9 May 2023
Report – compiled by PDSA – offers one of the first significant indications of how current economic pressures are seen to be affecting veterinary businesses.
Allister Webb
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Image: © gopixa /Adobe Stock
One in four UK veterinary professionals fear their practice may have to reduce its size or staffing because of rising costs, a new survey has suggested.
The annual PAW Report also found more than one-third are also worried about potential limits on services, while more than half are reporting more clients delaying care for their pets.
The findings follow fresh calls for Government action to help struggling pet owners, amid fears the support already being offered by charities will not stop the crisis getting worse.
Although the BVA expressed fears last year that some practices could be forced to shut amid soaring energy prices, the report – compiled by PDSA – offers one of the first significant indications of how current economic pressures are seen to be affecting veterinary businesses.
The analysis is based on surveys of more than 700 veterinary sector professionals and more than 5,500 pet owners, carried out by the polling organisation YouGov.
A quarter of professional respondents (25%) – which includes vets, veterinary nurses, students, support, practice managers and academics – said they were concerned their practice may have to limit or reduce its size, or the number of vets, to remain in business.
The same proportion reported fewer clients attending their practice, while 34% said they were concerned services may be limited or cut due to rising costs.
Sean Wensley – PDSA’s senior veterinary surgeon for communication and education – said the findings were likely to reflect longer-term recruitment and retention challenges, and the impact of COVID-19, as well as current economic pressures.
He said: “The evidence that has come through of how well practices feel able to continue to provide the service they would like to is probably the culmination of all those things over the past few years.”
The report also found 52% of professionals were finding more clients delaying bringing an ill pet to them, while 56% said more clients were unable to afford unexpected care bills.
Among owners, 86% said the cost of keeping their pet had increased and 83% admitted they were concerned the cost of living crisis would negatively impact on pet welfare.
Nearly half (47%) said they were worried about the cost of treatment if their pet was ill or injured, while just more than one-quarter (26%) said they would go into debt to meet an unexpected care bill.
Dr Wensley said there are signs that more cases, which would previously have been dealt with in private practice, are now being referred to PDSA hospitals as increasing numbers of clients become eligible for its services.
Richard Hooker, the charity’s veterinary services director, added: “It is essential that we continue to support pet owners and work towards understanding the barriers owners may have to providing the care that pets require.
“The veterinary professions, and the wider animal welfare community, have a vital role to play in using both empathy and evidence-based information to guide owners to help them improve their pet’s well-being.”
The scale of need has been further highlighted by a fresh call for the chancellor, Jeremy Hunt, to suspend VAT charges on veterinary services and pet food.
The measure was initially proposed ahead of the spring budget in March by Dogs Trust, which said its petition in favour of it had now been signed by more than 105,000 people.
Having received more than 50,000 rehoming requests in a year for the first time in 2022, the group said it had already had more than 15,000 similar pleas for help so far this year.
Mr Hooker and Dogs Trust boss Owen Sharp are among the signatories on a newly published letter pleading for Mr Hunt to act, warning that the support already being offered by charities and other organisations is not enough on its own.
It continued: “There is a real threat to animal rescue charities of a wave of impending animal relinquishment, with less homes available for the waiting animals affected.
“As cost of living pressures deepen, we urgently need Government support to ensure that pets can stay with loving families where they belong.
“Removing the 20% VAT on pet food and veterinary services costs could be critical to many pet owners at a time when interest rates, as well as costs for energy, food and fuel, have all rapidly increased.
“These measures will ensure that more families stay together with their pets, reducing pressure on rehoming centres and providing vital companionship through a time of great hardship for many.
“Please ensure that the United Kingdom lives up to its well-earned reputation as a nation of animal lovers by ensuring that more pets are kept within loving families where they belong.”
The other signatories to the letter are Battersea chief executive Peter Laurie, RSPCA boss Chris Sherwood, Cats Protection’s feline welfare director Maggie Roberts, Pet Industry Federation chief operating officer Alexandra Baker and Marisa Heath, founder of the Local Government Animal Welfare Group.
