In light of the current Coronavirus updates, Direct Vet Services want to keep our pet families safe and therefore have made some changes to ensure you and your pet can maintain optimum health practices while receiving quality veterinary care.
In order to maintain both the health of our staff and to ensure we can still support all of our pets and owners; we have made a move to offer a few things that are out of the norm. If we don’t stay well and we have staff numbers depleted during this outbreak then this will compromise the level of care we want to be able to provide you, our patients. We want to protect the health of both our staff and our community.
Firstly, we’d ask that any client attending the practice MUST use the hand sanitiser provided and maintain a distance of more than 1 metre from the staff where possible. This is to ensure everyone’s safety, and DVS staff will be following the same instructions. If you are ill or have been placed in isolation, we request that you please stay at home and ask a family member to bring your pet in instead.
Please limit the number of pet parents coming in with the pet where possible, the more people we have in a consultation the greater the risk to everyone.
To avoid unnecessary exposure, we are now offering Telemedicine Consults.
Where possible, DVS will now be offering consultations in special circumstances via Zoom. This means we can carry on our consultation as normal, but from the comfort of your own home. Simply book your telemedicine consult over the phone by calling 9369-1822 with one of our staff, who will explain payment and medication collection options and provide you with a link for a video call if a Telemedicine consultation is appropriate. To protect the wellbeing of your pet, this service is only currently offered to existing patients of DVS, where we have previous seen your pet at the clinic within the last 12 months (within 6 months for patients with ongoing medical management). In order to satisfy Veterinary Board Regulations we must have seen your pet previously, have current knowledge of the patient and be satisfied that a full clinical examination is not required, in person, in this instance.
Types of consults that can be considered –
• Revisits
• Post-op checks
• Medication reviews
• Minor illnesses or injuries i.e. skin complaints, abscesses, minor GI issues
• Any cases that the vet feels required a clinical examination, the client will be directed to rebook for an in-clinic appointment
• Clients should have a video conferencing app set up (Zoom or Skype is recommended) ahead of time and let us know which one you would like us to use. Unfortunately, FaceTime is not suitable at this time.
• Clients who are unwell or in isolation.
If your pet is new to the clinic we must undertake a primary consultation, in person. To enable this we have a couple of options. You are welcome to come into the clinic and attend in person, providing you are well and have not recently travelled overseas (or been in direct contact with someone who has). Alternatively use our “Safe Drop Off” as below.
Safe Drop Off Point
We will provide a bank of cages at the clinic entrance for unwell clients to safely drop their pets off into our care. Please ensure you call ahead and let staff know of your intention to use this method of drop off so we can swiftly collect your pet and assist you as much as possible. Rest assured that a staff member will promptly collect your pet and carry out the consultation while we chat with you over the phone, while you wait in the car. Further details of payments and medication dispensation will be shared upon booking.
While to some these measures may seem drastic, the health of our staff, our clients and our patients has always been our number one priority. These procedures have been put in to place to protect everyone, including our visiting clients who may be at risk or immunocompromised.
We thank you for your cooperation and patience at this time.