Australian veterinarians' perspectives on the contribution of the veterinary workforce to the Australian animal health surveillance system

Abstract

This study investigated the involvement of private veterinarians in surveillance activities and the veterinary workforce's contribution to the Australian animal health surveillance system. The perception that there is overall a decreased engagement by veterinarians in surveillance outcomes at a time when there is increased need for bolstering of surveillance systems was investigated. Three key questions were considered: (1) What is the current contribution of private veterinarians to the Australian surveillance system? (2) What is the veterinary professions capacity to assume a more prominent role in surveillance? (3) What is the interest and ability of the veterinary profession in Australia to undertake this surveillance role now and into the future? Semi-structured telephone interviews were conducted with 17 private veterinarians with data analyzed qualitatively to identify key themes. Results demonstrate that private veterinarians are aware of their responsibilities and are engaged in surveillance activities at both formal and informal levels. The key challenges associated with current and future contributions were related to workload, remuneration, conflicts of interest and clarity over how responsibility for surveillance is shared amongst those involved in the system. The study has demonstrated that even amongst an engaged population, barriers do need to be addressed if private veterinarians are to be tasked with increasing their involvement in animal health surveillance activities.

Declining engagement of veterinary services in Australian animal production systems: why has this occurred and what are the risks?

“…17,18 Confusion over the role of veterinarians A possible contributing factor is where producers may see veterinarians as having a conflict of interest, in that veterinarians may be potentially seen as inspectors or 'welfare' officers who could/would flag real or perceived short fallings on properties concerning disease surveillance. 19,20 This can also present veterinarians with the ethical dilemma around the perceived or real tension between commercial interests and animal welfare. This is supported by a recent survey examining engagement of private veterinarians with disease surveillance activities where 54.3% of veterinary respondents advised that they had wanted to submit samples to exclude a notifiable/reportable disease; however, the owner/carer has declined consent to do so.…”

“…All these factors have led to an overall decrease in engagement of the private veterinary sector with production animal systems resulting in a substantial number of producers not engaging with veterinarians for many years. 8,19 In many instances where the veterinarian may have previously been the first point of contact, producers are now actively deciding not to involve veterinary services. 17 Risks associated with diminished veterinary involvement in production animal systems…”

“…A possible contributing factor is where producers may see veterinarians as having a conflict of interest, in that veterinarians may be potentially seen as inspectors or ‘welfare’ officers who could/would flag real or perceived short fallings on properties concerning disease surveillance 19,20 . This can also present veterinarians with the ethical dilemma around the perceived or real tension between commercial interests and animal welfare.…”