Lack of veterinary staff causes ripple effect on animal treatment across the Hunter

The Singleton resident was on her way to a local veterinary clinic with her eight-year-old dog, who was experiencing blood in her stools, vomiting up foamy liquid and suffering neurological symptoms. But a delay caused by a road block en route prevented her from arriving at the clinic within its opening hours and resulted in refused treatment of her pet.

"I was really, really stressed," Ms Holland, who was seven months pregnant at the time, said.

She phoned her regular vet and was advised her pet needed urgent treatment, but when she called back to inform them of the delay, they said they could not see Sophie any more.

"I know the time wasn't ideal, but it's very distressing to be told your pet's health is urgent and you're unable to access any veterinary care for them," she said. "I was beside myself."

Ms Holland had to stop her car and call several other vets around the Hunter Valley and Newcastle regions until she could find an appointment.

"Between my husband and I, we called eight or nine vets before we found one that could see her in Newcastle," she said.

Fortunately Sophie received the treatment she needed and Ms Holland said she remained in good health.

Similarly, Bulga resident Rebeka Revie lost a lamb that was attacked by dogs four months ago, and required treatment for broken ribs and a punctured lung. She called a vet to come to her property, but was told they were "busy and would call her straight back".

"Forty-five minutes later they hadn't rang so I called and they didn't have any record of my call," she said. "They couldn't send anybody out and asked if I could bring the lamb in but I couldn't and sadly the lamb passed away."

In a separate incident, her five-week-old golden retriever puppy choked on dog biscuits.

"I cleared the airways as much as I could, but the dog was still in a lot of distress, so I put it in the car and rang the vet at 6.10pm. I got the emergency triage after hours that told me I had to go to Newcastle and I said I think the dog will probably die if I have to do that," she said.

Ms Revie took the puppy to an emergency vet in Muswellbrook, where it was put down due to a lack of resources and a lengthy travel time.

"I raced up there but the end result was the pup had to be put down, it needed surgery which they weren't equipped for and it would've had to [have] gone to Newcastle anyways."

The lack of after-hours emergency care and staffing shortages is being felt across the country causing a ripple effect through the veterinary system.

Australian Veterinarian Association (AVA) state president Zachary Lederhose said vet shortages were evident in regional and rural areas such as the Hunter Valley, where there were clinics closing and people were having to travel an hour or more, like Ms Holland and Ms Revie, for treatment.

"The vets are understaffed and overworked," Dr Lederhose said. "Running a vet practice you have to be available for emergencies, but then you've got to show up and do a whole day's work. You don't get the next day off to recover like you would in other professions."

The NSW Legislative Council recently announced an inquiry into veterinary workforce shortages, and will look into staffing issues from small to large clinics, the challenges in maintaining a sustainable veterinary workforce and the burn-out and mental health challenges associated with the profession.

"The inquiry will give us more data but we do know that 40 per cent of job vacancies are taking more than a year to fill which causes a domino effect. There's practices looking for vets and in the meantime everybody else in the practice is working harder," Dr Lederhose said. "The reality is it's a very complex problem, it's something that's been developing for years and it's something that's going to take years to fix permanently."

Broadmeadow's Animal Referral and Emergency Centre (AREC) founder David Tabrett says he has seen a constant growth in staffing shortages and an overload of clients.

"We're finding that someone would leave us on the basis for whatever reason with three months notice, but it's taking six to nine months to recruit someone, so that leaves a big gap," he said.

He said the emergency centre employed 140 staff, with a large number of those on a casual, fortnightly payroll, and it treated about 9000 patients a year.

"We work on a triage basis, so the most critical animals will be seen first. We have two vets on after midnight, so there's going to be times where there might be significant delays of up to six hours," he said.

Dr Tabrett said there was a reasonable network of vets covering a catchment area from Tea Gardens Hawks Nest to Dungog and through to Singleton, but "largely that's at the expense of their own time, health and their families".

"Because instead of a three person clinic in that area to distribute the workload, they're down to two or one single person doing three people's work - it can't be maintained," he said.

Dr Lederhose said there was a need to retain vets in the profession in particular areas.

"We have vets leaving the profession and also not going to the areas where they're needed. [We need to find] how we encourage them to take opportunities in those places where people are desperate for vets," he said.

"If we don't make sure that we have sustainable practices then we end up with people travelling three plus hours to see a vet."

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