Veterinary Associations

Crisis in Vet Recruitment Highlighted in SPVS Survey

vetreportNovember 6, 2017

The current crisis in vet recruitment is very real and can only get worse according to a survey of owners and managers carried out by SPVS in September.

More than half of the businesses taking part did not have a full complement of vets, with 28% reporting a severe impact on their ability to cover out of hours (OOH) work. Most had attempted to recruit in the past 12 months and 31% had failed to find a suitable candidate at the time of responding. Of those who had received applications, only 38% had come from the UK.

An unwillingness to do OOH and disatisfaction with working hours was cited as the most common reason for candidates not accepting a position. This, combined with most respondents saying that personally they planned to reduce their working hours suggests that the crisis can only deepen and that to succeed in recruitment, employers will have to consider more flexible working.
Brian Faulkner, SPVS President says:
‘This survey provides valuable evidence to support the profession as they work with government and the colleges to try and counter this crisis in recruitment which threatens to get worse with Brexit. If not tackled it will become increasingly difficult for vets to provide a satisfactory 24 hour health service for the UK’s pets, horses and farm animals.’

SPVS carried out a similar survey in 2015 and comparison between the two showed a worsening situation with only 22% of practices finding a new recruit within three months compared to over 30% two years ago. A further finding which may be related was that twice as many respondents were advertising for new or recent graduates compared to 2015.

Peter Brown, SPVS Vice President Elect, who oversaw the survey says;
A message to employers is that those practices offering good training and support together with internships for new or recent graduates appeared less likely to be facing recruitment issues’
The full survey is available on the SPVS website at www.spvs.org.uk