By Alesha Capone
The National Tertiary Education Union (NTEU) has expressed concern about changes being implemented at the University of Melbourne U-Vet Werribee Animal Hospital.
The university last year entered into “a change plan” to manage the financial impact of COVID-19, which included an examination of service delivery and organisational structure at U-Vet.
The university and Racing Victoria announced earlier this month that U-Vet would continue providing 24-hour emergency on-call services for serious limb injuries and fractures incurred by thoroughbreds in training and racing.
However the NTEU branch president at the University of Melbourne, Annette Herrera, last week said that U-Vet would no longer offer a 24/7 emergency service “for the everyday pet owners in the Werribee community”.
“It’s disappointing that the university isn’t making community engagement a priority,” Ms Herrera said.
A U-Vet staff member, who asked to remain anonymous, said employees were concerned that an after-hours vet care system being planned for the clinic could require veterinarians to be on call all night, after having worked all day and potentially having to work again the next day.
“This is not ideal given that rostered staff are barely given enough time in between appointments to take a lunch break – a right every worker has after working five hours into a shift,” the staff member said.
A university spokesperson said U-Vet’s small animal primary care team would increase, to make more appointments available to clients.
Small animal emergency care will be available between 8am and 7pm Mondays to Saturdays at U-Vet.
Critical care will be provided around the clock to animals already housed in the hospital and those referred to U-Vet by their primary care vet.
