The Animal Hospital in Bagarmossen is Stockholm's only 24-hour open clinic, during the summer they pull down on the time-booked operation to strengthen the emergency.

"It's like in human care, we have to put some care on the other care that is not urgent," says Ewa Wallman, animal hospital manager at Anicura Regional Animal Hospital Bagarmossen.

Every day between 100 and 120 people work in the hospital. During the summer they have strengthened but almost 50 summer vacancies, especially students who are trained as veterinarians or qualified veterinarians.

- If we had more staff we could have offered more emergency care, there is a greater demand, says Ewa Wallman.

Hard to recruit

But recruiting, especially veterinarians and licensed veterinarians, is one of the most difficult tasks Ewa Wallman has in his job as an animal hospital manager.

"Ninety percent of what is difficult is recruiting competent staff," she says.

In its latest industry report, the member company Swedish Animal Health states that 365 new veterinarians are needed in the next 12 months, while at the same time only about 90 per year are examined from Sweden's only veterinary education.

The issue of lack of training places tops the list of the most important issues for animal health care. In place two comes mental ill health.

- Those who choose these professions are people who like animals, they are empathetic and knowledgeable people, says Ewa Wallman.

Mental illness

She says that at Anicura Regional Animal Hospital, Bagarmossen is constantly working for the well-being of its employees and handles everything from burnout to deep depression.

- These are high-performing people. Veterinary education is one of the most difficult to get into as we have in Sweden, those who come in have "A" in all subjects. Then you come to a job where you deal with someone's sweetheart, and sometimes you can't fix that sweetheart. You can also get notified or hang out on social media, so it can be tough, she says.