Gold Coast veterinarian Dr Luke Johnston says emergency care vet nurse refused entry at border, puts animals lives at risk

A Gold Coast vet says ‘animals will die’ if specialist veterinarian staff from border communities are denied access to Queensland. HIS WARNING.

A GOLD Coast veterinarian has warned that sick and injured animals will die if specialist veterinarians and vet nurses can’t cross into Queensland from border communities to work.

Dr Luke Johnston, from Veterinary Specialist Services in Carrara, said he was “disappointed” in Queensland Health’s (QH) decision to ban vets and vet nurses from northern NSW entering the Gold Coast to work at the Animal Emergency Service (AES) in Carrara.

A QH spokeswoman said “travel across the border should only be done in critical situations, including for animal welfare reasons, if a local veterinarian is not available to provide specialist or timely emergency assistance”.

But Dr Johnston said the hospital he was referring to was a specialist veterinary hospital.

“We perform tasks and duties that cannot be performed by other individuals including chemotherapy, lifesaving specialist surgeries, CAT scans, ultrasound, critical care and ventilation management of patients who cannot breath,” he said.

A dog in surgery in a Veterinary Hospital.

“Not anyone can perform this job and certainly the job cannot be performed at home. For example to do what I do I have studied 11 years to become specialised.

“There is a national shortage of vets and nurses; in particular skilled and trained nurses and vets as thus the staff in that hospital are just irreplaceable.

“It is impossible for the hospital to be fully staffed at any one time let alone to replace a staff member who cannot work.

“The literal fact is that if we cannot staff that hospital or others around the state with borders communities animals cannot receive care and will die. I don’t believe this is appropriate.”

According to QH, the state’s chief health officer has granted an agricultural class exemption for farmers and agribusiness workers to move across the Queensland border.

The exemption is only for movement associated with performing essential agribusiness services for the agriculture supply chain or farming activities, including the care of livestock.

“The exemption is for veterinarians conducting on-farm visits or providing animal care services to livestock, artificial insemination, DNA testing services, genetics breeding services, animal inspection, animal laboratory services, biosecurity services,” says the spokeswoman.

Vets and vet nurses are not allowed to enter Qld from border communities to work

“Travel across the border should only be done in critical situations, including for animal welfare reasons, if a local veterinarian is not available to provide specialist or timely emergency assistance.”

A specialist or essential worker travelling from a Covid hotspot must be endorsed by a relevant Queensland Government agency and is a person who provides services that:

* are needed in Queensland

* cannot be obtained in Queensland or another Covid-free area

* must be provided without delay

* the person must be physically present in Queensland to provide the service

* the person’s employer or business has a quarantine management plan and the plan is in the form approved by the chief health officer.

EARLIER

Critical worker refused entry, puts ‘lives in jeopardy’

ANIMAL doctors and nurses are being refused entry into Queensland, with a Gold Coast veterinarian saying pets may die without treatment, chemotherapy and life saving surgeries.

Dr Luke Johnston, from Veterinary Specialist Services in Carrara, said on Sunday an emergency veterinary nurse, who lives in the northern NSW travel bubble and had a permit for entry, was turned away at the border on her way to the Animal Emergency Service (AES) in Carrara.

“This gravely concerns me. I am a small animal internal medicine specialist, and as a trained medical professional I understand the need for virus containment and that the nation is trying to stop the Delta variant from spreading any further,” Dr Johnston said.

Vets and vet nurses are being turned away at the Qld border, putting lives of pets at risk. Photo: istock

“However, state borders cannot become a barricade for critical, essential workers. All veterinary industry workers, in particular nurses, veterinarians, specialists and other practitioners are without a doubt essential.

“If we are restricted from performing our duties people’s beloved animals will go without emergency treatment, chemotherapy and life saving surgeries.

“Not only putting the animal’s lives in jeopardy but also their family’s mental wellbeing and happiness, at a time when this should be a priority for the government.”

Dr Johnston said animal health care was an essential service and if an emergency centre as critical as AES was understaffed by just one nurse, this puts animals’ lives in jeopardy.

“It must become an immediate priority of the Queensland government to give all veterinarians, nurses and specialists an exemption to cross the border,” he said.

A Gold Coast vet says animals lives are at risk with no exemptions being given to vet nurses who live in the former border bubble to do their jobs.

“As veterinary medical professionals we understand the importance of infectious disease control and the principles of virus management so we support your governments’ strong approach to abolishing the virus, however it cannot be at the expense of the health and well being of the animals we care for every day.”

Dr Johnston added if there was an industry that should remain operational in a public health crisis it should be one in which the workers have had thorough and robust training in the field of infectious disease and public health, such as veterinarians do.

The vet has written to the state’s premier, chief health officer and health minister asking them to “immediately reconsider the restriction of travel of veterinary staff who reside in the border bubble into Queensland”.

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Originally published as Gold Coast veterinarian Dr Luke Johnston says emergency care vet nurse refused entry at border, puts animals lives at risk