Demand during pandemic is taking a toll on workers

SOMETHING strange and hitherto unheard of is happening at many veterinary practices.

In among the PPE, the stress, the exhaustion and the fear of Covid-19, there lurks another phenomenon. The pandemic has been hard on veterinary staff.

Social distancing has made once-simple tasks exceedingly challenging. Constantly changing rules and regulations is trying.

Treating animals in the absence of their owners is particularly difficult. Continuous shortages of personnel and ongoing uncertainty over rotas and shift patterns have become more than disconcerting. And so things are changing.

The latest results of a project that monitors the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic on the companion animal sector were discussed at a recent Royal Canin webinar.

You may be startled to hear that while the majority of veterinary practices are continuing, the conventional strategy of trying to take on new business, a considerable proportion are actively shedding existing clients.

Carlos Michelson, managing director of CM Research, which investigated the opinions of about 1000 UK vets, said: “I have never seen this before; the demand for veterinary services is such that some practices have the luxury of turning clients away. This is mainly due to the heavy workload but also because some clients are seen as being disruptive and not worth the effort.

“The pressure of providing clinical services while conforming to rules introduced to contain the virus has created a heavy burden for veterinary staff. An inability to access the type of care provided before the pandemic has brought out the worst in some clients.

“They are more demanding and often rude and they have no idea of what constitutes an emergency. Usually, it is the reception staff who suffer the effects of this bad behaviour, with vets reporting that their front-ofhouse colleagues are exhausted by the demands of dealing with increasing numbers of calls, request for medication and so on.”

And there you have it. Some vets have obviously had enough. They’ve been pushed to breaking point by unrealistic expectations of them. We have all watched it happen over the years.

Early evening requests for immediate “urgent” appointments for dogs that have been sick for days. Out-of-hours calls for cats that have been lame for weeks. It goes on and on. But maybe no more. Perhaps the pandemic has showed us all it costs nothing to be polite.

It takes little effort to be considerate. Simple gratitude can make someone’s day. And that it is easy to smile, even behind a mask.