31 Jan 2023
Number of vets from bloc jumps by 30% – first annual rise recorded post-Brexit.
Allister Webb
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Image © yavdat / Adobe Stock
New figures have shown the number of EU vets registering to work in the UK jumped by more than 30% last year.
The rise, revealed in papers presented to the latest meeting of the RCVS council, is the first annual increase to have been recorded post-Brexit.
But officials have also been urged to maintain their focus on the sector’s continuing retention problem in the UK, even as they seek government support for longer-term overseas recruitment.
Following the 2016 referendum, the annual number of EU vets registering to practise in the UK slumped by nearly 70%, from a peak of 1,196 in 2018 to 365 in 2021. But the 2022 total of 480, which was reported to the latest council meeting at the University of Nottingham’s vet school on 19 January, represents an increase of 31.5% on the preceding year.
Temporary arrangements for the recognition of graduates from vet schools accredited by the European Association of Establishments for Veterinary Education (EAEVE) have been in place since 2019 and will continue for another year after council members voted 21 to nil to extend them further.
But the college has revealed it is also seeking Government support for a more permanent solution, which could involve waiving fees for individual schools that seek its accreditation.
A report, by its director of education Linda Prescott-Clements, said the two bodies’ standards were “becoming more divergent; although, a degree of similarity is still evident” following the implementation of new requirements over the past two years.
Officials’ preferred long-term solution is to offer EU vet schools the option of direct accreditation with the RCVS, as the report argued that the alternative of negotiating mutual recognition with individual states “lacks feasibility”.
Instead, the college said it had tabled a proposal to Defra for it to provide the funding that would accelerate the process of accrediting individual schools.
The report acknowledged schools had less incentive to pay the current £12,000 accreditation fee, plus expenses, while the current EAEVE arrangement remained in place.
It added: “Schools have been targeted on the basis that their graduates are most likely to want to register and work in the UK, through consideration of previous registration data, being taught in English and current EAEVE accreditation status.”
The meeting heard an increasing number of veterinary degree courses were being delivered in English by European institutions; it also recognised more students from the UK were taking up places abroad.
Council member Stephen May suggested the scheme was “a good medium-term solution”, but voiced concern that the option of pursuing broader accreditation agreements might be abandoned altogether.
He said: “I do think there’s a real opportunity for RCVS to lead in this area and I would encourage that as a long-term solution.”
Other members cautioned that the topic needed to be seen in the wider context of the well-documented workforce crisis, for which the college published its own action plan in November.
Will Wilkinson said: “Our aim should be always to welcome vets from other countries, but not to need them. Our focus needs to be on retention, as well.”
Meanwhile, Abbie Calow asked how many of the EU graduates coming to the UK had trained at the schools the college was looking at.
She added: “We’ve got a major workforce crisis and I don’t want us to be seen to be causing more problems.”
Officials said new resources were being prepared for the RCVS Academy scheme on working in the UK, while graduates from non-UK schools would also join the college’s Veterinary Graduate Development Programme for new entrants to the profession.
Councillors also highlighted that accrediting bodies in Europe, Australia and the US had their own equivalents of the college’s EMS system, after some concerns were raised about the rigour of overseas schools seeking RCVS accreditation in that area.
Dr Wilkinson asked whether an intermediate exam, in addition to the statutory papers that graduates from non-RCVS accredited schools abroad have to pass before they can practise in the UK, should be considered.
The meeting further heard work is continuing on the development of a new hub and database ahead of the expected implementation of new EMS requirements from the autumn of 2024. A database pilot is expected to begin later this year.
