IVC Evidensia is ripping up the rule book with a brand-new approach to out-of-hours for farm vets. Launching now in Shropshire, Farm 24 takes the night shift requirement away from daytime farm vets, with overnight emergency vets coming instead directly from the Farm 24 service.
Following the hugely successful Vets Now model, this approach offers a better work/life balance for all farm vets, and ensures a continuous, high-quality level of care to the local farming community.
Unique approach
Farm animal vet and Country Head of Farm Animal Paul Horwood is excited about what this means for farm animal vets.
“Traditionally farm animal practice has been quite inflexible… what Farm 24 offers is that out-of-hours service we are familiar with from the small animal veterinary world, but within the farm sector. This means we can uncouple the link between the people working during the day and the people working at night, so we can support staff to work flexibly in a way that works for them. We are supporting our colleagues to make work work for them, in a way that benefits everyone.”
This unique approach to out-of-hours offers benefits not only to existing farm vets, but the working pattern for the Farm 24 vets is carefully designed to ensure they have balance. Following a rota of one week on followed by one week off, Farm 24 vets are guaranteed time to focus on their lives outside of work, as well as the excitement and reward that farm out-of-hours work holds.
The seasonality of farm work is a key component too, with the understanding that there will be periods where demand is much higher, such as in spring.
Preserving flexibility and well-being
A balance of work and life is key to everyone’s well-being, but it’s also true that a non-traditional working pattern shouldn’t hold you back from your career development. IVC Evidensia is committed to offering both. For many farm vets, the opportunity to work one week on/one week off with Farm 24, will be an attractive opportunity, and supports a better working balance for the teams at the local practices.
“We want people to be able to work in a way that works for them… our hope is that with Farm 24 we are removing the obstacles that might make it difficult for people to stay in farm animal work; we can fit the job to you and to your life outside of work.”
The IVC Evidensia network is key to the success of this approach to preserving flexibility and well-being for farm vets.
“Logistically, in order to have an out-of-hours service, you need a number of vets within a geographical area, to make it feasible to run the service. That’s something that the IVC Evidensia Farm network can do to provide a valuable service for our clients.”
A new era
Working patterns for farm animal vets have been the same for a very long time, but IVC Evidensia is confident that change is the way forward.
“A traditional farm animal rota is an approach to working that was perhaps invented over a hundred years ago, and that may well have worked a hundred years ago, but is it still what we want today? From the research and focus groups we’ve done to understand the wants and needs of our teams, we’re finding that it’s not what everyone wants.”
This balanced approach to out-of-hours work for farm vets is one that IVC Evidensia hopes will lead to a new era in the lives of farm vets and their clients. Ensuring a work/life balance for all staff as well as the highest quality care for patients and clients, is at the heart of IVC Evidensia. Soon to begin with the first practices in Shropshire, Farm 24 is a brand-new approach to working for farm vets that embodies these values.
“By separating the working lives of our out-of-hours vets and the vets working during the day, we know we will improve the work-life balance of all our farm vets.”
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