Here at the BVC we are very aware of the current coronavirus crisis and its impact on people and the changes that are being required in our daily habits.
While circumstances are evolving every day, we are endeavouring to continue to provide petcare and advice and protect our team, our clients and our pets in our usual professional and loving way.
In order to protect against infection, and in line with the most recent information (as at 18 March 2020) the team have met today and agreed on some ongoing measures that we hope will allow us to continue to remain open and our team to continue to be available to offer care.
APPOINTMENTS:
What COVID-19 has shown us is that our waiting room is not as necessary to our smooth operations as we had liked to think! For the moment no-one will be asked to wait in our comfy lounge chairs. We are asking people to ring from the carpark when they arrive (if practicable – we understand not everyone has access to a mobile phone) and we can arrange for the client and their pet to be shown directly into one of our consulting rooms. It will be preferred (in the short term) if only one client attends any appointment, except in extenuating circumstances. Other family members could wait in the car and the vets are happy to come outside to the carpark if the discussion of the pet’s needs requires the involvement of more than one pet parent.
If required, some consultations may be conducted in the carpark. We can do some home visits for our regular clients (staffing permitting) and there is some facility to do more telemedicine (consulting and advice over the telephone/skype/messenger) than we had previously been allowed to offer.
PAYMENTS:
Wherever possible we would suggest the use of card payments. These can be done in the consultation rooms, in the carpark or over the phone. In fact, for surgical discharges we are suggesting that payment be made over the telephone when we ring you to arrange an appropriate discharge time. This will reduce the time needed for the physical visit to the Centre.
PUPPY SCHOOL:
At this stage gatherings are still allowed so the current class of puppies will continue until graduation next week. In order to reduce the risks of infection we are asking that only 2 family members attend with their puppy at any one class, and we will endeavour (weather permitting) to move classes outdoors. Informational slides will be forwarded by email and all content is available in the information provided early in the course.
New classes will be postponed pending further information becoming available.
STAFFING LEVELS:
While no team members have been diagnosed with COVID19, one of our team members is in self-quarantine after second degree contact (direct contact with someone who has themselves been in direct contact with a virus carrier). Richard and I are making contingency plans in the event that our staff levels drop to an unsustainable level, but at this stage we remain committed to remaining open and continuing to provide service. It may become necessary to reduce our hours in the future or defer elective surgeries, but this is not something we are actively anticipating.
GENERAL HYGIENE:
Soap and water hand washing remains the single most effective method of preventing contamination. We have sinks in many of the consulting rooms. We are sourcing hand sanitizers but, as for everyone else, we are having trouble sourcing this. We have asked the chemist to compound a batch for us to ensure the chemical concentrations are appropriate.
Whilst our rooms are cleaned after every consult and scrubbed at the end of every consulting shift, the team will be increasing their focus in this area and will be wiping down all surfaces with F10 disinfectant between each consultation for the foreseeable future.
AND IN GENERAL:
This is a frightening time for all of us. Information is incomplete and changing constantly. Here at the BVC we remain committed to supporting you and your pets and hope that they can offer you the unconditional love and support that help you through this rough time. Please call us if you have any queries or concerns, or just want to chat through the implications of any of this for you and your pet.
