2025: Our Year in Numbers
In 2025, our aim was to be a steady presence for our members, supporting you when you need it most, whilst also expanding how we support safer practice, shared learning and confidence across the professions. As we reflect on the year, the numbers speak for themselves, illustrating the scale of that support, but more importantly, reflecting the trust our members place in us every day. How we supported our members
Being there when it counts
When members reach out, it’s often because they are facing a difficult situation or complaint. In 2025, we responded to 122,500 contacts from members, with 33,855 of you getting in touch by phone and a staggering 88,690 via email. Contact from those seeking advice increased by 8% compared to 2024, reflecting the value members place on getting guidance early, asking questions and talking things through with our team, often before situations escalate. Many members are using email and online resources to ask questions and explore our 24/7 guidance like our Advice Notes and FAQs. Whether by phone or email, being there for our members remains at the heart of what we do: offering practical advice, perspective and reassurance when it’s most needed.
Claims insights and themes
New claims increased by over 12% on 2024, with much of that increase driven by the small animal sector, and we supported members in closing over 1,500 claims last year. In small animal claims cases, around a third relate to surgery, with diagnosis accounting for around 15%. Medication-related issues also featured strongly, with approximately 10% of cases involving a medication error. Perhaps the latter is no surprise considering how many medications are prescribed and dispensed every day in practice. For information and advice on how to reduce the risk in your practice, head over to the Insights section on VetSafe and search for ‘Medication’. In equine claims cases, just under half relate to pre-purchase examinations (PPEs). That may surprise some, because PPEs can feel routine, but the data shows that they continue to be a significant source of risk. A reminder that the VDS ePPE system is available to equine members with cover for PPEs to help you create, store and keep track of your VDS-approved certificates. Find out more here. Finally, in farm claims cases, the distribution is more even across diagnosis, surgery, certification, medication and obstetrics; each taking up around 20% of our caseload. The spread highlights the breadth of farm work and the range of judgement calls involved in day-to-day farm practice.
Learning, reflection and safer practice through VetSafe
In late 2024, we relaunched our VetSafe platform, bringing new functionality, insights and resources to members, with much of 2025 focused on embedding the new system within our member practices. VetSafe is not just about reporting, it’s also a way to learn from shared experiences and access practical resources that support curiosity, systems-thinking and continued quality improvement. Even for those who might never submit a report, VetSafe provides access to articles, real member case studies and insights drawn from anonymised data across the profession. If you don’t already have access to VetSafe, you can request it here. Engagement with VetSafe continued to grow throughout last year. There was a 37% increase in the number of VDS practices submitting VetSafe reports compared to 2024, alongside a 9% increase in total reports submitted. More than 1,400 practices signed up to use VetSafe during the year, with over 30,000 people now able to access the updated platform. For the fifth year in a row, veterinary nurses submitted the highest proportion of VetSafe reports, though the gap between vets and RVNs narrowed slightly last year. In 2025, we also saw a higher proportion of "near miss" reports compared to the previous year – a positive indicator of teams using VetSafe to proactively learn from close calls and good catches. This means more opportunities to learn and improve where there has been no impact on patients, which often means teams find them easier to talk about too. To read more, our ‘VetSafe in 2025’ summary is now available to the VetSafe community. It provides an overview of the aggregate data from incident reports submitted to VetSafe in 2025 and explores key themes, trends and opportunities for learning. To view the report, you’ll need to log in to your VetSafe account.
Building confidence beyond the clinical
Our Training team continued to work closely with practices across the profession in 2025, delivering CPD and coaching to more than 2,100 practices and 8,500 delegates. Themes such as communication under pressure, leadership, decision-making confidence and conflict resolution with client and team interactions featured strongly through the year, reflecting the challenges members tell us they’re facing. Feedback from delegates remained consistently positive, with our training achieving a Net Promoter Score of 8.75/10 in 2025. This year, we’re continuing to build on these foundations, making our services easier to access, our advice and support simpler to reach when you need it and our systems more efficient so we can deliver great value to you. Later this year, we’ll also be sharing our new Annual Member Report, bringing together invaluable insights from our Claims and VetSafe teams. Whether it’s a quick question or a complex situation, you don’t have to handle it alone. Please pick up the phone or drop us an email - we’re here to provide calm, knowledgeable and reliable advice and support when it matters most. If you've forgotten your log in or need help getting set up, our Membership team will be happy to help. VetSafe is provided by VDS Support Limited (trading as VDS Support). VDS Training Services Limited (trading as VDS Training) and VDS Support Limited are wholly owned subsidiaries of The Veterinary Defence Society Limited (VDS).Looking ahead
