Vet shortage?

[hedgehogger1]

Been trying to get my pet into to see the vet. I'd registered pets previously but they've never actually needed to go. Contacted the vets and they said they had no record of me and weren't accepting new patients. Called about 15 other vets and none are accepting new patients. Not sure what to do :(

Our vets is terribly short staffed too. They are months behind in pet vaccinations. They said its due to Brexit.

Op, are you absolutely certain they spelt your name right when they looked you up on the system? Surnames can often be entered incorrectly. If you registered originally, you won't have just disappeared. I'd go in person and double check this. Maybe ask the receptionist to do an address check too?

OP, have you searched for emergency vet
services? A sort of 24h emergency clinic. I don't know how widespread they are but hopefully you can locate one.
Depending on where you live, if there is a veterinarian school nearby, I wonder if they have a clinic attached on the university campus?

In the meantime try and put your name down on waiting lists for the future.

I can't speak for the whole country.
But my vet, the best ever in the whole world, has been operating on a waiting list system for new patients since the pandemic. Loooads of new puppies around here. And no shortage of vets practices either.
I'm not even sure if you can get a place for second dog at my vet, if your first dog is already a patient. A bit like school applications!
And they have been overstretched for quite some time because they have a lot more pets to see/treat. However they do seem to find staff.

Another vet we used years ago, would always have South African vets, maybe training, not sure.
I've never seen a EU vet in the UK personally but maybe, yes, there was a reliance on that workforce.

www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2022/feb/13/we-are-exhausted-and-burntout-vets-in-crisis

Agreed the situation isn’t good for vets, owners or pets, and it’s nobody’s fault - but understandably it ends up causing conflict. Vets unfortunately get berated on a regular basis about it and this situation has been ongoing a long time; I think many of us in the profession are quite fatigued at having to defend ourselves all the time, so it’s somewhat of a sensitive question!

@roseopose I’d suggest, as previously written above, that you call around, register wherever you can (and accept and plan that you might have a long journey) and keep an eye on Facebook/practice websites in the meantime to see if closer practices open their client list.

If they have plenty of university applicants with the right grades then why can't more vets and vet nurses be trained? Why are training places restricted?

m.youtube.com/watch?v=objP3E625Xo&feature=share

Surely capacity has something to do with it. Recruit thousands more students, what about their teachers, training facilities?

Thanks @calmestofallthechickens I have one now but took 3 months ringing round and repeat. So relieved to have got there. My point about some saying they aren't operating waiting lists indicates to me that they don't anticipate things getting any better any time soon which is worrying. I also struggled to register my horse so it isn't just small animal vets, at least not in this area.

Up until the last few years we had 7 vet schools in the UK.
Although more are/have opened last time I checked some were still waiting for final accreditation (has to be a number of years after they started to check quality of teaching from memory).

I worked as a vet receptionist for a while, the vets were amazing but the management team weren't that great. There was a lot wrong (health and safety, gdpr, security, complaints and diary management) but they didn't want to make use of employees experience in these areas as being the lowest paid staff in the building we couldn't possibly have learnt different things to them.

Reception staff were on minimum wage for context.
The vets and nurses were all amazing but again the pay wasn't that great as it was a small independent that had been hoovered up by a much larger company.

Ds1 is a yr4 vetmet student as his his girlfriend. I suspect they will probably spend the first few years learning the trade for peanuts after graduation with a large company before going to work for a small independent and then starting out on their own.
Again its idealistic. They want to help the animals, and make a living doing something they enjoy. They don't want to make millions but ds1 will have approx £110,000 student debt to repay (£10,000 a year tuition fees, £12000 living costs each times five years) and I think he would quite like his own home at some point.

I have a huge amount of time and respect for the vets, nurses and receptionists who have looked after my cats throughout my adult life. But I was gobsmacked when I was doing a bit of job searching myself and came across ads for vets for my local practice, where BoyWildCat and GirlWildCat are registered. Years ago it was a typical partner practice, now bought out by a chain. And the starting salaries for vets for stupidly low. Considering the years of training and breadth of expertise, the salaries were on a par with an unskilled junior management position here. At least in previous decades there was the carrot of being made partner. We have some fabulous vets in our practice, but they can only be in it for the love of the animals - it's definitely not for the money or work life balance. The thought of entitled, abusive customers on top of that enrages me.

Have you tried mobile pet services? We have one near where I live that has a van/minibus type vehicle and it is owned by a qualified vet nurse that goes round to people’s houses.it could be a starting point perhaps if they could visit and assess your pet while you try and find somewhere to register you.

@halfsiesonapotnoodle yes I got them to check via address too. No mobile vets. Asked on local social media. My search continues but it does feel like it's the same everywhere. It's Guinea pigs I've got so it's not like they have annual vaccinations etc.

[quote hedgehogger1]@halfsiesonapotnoodle yes I got them to check via address too. No mobile vets. Asked on local social media. My search continues but it does feel like it's the same everywhere. It's Guinea pigs I've got so it's not like they have annual vaccinations etc. [/quote]
Ah that's different - I also have piggies and have had some who have never needed a vet visit, so understand! & often when they do need a vet, they need one quickly.

Have you tried this list of piggy-savvy vets - kaveecage.co.uk/blogs/kavee-c-and-c-cage-fleece-liner-guinea-pig/guinea-pigs-vets-in-the-uk-cavy-savvy-vet-maps

I'd definitely say when calling that the piggy isn't registered elsewhere so they understand it isn't just that you want to change practices x

The vet degree needs a lot of practical teaching and experience which you can't just magic up from nowhere... Hence limited numbers on each course - if you increased the numbers you'd have less effective day 1 vets - as it is they're supposed to come out competent enough on day 1.

Biggest issue on retention is that you'd realistically need a nanny or to stay living near parents to keep working after kids unless your partner had a very flexible job with no unplanned late nights or travel but vet doesn't pay well enough to pay a nanny. There's some part timers around but that doesn't necessarily help with in hours availability.

Also client attitudes, corporate targets (joy) and corporate pricing push people away from the profession.

Definitely there were a good number of EU vets, often Spanish and Italian, pre Brexit, many have left now.

@AwkwardPaws27 thanks got in somewhere today finally. Not a particularly pig recommended one sadly but I do now have some prescription mite meds. Hopefully that will sort things!

Since my dog became diabetic last year I've spent numerous hours at our local vets, then at the referral vets as he developed cataracts. I a, a GP and I know how shit and entitled people can be. To me, and many many grateful owners like me, you are nothing short of heroes.

As well as providing the most amazing care for my old boy, always speaking to me when I have a problem - or rather paranoid and neurotic and think there's a problem when there generally isn't! Always showing the most amazing love and kindness to my boy and never, ever giving up on him even when he was at deaths door prior to his diagnosis. The vets, nurses and receptionists I've worked with - and it has felt like a partnership - have also counselled me, listened to me cry, let me sneak in to see my boy when he was admitted and feed him as he wouldn't eat anything they offered.

I've been bowled over by you all and although I frequently take in cakes, it feels so insignificant and, as I now class my boys vets as friends too, I worry for your profession the more I hear about your challenges.

If it wasn't for his vets, he'd nit be with us today. I will never ever forget that.

I’ve been a veterinary Receptionist for 20 years. The abuse we receive is unreal!

Lockdown increased demand - lots of vets have left the profession.

Most vets are owned by a corporation-the shareholders don’t care about the staffs wellbeing as long as they are making a profit.
Vets are constantly given targets, made to do pointless 6 month health checks and a lot of the veterinary staff are burnt out!

We were given little to no thanks during lockdown even though our work load was out of control! The abuse we got from clients increased dramatically!!! Clients angry we wouldn’t let them in the building.
We have had 5 vets, 3 nurses and 8 receptionists walk out during the last 18 months.

People are buying animals having absolutely no idea how much they cost - and it’s always our fault when you can’t afford the vet fees

The amount of animals bought in lockdown has had a massive knock on effect. I'm looking for a new vet as dislike the original one, most vets are no longer taking on new clients.

My vets are amazing, I swear they've got more equipment than the local hospital! My previous vet however was run by a complete idiot, the man was as thick as mince and I'll never know how I stopped myself from telling him that. He asked me if my cat was liable to bite him but, if he'd read the notes he would have realised he was there for a checkup after having his teeth removed!

Be thankful if you have a good vet, and please don't be rude to the staff. My cat goes so often I swear he's playing vet bingo but all the staff are lovely with him.

It’s such a frustrating job.

Last wee we had a client in with her £2,500 cockapoo. Passing blood. Won’t book an appointment as she doesn’t get money for 3 weeks
So can find £2,500 for a puppy but couldn’t find £30 for a consult. It makes me so angry.

Her pup died- we found her post on Facebook saying she asked her vet for help but because she didn’t have the money there and then we let the pup die. So many angry comments from people saying vets are rip off merchants, evil money makers…
So Many people read this comment - she stated which vets.

The only persons fault this was was her buying a puppy she couldn’t provide care for. It makes me sick

Social media has also played a part in the reason vets have decided not to continue with their career.

Vet staff here - just came to echo the sentiments of the other veterinary staff. My clinic is still taking on new clients despite being horrifically understaffed and I was asking the question yesterday if we need to consider temporarily closing our books again because we can only do so much. We get dozens of calls a day from non registered clients with pets that are several years old and aren’t registered anywhere and basically haven’t been seen by a vet since they were puppies but suddenly need our help because they’re not well. It gets quite frustrating because we’re already extremely busy with existing clients.

To everyone here with a pet - get them registered with a vet as soon as you get them, don’t wait for them to become ill. Your vet also provides vital preventative health (I.e vaccines, parasite control, neutering etc), most offer some kind of health clubs that save you hundreds a year if you utilise it, it can also prevent issues later down the line.

Oh and update your microchip details if you’ve moved/changed numbers!

@Applecottage1234

It’s such a frustrating job.

Last wee we had a client in with her £2,500 cockapoo. Passing blood. Won’t book an appointment as she doesn’t get money for 3 weeks
So can find £2,500 for a puppy but couldn’t find £30 for a consult. It makes me so angry.

Her pup died- we found her post on Facebook saying she asked her vet for help but because she didn’t have the money there and then we let the pup die. So many angry comments from people saying vets are rip off merchants, evil money makers…
So Many people read this comment - she stated which vets.

The only persons fault this was was her buying a puppy she couldn’t provide care for. It makes me sick

Social media has also played a part in the reason vets have decided not to continue with their career.

I feel this so much! It’s like buying an expensive car but not being able to afford the wheels.

And the amount of people buying puppies from dodgy breeders/puppy farms is worrying. We get so many coming in and the owner has zero information about the dog. No vaccine book, no chip details, never saw the bitch etc. Basically been bred and sold without ever seeing a vet. They could have any number of issues and they have no clue but the breeders pocket has been lined so the cycle just continues.

@Sillyotter Makes me so angry, backyard breeders/puppy farms have been profited massively throughout lockdown. Why don't people think before buying off these scumbags.