The health and wellbeing of our staff, students, clients and patients is UQ VETS’ first priority.
Veterinary care is considered an essential service, as a precautionary response to slow the community transition rate of COVID-19 and to continue servicing the community, we have made a decision to put several precautionary measures in place for appointments seen in the Small Animal Hospital.
We are now accepting emergency and urgent cases with some non-urgent cases such as vaccinations now able to be seen. This necessary decision has been made to help ensure we can remain available when you need us most. Please be aware that only one person will be permitted access to the hospital and any other family members will be asked to remain in their car or outside of the hospitals.
We are working as quickly as possible to respond to the situation as it evolves, and to plan for further developments.
Precautionary measures
These precautionary measures are in effect as of June 29.
We continue to take the latest advice from the state and federal governments and their medical advisers.
- If you are sick with a fever or respiratory signs, are under quarantine, at risk of COVID-19, have a fever or respiratory signs, or you are displaying COVID-19 clinical signs, please contact us immediately so we can help to reschedule your appointment and/or make alternative arrangements.
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If you arrive with any of the above, you will be instructed to leave the clinic and ring us for instructions on how to proceed.
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Wherever possible, UQ VETS will work with you to get all necessary paperwork completed, preferably electronically, before you arrive.
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Clients can request a contactless consultation. If you elect to do so please alert reception when booking your appointment and upon arrival please remain in your vehicle and call reception for instructions.
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Unless you have requested a contactless consult once you have arrived for your appointment please make your way to the main door of the hospital with your pet.
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Please note the main doors will remain closed and Reception staff will open them when you are able to access the building and allow access to only one client and the patient.
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You will then be directed to a consultation room where the consultation will occur and asked to wait outside the room.
- You will then be escorted into the room as soon as it is available and has been cleaned.
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To promote healthy hygiene habits all visitors are asked to sanitise their hands on arrival, during your visit and again when leaving. Hand sanitiser is available in all reception areas.
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Social distancing guidelines must be adhered to, with a distance of 1.5 metres between you and other people whenever possible. We ask you to avoid unnecessary touching and adhere to a “no handshake policy”.
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Only one person per consultation will be allowed to enter any area of the hospital.
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All face-to-face consults will be limited to 10 minutes. If further discussion is needed, a phone call will be arranged
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Visitation of hospitalised animals will be temporarily paused but we will endeavour to offer alternatives whenever possible.
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To allow for social distancing, discharges and history taking may be mostly conducted over the phone.
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We encourage contactless payment wherever possible and do not be alarmed if staff are wearing gloves to process your payment.
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Please note that leads, collars and other animal accessories will not be admitted with your animals
Recommendation
- We recommend that you check your pet’s current stocks of food and medications, particularly long-term medications (such as insulin, heart medications or pain relief), and contact us well in advance if you expect you will need more.
- We encourage you to call our friendly reception team to discuss your pet's individual circumstances and we will work with you to determine the best plan for your pet during this time.
- Where possible before you arrive for emergency or urgent care please endeavour to find alternate care arrangement for children to minimise the number of people at the hospital, and if not possible advise us in advance.
Small Animal Services
As of March 20, if you have a confirmed appointment, we will make every effort to send you a confirmation message. The message will include the following detailed information:
- Step-by-step instructions on how to proceed when arriving for your appointment. We are committed to adhering to government restrictions and advice
- Necessary paperwork in digital form (when possible). Please fill this in before your appointment to reduce face-to-face contact time.
Small Animal Services emergency admissions
In the event of an emergency:
- Please call ahead on 5460 1788. We will discuss your pet’s condition over the phone and determine the best plan of action
- We will triage the patient over the phone and collect as much history as possible before you arrive
- If we determine that your pet needs to be seen and you are feeling unwell, please find a healthy person to bring your pet to the hospital.
Latest advice from UQ