Coronavirus has brought change and challenge on an unprecedented scale to the world of veterinary medicine over the past three months.
Lockdown, social distancing and emergency-only care are just some of the factors that have radically transformed our sector in the wake of the crisis.
Veterinary practice will probably never be the same and thousands of vets, vet nurses and support staff have been forced to adapt to new ways of working, seemingly overnight.
But despite the size of the challenge, the profession has stepped up to ensure it fulfils its commitment to protect the welfare of millions of pets and kept animals across the UK.
And we’ve stepped up, too.
- Flexible delivery of Vet Times, VN Times and VBJ
For example, in April and May, more than 900 readers who work in practice got in touch to move to home delivery for their print copies. - Podcasts
We have nearly 60 podcasts to discover at vettimes.co.uk/podcasts and on all podcast platforms. Our most popular to date is on “Myxomatous mitral valve disease”. - Coronavirus hub
Find in excess of 170 news articles on vettimes.co.uk. Visit our Coronavirus hub for the most up-to-date content. - More online readers than ever
Total page impressions on vettimes.co.uk in May rose to a high point of 528,256 (Google analytics 01/05/2020 – 31/05/2020). - Your stories
Vets and nurses share opinions and experiences at vettimes.co.uk (visit our Your stories content hub). Current topics include “The ultrasounding veterinary nurse” and “Living and working with OCD in a pandemic”.
Digital focus
For some time we have been increasing the pace at which we transitioned to a more digitally engaged business and the emergence of COVID-19 has meant the pace of those developments has accelerated exponentially.
We remain fully committed to print, and when the crisis hit we were determined to ensure everyone got their copy of Vet Times, VN Times and VBJ, either at home or at their practice.
But coronavirus is a digital story and the sheer pace of developments means we have amplified our digital channels to deliver hourly news updates, the latest information from trusted sources and expert-led cross-platform content.
On the first day of lockdown we launched our unique coronavirus hub and we also decided to increase our podcast and video output as the crisis developed.
#InItTogether
Then we went back to basics to focus on what has always been our strength – our readers – and in many cases you became the story, and we gave you the platforms to do it.
Through our VetsTogether user-generated content site and the ongoing Vet Times Camp Fire online video forum, our readers were able to reach out to us and share their stories with the wider veterinary family.
And they certainly did as we watched levels of engagement with vettimes.co.uk go through the roof. In March and April we broke 500,000 news reads, and in May alone we registered more than half a million page impressions.
Our social media channels have also been working overtime to ensure as many as possible have access to our vast ecosystem of content.
But we won’t stop there; with exciting new CPD hubs and other digital services due to come online soon, Vet Times is ready for the future – whatever it may bring…
Will Ricketts
CEO, Veterinary Business Development Ltd
Leave a Reply