Dr Neil Hudson MP - the only vet in the House of Commons - appeared on Matt Chorley's Times Radio show to discuss shortages in the veterinary workforce.
This came following a special Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Select Committee session chaired by Dr Hudson which looked into a wide range of veterinary issues. The session included moves to update the Veterinary Surgeons Act (1966), long-term responsible dog ownership and the mental health resilience of the sector. You can watch the session and find out more here.
This session led to the Committee writing to the Environment Secretary regarding the domestic vet shortage. The Committee wrote that the UK’s shortage of vets has worsened since the estimate of 11.5 per cent made in 2018, but there is no clear picture of the scale or nature of the shortages. 30,272 veterinary surgeons and 23,450 veterinary nurses are registered in the UK, but the hours of labour this equates to, or the number of additional vets required to meet current and future needs cannot be estimated. You can read the full letter sent to the Environment Secretary here.
You can listen back to Dr Hudson's full appearance on Times Radio here.
Speaking afterwards, Dr Neil Hudson MP said:
"Make no bones about it, a national shortage of vets will impact all our lives. The food we eat, the economy that supports us and even our own human public health would all be hugely impacted if we don't find a solution.
"That said, I am confident the Environment Secretary Steve Barclay is the man for the job. While leading the Department for Health and Social Care he presided over the NHS Long Term Workforce Plan and our Committee is kindly requesting he does something similar to address the shortage of vets. I look forward to his response and to working with him on this critical issue moving forward."
