After hours care - What it means for our team

A note about after-hours care

When you reach out to us for help outside our normal opening hours, it’s important to understand what goes on behind the scenes. Unlike during the day, the clinic isn’t operating in the background with staff on hand and everything ready to go. The phones are switched off, the lights are out, and our hardworking team is at home, often spending valuable time with their families or taking a well-earned break. If your animal requires urgent assistance after hours, we must physically reopen the clinic, sometimes late at night or in the early hours of the morning, to provide the care your pet or livestock needs.

This process involves several important steps, each requiring time, effort, and resources:

• Contacting and mobilising our veterinarians and veterinary nurses, who may be relaxing at home or even asleep, asking them to come back into work to assist with your emergency.
• Unlocking and preparing the clinic, which includes setting up all the necessary equipment, preparing medications, and ensuring that the environment is safe and ready for urgent treatment, often at short notice.
• Paying our staff for their out-of-hours work, which involves higher penalty rates as required by law and to fairly compensate them for giving up their own time and rest to be available when needed most.
• Sometimes, if the emergency is on a farm or rural property, our team must travel significant distances, often in challenging conditions or at unsociable hours, to reach your animal, bringing along all the necessary equipment and medications.

All this effort is dedicated to helping just one patient at a time, ensuring they receive immediate and high-quality care, no matter the hour.

During regular business hours, the costs of running the clinic — including staff wages, equipment, utilities, and supplies — are shared across the many appointments and procedures booked throughout the day. This helps keep the cost per visit manageable. However, after hours, all the operational expenses, penalty rates, and resources are covered by a single emergency case, making the cost for that visit higher. This is why after-hours fees might seem substantial, but they directly reflect the extra resources, inconvenience, and dedication required to provide this essential service in our community.

We recognise that unexpected emergencies can be stressful — emotionally and financially. Our aim is always to ensure that cost never stands in the way of necessary care for your animals. We're happy to discuss your situation and help you determine whether a problem is truly urgent or if it can safely wait until morning, when regular fees apply. Please don’t hesitate to call and talk it through with our team — your peace of mind and your animal’s wellbeing are our top priorities.

If you find yourself facing an emergency situation, please contact the clinic directly by phone rather than email or social media, as this ensures the fastest possible response. Our team is equipped to guide you through the next steps and mobilise quickly when every minute counts.

The after-hours fees we charge are what make it possible for us to continue providing emergency veterinary services in our small rural community. These fees help cover the additional costs and enable us to support the dedicated professionals who give up their own time to care for your animals when you need help the most. By understanding and supporting these costs, you are helping to sustain local veterinary care for everyone in the region now and into the future.

Thank you sincerely for your understanding, patience, and for supporting your local veterinary clinic. Your trust and support allow us to continue caring for the animals and families of our community, day and night.