures were said to equate to only 3.2% of all registered nurses in 2024, the survey found 54% of nursing respondents reported they were leaving the profession altogether, compared to just 7.8% of UK-registered vets.

With pay and stress highlighted among the main reasons for leaving, Mrs Hughes argued changes could be made now to address those issues, though she added: “It has to be the right people in the practice that end up leading on that.”

‘Legislative change’

The association stressed that legislative change, including formal protection of the veterinary nurse title, remained a key concern as it set out its priorities for the year ahead.

But it is also planning a fresh drive, including new case studies and greater engagement with vets, to show how nurses’ skills can be more fully utilised within the existing legislative framework.

Charlotte Bullard, the BVNA’s newly appointed head of policy and public affairs, said the group heard nurses’ frustrations about lack of opportunities “almost on a daily basis” as she argued that expanding their roles would have far wider benefits.

She said: “Being utilised for their skill set doesn’t just lead to positive outcomes for the nurses. It’s also their veterinary colleagues. It’s also the patient outcomes.

“But, from a business perspective, underutilising nurses makes absolutely no sense from a financial perspective, from a team perspective.”

Clarification needed

A key aspect of addressing that issue, though, is likely to be greater clarification of what nurses can and cannot do under Schedule 3 of the existing Veterinary Surgeons Act.

Mrs Hughes said the association had highlighted the issue as part of its discussions with Defra on a replacement law, a public consultation on which is expected imminently.

But while she suggested that replacing the schedule with a list of day one competences similar to those of vets may be preferable, she argued that regulators and individuals have a role in tackling the issue now.

She said: “I do feel, personally, that the RCVS could be doing more to make it easier for people to understand Schedule 3 and what nurses can do.

“But individual professionals also need to take the step to find that information and, if they don’t understand it, ask questions rather than just ignore it.”

Ms Bullard added that the association would also support any efforts to draw up career pathways for new graduates, similar to those which the RCVS is currently developing for vets.