BETTER incentives for veterinarians could help to fix the understaffed workforce which is worsening at the hands of the Omicron outbreak according to Wagga vet.
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Wagga Veterinary Hospital practice owner and vet Tristan Robinson first spoke on the issue of vet shortages due to COVID-19 in May, stating then that it was a time of crisis.
Since then, Dr Robinson said things have only worsened.
"Yes, things have worsened due to prolonged COVID, borders, burnout, isolation..." he said.
Dr Robinson said his opinion is that the problem could be solved by making becoming a veterinarian a more attractive career.
"Better pay, flexibility (for family), helping vets take care of themselves better and overall education of pet owners about the responsibilities of owning pets (costs, no Medicare, using vet services, etc)," he said.
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"The industry won't get sympathy from the public, as it's no different to the issues facing teachers, nurses, doctors etc.
"Rather, the vet profession needs to do what's necessary to look after ourselves first so we can then look after pets and owners.
"For too long, vets have put pets first and their own families/health/finances second."
Dr Robinson said while processes to manage workloads and offer efficient, professional and caring services in place at Wagga Veterinary Hospital have kept his team happy, he believes every clinic is feeling the "pinch".
"Thankfully our hospital has a great team and our staff aren't burnt out, we haven't had COVID directly impact any team members and we were lucky and had a new vet join our team last August," he said.
"However, we do have a slight vet shortage again due to maternity leave and personal leave.
"When normally we would find a casual locum easily, they are not available due to high demand, borders...
"In saying this, I think most vet clinics in NSW and even Australia are feeling the pinch to some extent and would be understaffed."
Dr Robinson said there is approximately 400 vacancies for veterinarians across NSW on one recruitment website alone.
"The National Vet Association has run some workforce surveys to try and work out what the crux of the problem(s) are, and it's multifactorial, and chronic (10years)," he said.
"COVID has amplified it."
Dr Robinson said as more pets come in the higher people's expectations are and vets are working around the clock to cater towards both.
"How do vets provide care outside of "business hours"? Outside of the cities there is no dedicated after-hours vet clinics meaning all the day to day vets then need to work through the night, weekend and public holiday to care for pets," he said.
"And there isn't enough staff to do this. This is something we hope to address here in Wagga."
In a statement issued by the Australian Veterinary Association, it was highlighted that COVID-19 is stretching veterinary services to breaking point.
"We know that there are around 125,000 doctors to look after almost 26 million Australians, compared to only 13,500 vets to look after the 30.4 million pets - let alone all the other animals that vets look after," it said.
"Staff shortages due to the Omicron variant are making it very difficult for veterinary teams to provide care to all of their patients."
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