Vet staff shortage risking lives

Maisy was treated by an inexperienced nurse, and lost her teeth

Pets' lives could be at risk because of a national shortage of fully-qualified veterinary staff, a BBC investigation has concluded.

Inexperienced staff are carrying out medical procedures they are not trained for, according to Radio 5 Live's Donal MacIntyre programme.

Nurses told the programme they knew of animals that had died because of this.

Owners should check if they were unsure who was caring for their pet, said the British Veterinary Nursing Association.

Most of Britain's 16,000 practising vets employ nurses, but there are only 7,500 listed as qualified.

Richard Hillman of the Society of Practising Veterinary Surgeons said: "The idea that all nurses working in practice should have qualified is currently impossible."

Animal deaths

Maryann - not her real name - is an experienced veterinary nurse. But 10 years ago, when she was a trainee, she claims she was put in a position where her lack of experience and training contributed to the death of two pets.

I was convinced that I'd contributed to that patient's death Maryann, veterinary nurse

During one operation - where she was asked to monitor anaesthetics on a cat - she noticed the animal's mouth start to move, so the vet instructed her to increase the anaesthetic dose.

When the cat carried on moving Maryann kept increasing the anaesthetic until she reached the maximum dose.

"At that point the cat started¿ involuntary death gasps. I was convinced that I'd contributed to that patient's death," she said.

In another incident, Maryann says, she was put on night duty, which is allowed by law as long as there is access to a vet.

When a German Shepherd dog started bleeding heavily a duty vet told her over the phone to administer a drug to lower the dog's blood pressure, but it did not help.

"I ended up wrapping the dog up in loads of dog towels and bedding to stem the bleeding. The dog actually died overnight and I'm very confident that it died as a consequence of the amount of blood that it had lost. I definitely didn't have the experience to deal with what I was seeing."

Maryann says that if this happened to her now she would insist that the vet came out to see the dog.

Maryann has worked in about 35 clinics during her career - as an employee and a locum nurse - and says that in the vast majority of those practices, unqualified or very junior members of staff have been given responsibility over and above their knowledge and experience.

Ultimately it is the vet's responsibility to delegate and supervise where necessary.

Maisy's teeth were removed

Lost teeth

Jacky Poole, from Wolverhampton, was horrified to discover that her cat, Maisy, had all of her teeth removed rather than just one.

"We were absolutely shocked. She was covered in blood. Her fur had all been shaved off round her neck. She looked as if she'd had a car accident."

The qualified nurse who performed the operation removed all of the cat's teeth because she thought they were wobbly. Although the nurse was fully qualified, she should not have been doing the operation.

Jacky said: "We had signed the consent form under the impression that the vet was doing the operation."

The vet had been operating illegally by allowing a nurse to carry out this surgery. After a two-year investigation the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons decided that the vet, 44-year-old Gordon Lonsdale, should be struck off.

A spokesperson for the British Veterinary Nursing Association urged pet owners to be vigilant and said: "If customers feel unsure about who is caring for their pet, or carrying out surgery, they should ask their vet for more information."

The Radio 5 Live investigation was broadcast on the Donal MacIntyre programme at 1900 BST on Sunday 25 May. Get the podcast at the Donal MacIntyre programme website