Resumen de Desperately seeking experience

• THE results of a recent survey undertaken by the Society of Practising Veterinary Surgeons (SPVS) raise some interesting questions that need to be addressed. The survey, carried out in June and July this year, looked at the experiences of practices in recruiting vets. A total of 326 individuals responded, including practice owners or partners (55 per cent), practice managers (28 per cent), joint venture partners (3 per cent) and veterinary assistants (8 per cent).

  Among the findings were that, of the 84 per cent of respondents who had attempted to recruit a vet in the previous 12 months, more than 70 per cent reported difficulties in recruiting someone (taking more than three months from the start of recruitment to identifying a suitable candidate). Of those who reported that they had been successful in finding a suitable candidate, almost 20 per cent took six to nine months to do so, and almost 5 per cent took more than nine months to fill a vacancy. Overall, 54 per cent felt that they could not find a suitable candidate for the position they were offering, while 80 per cent of those taking part in the survey were of the opinion that there was a shortage of experienced vets, irrespective of …