Veterinary nursing leaders have voiced concerns after a new report claimed the supply of staff could meet the profession’s overall demand as early as this year.

RCVS bosses have defended the “robustness” of the analysis, which predicted substantial increases in the number of registered vets and nurses over the next decade.

But while the report was welcomed by the BVA, the BVNA argued its findings did not give a “complete picture” of the sector.

Work with data

Its president, Lyndsay Hughes, said: “We encourage the veterinary profession to look at the wider context of how veterinary nurses currently work – and could work in future – in conjunction with this data.”

The report, released on 13 December, forecast a 52% rise in the number of UK registered vets to almost 45,000 by 2035, with the number of RVNs expected to jump by 78% to more than 41,000 in the same timescale.

But although an overall shortfall of vets is still anticipated, with areas such as government service particularly badly affected, the paper forecast the supply of nurses being sufficient to meet overall demand in 2025, with a 22% oversupply by 2035.

RCVS chief executive Lizzie Lockett said the organisation recognised that finding may cause concerns, but added: “While we stand by the robustness of the data, demography is not destiny.

“With the planned enhancement of the veterinary nurse role, and the likelihood of suppressed demand due to prior shortages, it is likely that the number of veterinary nursing roles will expand to encompass the number of veterinary nurses available to work in it.”

Strengthened case

However, Mrs Hughes maintained the forecast of a continuing shortage of vets strengthened the case for nurses’ roles to be expanded, regardless of the progress made towards legislative reform and the challenges of accounting for its possible impact.

She said: “We feel the projections do provide further support for the need to enable RVNs to contribute as fully as possible to the veterinary team.”

The forecasts were also published just a day after the BVNA released its own document setting out how the role of the RVN could be maximised even without the long-running campaign for legislative reform being fulfilled.

Tasks

The paper listed 12 separate tasks that it believed RVNs could perform under Schedule 3 of the Veterinary Surgeons Act, including taking blood samples, placing both IV and urinary catheters plus administering medications and local anaesthesia nerve blocks.

It also argued that the college had provided “insufficient guidance” about how its revised “under care” guidance applied to RVNs.

The college said it supported “any move to enhance and empower RVNs within the current legislative framework”, although the main focus of its communications about the changes had focused on issues relating to POM-V prescription.