To all of our valued clients,
East Port Veterinary Hospital is introducing a new way of caring for your pets so that we can minimise the risk of human to human transmission for you and for us, as well as comply with social distancing regulations and avoid a waiting room with a large number of people present. This new system is aimed at keeping you and our team safe so that we can continue to provide you and your pets with the high standard of care that East Port Veterinary Hospital normally provides throughout this challenging time.
For an appointment:
- Make an appointment as usual, but when you attend, to stay in your car and call us to let us know you have arrived. Where possible do not park directly next to another car to allow space for staff to meet you at your car to pick up your pet. If you are unable to call us, please come to the front door and knock – there will be a staff member there and they will send someone out to you. Please do not enter the hospital.
- We will meet you at your car, collect your pet and our expert teams will assess your pet. We will then phone you to discuss your pets condition and the treatment options with you.
- If your pet needs to stay for hospital care, diagnostic investigation or surgery, we will discuss the clinical, logistical and financial aspects of this and arrange the necessary paperwork.
- Please make sure that the person bringing the pet:
- Is not currently positive for COVID-19
- Is not in a quarantine arrangement due to recent travel history, or has had exposure to a person with known or possible COVID-19 infection in the last 2 weeks
- Is well with no respiratory symptoms
For day admissions/surgical admissions
- Arrive for your admission at the booked time and call us from the car park to let us know you have arrived – this will ensure that we don’t have everyone arrive at once in the car park and is key to ensuring social distancing
- When on the phone the nurse will discuss with you any relevant information required for the admission to take place.
- Our staff will then come and collect your pet from the car and ask you to sign the consent form – prior to signing the consent form the nurse will provide you with hand sanitiser.
- We will then take your pet into the hospital to be cared for by our team and we will contact you with any updates as usual.
For discharge procedures
- Please arrive at the hospital as normal for your appointment and call us when you arrive.
- The vet will then discuss with you over the phone the home care instructions and organise for any documents to be emailed to you. If you would like a hard copy, please let us know.
- Payment is preferred to be over the phone, however if this is not possible, we will bring the Eftpos machine to the car park for payment. Prior to payment staff will provide you with hand sanitiser.
- We will bring your pet to you in the car park.
For counter sales or repeat prescriptions:
- Please contact us in advance of your arrival at the practice and let us know what you need.
- We will arrange for your items to be prepared prior to your arrival and can take payment over the phone in advance.
- When you arrive at the practice please stay in your car and call us to let us know you have arrived.
- We will then bring your items to your car and take contactless payment if not already done over the phone.
Please note that staff will not be able to spend prolonged periods of time in the car park to avoid congestion and adhere to social distancing regulations. We can however discuss anything you need over the phone.
Whilst we understand that it may be difficult for you to leave your pets with us while we examine them and conduct the consult, please know that we will treat them as our own and that they are the best hands.
All Australians are working with each other to help manage the emerging COVID-19 situation. At East Port Veterinary Hospital we are taking steps as part of this to help do our part. COVID-19 has reached a stage where community transmission is occurring, and the source of the transmission is not always evident. The quarantine periods and other advice given by the health department are for the benefit of all Australians and are aimed at reducing the load on the health system so everyone gets the care they need should they become ill. Recommendations as to how these precautions should be implemented are changing all the time and we will strive to provide an environment where we can continue to deliver the best possible patient care, while also looking after the health needs of our valued clients and staff members.
In addition to these measures we are also have already implemented additional steps to reduce the risk of transmission. These include:
Frequently cleaning of commonly used services and areas. We will reduce any potential environmental contamination by cleaning with agents that have effect against corona viruses, particularly COVID-19. We have detailed cleaning protocols and use agents with high levels of proven efficacy based on external advice.
We ask you that only one family member brings your pet to our hospital. We are very happy to have other family members join the consultation by phone. For the time being we are not allowing families to visit their pets in hospital, but we will be happy to send photos of them to you. We will make an exception for euthanasia provided the people attending are well as we know that this is important to families.
Our team is committed to providing our patients with continued care throughout this challenging time and we thank you all for your help in achieving this. We look forward to working with you in the coming months and thank you for your continued support.
If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact us on 65835677 so that we can help you.
Kind regards,
The East Port Veterinary Hospital Team