Optimising staff utilisation in rural animal veterinary practice in Aotearoa/New Zealand

Abstract

Utilisation of veterinary professional staff in rural animal veterinary practice has long been anecdotally reported as poor in Aotearoa / New Zealand. Evidence shows that skill utilisation is poor, and this is likely impacted by the low ratios of non-veterinarian staff to each veterinarian in rural animal veterinary practice. This participative action research utilised focus groups with a range of staff practising in rural animal veterinary practice in Aotearoa / New Zealand, who self-selected as having experience with excellent utilisation. Participants were asked to imagine what a future with excellent utilisation in rural animal veterinary practice in Aotearoa / New Zealand would look like. This research clarifies role definitions of a veterinarian, rural animal veterinary technician and rural animal healthcare assistant, and documents examples of task allocation in an interprofessional team. The participants identified that the outcomes of achieving appropriate utilisation are likely to be beneficial to individuals, the team, animals, clients, and the business profitability, however, a significant number of barriers were identified that may prevent implementation of appropriate utilisation. These included a disconnect between the current rural animal veterinary technician qualifications and the requirement from veterinary clinical practice for specific skills, rather than a full qualification; the current veterinary training pathway not setting up veterinarians to be consultants; lack of regulation of allied veterinary professionals; current skills in the team; lack of trust in technicians from veterinarians; perception of client expectations that a vet will attend; willingness of veterinarians to relinquish control; lack of availability of technical staff; the requirement for veterinarians to provide 27/4 after-hours service; and the risk of technicians leaving after being trained up to go out on their own. Whilst overcoming some of these barriers requires industryled solutions, many can be resolved immediately within individual teams. Therefore, there is no need to wait for industry change to begin creating veterinary teams with excellent utilisation within individual rural animal veterinary practices.