High Suicide Rates Among Vets Prompts Launch Of New Support Website - Vetlife

The Veterinary Benevolent Fund (VBF) is today (Saturday) launching a new support website, vetlife.org.uk, at the British Veterinary Association (BVA) Congress in Belfast. Designed to help veterinarians access emotional and professional support, the website is part of a series of initiatives aimed at improving the mental wellbeing of the veterinary profession. The event will be marked by a Congress lecture from Dr Raj Persaud, Consultant Psychiatrist at The Maudsley Hospital in South London, Gresham Professor for Public Understanding of Psychiatry, an accomplished broadcaster and the author of several successful books, including The Motivated Mind. Vetlife.org is designed to make it easy for veterinary surgeons, nurses and students to find information about the different types of professional and emotional support available. This includes support provided by established veterinary care organisations such as Vet Helpline and the Veterinary Surgeons’ Health Support Programme and trusted sources outside the profession such as Mind, the leading mental health charity, and the Samaritans. The website was conceived after the Veterinary Benevolent Fund (VBF) asked Dr Wendy Harrison to chair a Veterinary Support working party, formed from representatives of all the main veterinary organisations and the Samaritans, to look at what could be done to improve support to the profession. The impetus for the formation of the working party was the publication, in The Veterinary Record in October 2005 of research by Richard Mellanby that indicated that the suicide rate for the veterinary profession was four times higher than that of the general population and twice that of doctors and dentists. Vetlife.org is the first, and perhaps most visible, of a series of initiatives recommended by the working party. Other initiatives, which will also come under the brand name Vetlife, will include a series of mental health surveys to be carried out under the guidance of Southampton and Herriot Watt Universities and a campaign to improve student awareness of what support is available to them after they graduate. Dr Wendy Harrison explained the thinking behind the concept of the website: “We found that while many organisations were providing excellent support mechanisms for the veterinary profession people often didn’t know how or where to go in order to access that help. We are fully aware that when people are under stress then that's not the time they are thinking most clearly or are able to start doing the research that's needed. We felt that what would be most helpful was to provide a portal that brought together information on all these support mechanisms in one place. The most appropriate way to do that was to develop a website, namely, Vetlife.” The website has been funded by the VBF and will be run from their office in London, initially for a period of three years. It is hoped that it will grow and develop in response to feedback from the profession. Dr Harrison added: “Everyone at some stage in their career will go through difficult times, but support is available and now Vetlife has gone live, it will be easy to find and access”. Vist the website at www.vetlife.org.uk

More from

• IVC Evidensia assembles expert team to run new £10m referral hospital
• Home delivery service can increase pet health plan sign-ups by 25%
• Research reveals vital clues to help fight anthelmintic resistance
• Lifetime Achievement Award recognises Harrogate vet’s dedication to improving the health and welfare of rabbits
• Bake sale at Leicestershire vet practice for good cause