AMTRA unveils results of its biggest ‘Industry Survey’ to date

SQP pride in the profession is sitting at 96%

More awareness of the SQP role and its impact is needed across key stakeholders

AMTRA announces plans for a National SQP week in 2026

AMTRA has today unveiled the results of its biggest ever industry survey, carried out earlier this year to help gather evidence and insights about the role and impact of SQPs (Suitably Qualified Persons - Animal Medicines Advisors). Feedback was sought from SQPs, animal owners, retailers and veterinary teams and over 900 responses were received. The report is available on the AMTRA website: amtra.org.uk/survey  

The overarching results from the survey which were released at its Summer Stakeholder event at Harper Adams University yesterday, are very positive and highlight that the SQP – Animal Medicines Advisor role, continues to be highly valued and is recognised as having a positive impact on animal health and welfare across a broad spectrum of stakeholders. Awareness of the SQP role is better across some stakeholder groups than others, which indicates a need for better understanding in order maximise the impact SQPs can provide to those seeking their expertise. Equally, awareness around the level of training, qualification and CPD that SQPs undertake and that they are part of a highly regulated profession, could be better. 

Some of the key headlines across the stakeholder groups that responded include: 

 Animal owners* 

• Just 48% of animal owner respondents (farmers, horse owners and pet owners) know that SQPs have to be qualified and are part of a highly regulated industry 

• In terms of rating how valuable the service provided by SQPs is to animal owners, 87% said excellent or good 

• 91% of animal owners stated that if there was no access to SQPs this would have a negative impact on their ability to look after their animals​ 

SQPs – Animal Medicines Advisors**  

• When asked if they were proud of their profession 96% of SQPs said yes, while 71% feel that the SQP role is one that is respected. That does however leave 30% who likely feel the role isn’t respected 

• 89% of SQPs feel the profession prescribes and supplies responsibly​ 

• ​92% of SQPs feel there needs to be better understanding of the profession across the veterinary/animal medicines industry as a whole​ 

• The two stakeholder groups SQPs feel have the least understanding of their role are:​ 

o   Pet owners (according to 66% of SQP respondents)​ 

o   Horse owners (according to 52% of SQP respondents)​ 

Retailers *** 

• Retailers overwhelmingly responded positively to the value SQPs provide in store with 90% supporting the value they bring 

• ​100% of retailer respondents stated there needs to be better awareness and understanding of the SQP role across the animal medicines profession 

Vets & vet practice teams**** 

• Of the 150 vets and other veterinary practice staff (including VN SQPs) who responded to the survey, 77% have SQPs in the veterinary practice environment. While this number of responses isn’t enough to confidently extrapolate this figure across the entire volume of UK veterinary practices, it does give a good indication that the SQP role is being utilised in the veterinary practice environment, which is positive 

• ​Understanding of the SQP role in the vet practice environment appears to be at a good level based on the survey responses with 96% saying they understood it very or fairly well. 

• It is particularly encouraging to see how highly vets and other veterinary practice staff rate the importance of the role of SQPs in supporting animal health and welfare; this is especially so given that anecdotally, there have sometimes been reports that the role of the SQP is not always viewed positively by the veterinary profession. The results reveal that 70% of vets and practice staff that responded viewed the role of SQPs as either important or very important 

• When it comes to SQPs being a source of advice for animal health and welfare, the majority of vets and practice teams (75%) stated they felt SQPs were very important or important  

• On responsible prescribing and supply, 85% of vet practice team members that responded believed SQPs do this responsibly​ 

• On testing, it is interesting to note that of the vet practice roles that responded to the survey, 87% don’t work with local SQP businesses to offer testing to their customers, but this was an area that some felt should be developed further 

N.B. AMTRA acknowledges that whilst the answers from vets and vet practice teams will not be representative of all vet practices, the broadly positive nature of the responses from those working in the vet profession is a sign that the SQP experience in the practice environment appears to lead to positive results and associations. 

AMTRA CEO, Stephen Dawson, says: “We are incredibly grateful to everyone that took the time to share their views by filling in the survey. We know how important it is to regularly seek feedback directly from SQPs and others in the industry, so that we can continue to provide the right support and ensure SQPs are recognised and understood for their contribution to animal health.” 

Michael Seals, AMTRA Chair adds: “SQPs play a crucial role in both retail and veterinary environments, and we are working hard to ensure their professional skills are more widely understood. There is no doubt that they are a trusted source of reliable information and advice to help on a range of animal health and wellbeing matters, and we feel it is important to raise their profile to owners and the industry. Some people don’t realise that the SQP profession is regulated and requires formal training, qualification and ongoing CPD to maintain the status – that needs addressing so that SQPs are valued and their important skills utilised for the benefit of animal health and welfare.” 

Next steps 

AMTRA will be focusing on the following areas moving forwards based on the feedback from the survey:  

• Work is needed to raise the profile of the impact and value across pet and horse owners in particular, and although farmers and the vet profession appear to have a better understanding of the SQP role, there is still work to do to increase this awareness  

• Managing customer expectations - AMTRA will look at developing support and resources to help SQPs in managing conversations with clients that may feel challenging  

• Explore barriers to testing that may exist and exploring ways of increasing the levels of testing  

• Building in appropriate amounts of time with customers for the sharing of advice and guidance  

• Explore ways to drive more collaboration with vet practice teams  

• AMTRA intends to spearhead the launch of a National SQP week during 2026 and will be reaching out across the industry to actively seek industry and stakeholder input in due course 

• AMTRA proposes simplifying the language used to explain the role of an SQP and will start to use the words 'Animal Medicines Advisor' as the primary descriptor of what an SQP does ​  

 Download a full copy of the survey results here: amtra.org.uk/survey 

* 141 animal owner respondents comprising 94 pet owners​, 67 horse owners​, 58 livestock farmers​ 

** 503 SQP – Animal Medicines Advisors respondents 

***11 Retailer respondents 

****150 Vet and vet practice team respondents