Staff shortages leave vet sector facing ticking time bomb

The outgoing BVA president has warned the veterinary sector faces a “ticking time bomb” because of the current pressures on its workforce.

Justine Shotton delivered the stark message during the organisation’s annual members day in Cambridge, before her successor, Malcolm Morley, urged the profession to strive for “positive change”.

Last month, the boss of CVS, one of the UK’s biggest veterinary groups, struck a more optimistic tone as he reported both higher profits and more veterinary staff on its books.

Action needed

But Dr Shotton, who has now taken up the role of senior vice-president at the BVA, told members the industry must act now to prevent staff retention problems from getting worse.

She said: “As I look forward, the veterinary profession continues to face many challenges – possibly the biggest being workforce capacity; this is a ticking time bomb that urgently needs addressing.”

The warning follows a summer dominated by economic anxiety, and fears from industry bosses and union leaders that the veterinary sector could face collapse if it can’t find ways to keep more of its staff in work.

Acknowledge problems

Investing in people is the theme of Dr Morley’s year in office and he used his first speech as president to plead with the sector to acknowledge its present problems.

He said he was proud to be part of such a dedicated profession, but highlighted recent comments by the outgoing BEVA president Huw Griffiths, who called for work to fit the workforce and not the other way round.

Dr Morley acknowledged the commitment of veterinary professionals comes with a cost as he argued many of those who have left the profession felt a “deep-rooted disaffection with veterinary workplaces” that was not solely due to recent developments.

Systemic issues

He said: “We can point to Brexit, the pandemic, and the rapid rise in pet ownership as external factors putting our profession under huge pressure and leaving staff exhausted. However, we must acknowledge that not all the challenges are external or new, and there are long-term systemic issues with retention, recruitment and return to work. Workforce shortages are a key issue.

“We stand at a crossroads… and the road that has brought the profession to where we are now will not be the same road that leads us forward. It cannot be.

“We can either put our heads down, tighten our belts and hope for the best or we can acknowledge the issues, focus on solutions and look forward to ensuring veterinary medicine is a great place to work.

“These times of challenge must be a catalyst for positive change.”

Final results

A brighter picture has been offered by the CVS Group after it published its final results for the year to the end of June.

The company reported pre-tax profits of £36 million, up by 8.8% on the previous year, and said it was employing 6% more vets and 11.4% more VNs than in the previous 12 months.

It also highlighted RCVS figures from November last year that suggested an increase of around 1% in the number of practising vets in the UK.

‘Growth opportunity’

Chief executive Richard Fairman said: “There remains a shortage of vets in the UK and we are keen to recruit more vets to enable us to capitalise on the growth opportunity in the market.

“We are confident that the supply of vets and nurses will increase over the medium term, given that there are now 11 vet schools in the UK.”

Mr Fairman also voiced optimism for what he described as the “resilient” veterinary market, citing the findings of an internal clients’ survey that suggested only 5.2% of owners would consider cutting spending on their pets despite the continuing pressure on household finances.

Welfare crisis

But several charities have already warned of an impending welfare crisis as owners find themselves unable to afford to care for their pets anymore, and Dr Shotton said the effects of those pressures are already being felt by animals and professionals alike.

She said: “Our members in practice are telling us that they are seeing increasing numbers of serious cases of poor animal welfare that could have been prevented if owners had been able to take preventive measures or sought help sooner.

“We know these difficult decisions are having an impact on the well-being of vet teams, who are already facing extreme workforce pressures.”