To our valued veterinary teaching hospital clients,
We value your support and are delighted to provide reassurance that – whether you are vaccinated against COVID-19 or not – we can continue to provide veterinary care for your animals under UQ COVID-19 risk management procedures.
We also respect individuals’ personal decisions about vaccination and respect your decision to disclose, or not disclose, your vaccination status to our staff.
Risk assessment procedures
From Monday 14 February, if you are willing to provide our staff with a declaration that you are fully vaccinated against COVID-19, or can show our staff your green tick on the Check in Qld app, you will be able to accompany your pet into our veterinary teaching hospital facilities for veterinary attention.
If you choose not to disclose your vaccination status, or declare that you are unvaccinated, we hope you can help us to work through some additional risk assessment procedures.
In these situations, you may be asked to:
- wait in your vehicle and call reception to advise you have arrived for your appointment
- wait outside while your companion animal is taken into the hospital for veterinary attention
- meet in the veterinary teaching hospital’s outdoor discussion spaces or be consulted over the phone
- for necessary indoor consultations, wear a hospital-provided N95 face mask, which our team are also required to wear, while you accompany your pet into the hospital facility.
These procedures vary for the type of animal being treated and the teaching veterinary hospital, so please see our latest COVID-19 advice for a step-by-step rundown of what to do when you arrive.
Providing quality care
We acknowledge that these procedures may represent an additional burden at a stressful time and we ask for your patience. The procedures aim to manage risk and compliance with UQ policy while still allowing our veterinary hospital staff to continue to provide veterinary care to your animals.
We also ask that you please respect our wonderful hospital staff who are trying to implement the policy and provide quality care for your pets.
Contact us
Please don’t hesitate to contact us by email if you any concerns about this policy:
- Professor Nigel Perkins, Head of UQ’s School of Veterinary Science: n.perkins1@uq.edu.au
- Dr Bruce Smith, Clinical Director of the UQ VETS Small Animal Hospital: b.smith14@uq.edu.au
