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Drawing on team experience
A lot has happened in the past five years in the emergency and critical care department at the Southern Animal Referral Centre. At times it is helpful to reflect briefly on the achievements and qualifications of the clinical team which sees your patients every day. It is also beneficial to remember how this fits in to the bigger picture of good patient outcomes and equally satisfied clients. The emergency and critical care clinical team at the Southern Animal Referral Centre has never rested on its laurels. Good case outcomes depend on far more than letters after names, but utilising team resources and knowledge in challenging cases can be the single most important contributor to a good outcome. A culture of collaboration and focus on best practice case management across multiple clinicians is our ultimate aim. This requires a strong contribution from all staff including senior and junior veterinarians, nurses and lay staff. In addition to a strong team focus, it is comforting for referring vets and clients to know that senior staff across all roles have invested significant time in obtaining relevant and valuable qualifications. These qualifications and the experience behind them repeatedly come to the fore in referred cases, allowing simple and complex presentations alike to be effectively managed. Of course we realise that this is only one part of the equation. Mention of such qualifications is irrelevant unless we provide a valuable service to referring veterinary practices and your clients. Successful case outcomes only occur if the referring veterinarian and client are satisfied with both clinical and non-clinical aspects of the service. Textbook recoveries are small solace if clients regularly leave dissatisfied from an emergency treatment episode. Referring vets are often the first people to hear about poor experiences from their clients; a situation which does not contribute to goodwill for any party.In these situations staff have the expertise to offer a range of appropriate therapies and can also appreciate that different clients will choose the most suitable course of diagnostics and treatment for their situation. Providing relevant information in a supportive context best assists the client to choose what is right for them. We trust that this approach continues to provide a valued service to your clients and helps balance the important but competing demands of emergency cases. In the near and ongoing future we hope to continue to improve the level of expertise of staff as well as the relevance and value of the emergency and critical care service to referring practices and the pet owning public. Below is a list of key staff who have gained additional qualifications in their respective fields:
If you have suggestions which you feel will improve the overall value of the service to you and your clients, we’d be only too happy to talk to you. |
