12 Jul 2024
Leading veterinary charity has also urged clinicians affected by the process to reach out to them, though they stress current levels of service demand are largely stable.
Allister Webb
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Image: aurema / Fotolia.
At least three in five vets have experienced abuse linked to the ongoing investigation into UK companion animal services, a new survey has indicated.
A leading veterinary charity has also urged clinicians affected by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) process to reach out to them, though they stress current levels of service demand are largely stable.
The messages were delivered as the authority opened the latest consultation process of the investigation, after it released a new paper setting out the issues it expects to examine in more detail.
Officials from VetHelpDirect.com believe the investigation is more of a “trigger” for abuse than a cause and one-quarter of its survey participants also reported receiving supportive comments arising from it.
David Harris, the organisation’s head of veterinary content, warned the findings also showed many clinicians were facing substantial challenges, including staff shortages and an “immense” workload.
He said: “With so many vets leaving the profession, salaries are rising just to keep people in a workplace where they face constant stress, sometimes limited support and ongoing abuse. Abuse of your vet is never okay – especially if you still want there to be vets there.”
Out of 380 respondents to the survey, 17.4% reported no mention of the CMA inquiry, while 25% said they had received supportive comments from clients either in person, in writing or online.
But more than twice as many participants (54.5%) said they had received verbal abuse that referred to the investigation, with 15.3% reporting written comments and 13.4% referencing online abuse.
Overall, 62.1% of participants said they had received abuse via at least one platform.
BVA president Anna Judson urged practice teams to make use of the support materials on its website to help address the problem. Its own survey data from last autumn indicated that around one-quarter of vets had experienced increased levels of abusive behaviour.
Dr Judson said: “This is clearly unacceptable and BVA’s officers continue to tackle the issue head on, calling out the behaviour during media interviews, urging the public not to pre-empt the outcome of the CMA’s investigation and reminding them that vets enter this high-pressure profession out of genuine care for animals, and will always prioritise their health and welfare.”
Meanwhile, Vetlife president James Russell said demand for its services was broadly steady, following a record year of calls for assistance in 2023.
More than half of calls to the charity are from people experiencing stress in the workplace and he said it was a “reasonable suspicion” that the investigation would be a factor in some cases, even though it is not formally recorded as a call theme.
Mr Russell also stressed that workers should not feel there are any barriers to seeking their help, adding: “Anybody who feels affected by this, please remember the helpline is there for you.”
The latest CMA issues statement, published on 9 July, outlined seven overarching topics that it wants to explore, including:
The document, which has been published on the CMA case website, said other issues may be added to that list, though the authority insisted it had “yet to determine” if there were any issues of competition concern.
Consultation submissions can be emailed to [email protected] before midnight on 30 July.
