Sydney vet gets high tech

Balmain Veterinary Hospital has been around since the early seventies and has been a staple of the inner-city Sydney community ever since, caring for much-loved neighbourhood pets for the last four decades. Here’s how it moves with the changing world.

Balmain Vet Hospital

This article was created in partnership with Dell Technologies.

Nathan Harris loves animals, but he also loves a challenge. He became a vet because, in his words, “vets get to do everything”. 

From pharmaceuticals to X-rays, dental to diet management, all the way through to surgery, vets have a holistic relationship with their feathered and furry clients. Mr Harris’ clients come in many shapes and sizes, and he enjoys that too, up to a point. “I treat dogs, cats, rabbits, guinea pigs and birds. Some vets do exotic animals like snakes and reptiles, but not me,” he laughs. “I’m not that brave!”

Mr Harris is one of the three owners of Balmain Veterinary Hospital in New South Wales. The private practice was founded in the early seventies and has been a staple of the Balmain community ever since, caring for much-loved neighbourhood pets for the last four decades. Mr Harris joined the staff in 2008 and bought into the business in 2013, during a period of rapid growth and expansion. Today, the practice employs over 30 staff members, including nine vets, and services some 10,000 to 15,000 pet owners.

“Our clients are really invested in their pets and they have the financial means to investigate diseases and treat their animals, so we’re quite fortunate in that way. Our clients are great to work with, and their animals are great. We’re a busy clinic,” Mr Harris says. He won’t name his favourite clients, but admits that he is first and foremost a dog lover.

The scale of Balmain Veterinary Hospital sets it apart, in terms of pet healthcare. The clinic offers a full raft of services from basic consultation right through to surgery, and includes add-on facilities like pet boarding and supplies. However, Mr Harris believes that the clinic’s commitment to excellence is its best asset.

“Our standard of medicine is very good and our technical capabilities are very good. We have the right premises, the right equipment, fantastic software to manage schedules and treatment. People who come to us know that they’re not going to get a second rate job,” he explains.

“We do most diagnostics on site, for example. We can swab ears, look under the microscope and see what sort of infection we’re dealing with. We have quite a few blood analysis machines to investigate things like kidney disease, diabetes, clotting disorders. We have blood gas analysers, and other things you find in human hospitals, so the laboratory is pretty extensive.”

The clinic has a full dental suite and endoscopy equipment for minimally invasive surgical procedures, and also a top flight imaging lab. When Mr Harris started out at the practice, they were processing X-rays manually in an on-site darkroom, whereas now all of the imaging is computer-based. It has cut the processing time down from 15 minutes to roughly 20 seconds, adding another layer of efficiency to the practice. “All of this means we can do fast and thorough investigation, and deliver more effective treatment for your pet,” he says.

Balmain Vet Laboratory

It’s still common to find vet clinics where healthcare records are kept on paper but here too, Mr Harris’ practice is making the most of the digital tools at its disposal. Powered by Dell hardware and bespoke patient management software, everything they do runs through a centralised system which has multiple touch points during a client’s journey.

“That’s how we have been able to grow,” Mr Harris says. “We use computers for everything, and everything needs to speak to everything else. We have online bookings. We have front desk staff coordinating clients and vets, as people come in. We keep detailed digital records for all of our clients during consultations, and we often go online to check correct medicine doses or reach out to specialists for our animals. We use monitors for our X-rays and for surgery, laptops for dental equipment, and we keep all of the data and imaging centralised.”

Regular clients have the reassurance that their pet’s medical history is well-organised and one click away. The stream-lined system gives owners comfort, and allows the vets to focus on the personal experience that animal lovers have at their hospital.

Balmain Vet Cats

“What drives all of our decisions is what’s best for the animal. We want to make sure they’re not in pain, that they have a good quality of life and they’re well looked after. But we’re also very focused on taking care of the client. It’s obviously not always a happy ending when people come in to see us, because we’re responsible for end of life care for people’s pets, and that’s incredibly emotional,” Mr Harris says, “But we can really be there for people and that’s also incredibly rewarding.”

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