Leah Brookes

People leadership Kennel management Property maintenance and procurement Other

The Greyhound Adoption Program (GAP) provides quality kennel care for all greyhounds during their time in the program and the helper/test dogs. The kennel facilities include the primary GRV GAP Seymour site with capacity for 100 dogs and the capacity for 80 dogs at our Tullamarine site.

The GAP Operations Coordinator works closely with the Senior Kennel Attendants to lead the team 15+ kennel attendants rostered over seven days per week. The role is responsible for overall people leadership including rostering, regular one on one meetings and formal probation and annual review activities.

The GAP Operations Coordinator supports the Re-homing Manager, the GAP Adoption Manager and the Veterinary Services Coordinator to ensure seamless delivery of all aspects care, assessment, and behavioural training for the greyhounds. The role manages the forecasting and coordination of the movement of dogs into, out of and within the program including GRV kennel sites and external kennels. The role liaises with and maintains the relationships with external kennels used for overflow and related services.

The role is responsible for overseeing the procurement of all kennel supplies, managing contractors and managing the maintenance and repair of the GAP fleet vehicles, trailers, kennel block facilities and grounds..

· Undertake recruitment as required to ensure capacity to roster effectively to meet evolving business needs

· Maintain 14 day roster to meet dog care and welfare needs and to manage coverage for planned and unplanned absences

· Actively manage kennel attendant team dynamics.

· Manage the forecasting and coordination of the movement of dogs into, out of and within the program including GRV kennel sites and external kennels

· Respond rapidly to changing kennel management needs e.g. quarantining unwell dogs, welfare intakes at short notice

· Manage externally boarded GAP dogs including monitoring capacity, dog movements, accuracy and payment of invoices

· Work closely with the GAP Veterinary Services Coordinator to maximise surgical and medical treatment for the preparation of greyhounds for adoption

· Oversee the procurement of all kennel supplies

· Manage the engagement and work of all contractors providing grounds and kennel block facilities maintenance services

· Manage the regular servicing and ad hoc maintenance and repair of the GAP fleet vehicles and trailers

· Ensure all GAP invoices for utility services, waste, infrastructure and equipment repairs and maintenance are checked and approved promptly

· Work closely with the GRV Finance team on the procurement of goods and services for the GAP facilities.

· Actively contribute to the ongoing development of the program

· Attend and assist with GAP promotions as required including adoption days or weekends

· Undertake any other reasonable tasks as directed by the Re-homing Manager.

• My duties include the following:.
• Ensure all adoption applications are attended to in a timely manner.
• Promote greyhounds and programs through various social media platforms.
• Ensure greyhound information is updated frequently and as required.
• Professional communication with adopters and general public.
• A percentage increase on adoption figures from previous calendar year.
• Greyhound details and photos are accurate and kept up to date.
• Provide content for Greyhound biographies and publish on the website.
• The number of greyhounds returned to the program remains at the same levels as previous year or reduces.
• In conjunction with GAP Adoption Manager come up with ideas, content and strategies for social media.
• Respond to comments and enquires.
• Continued growth of GAPs social media platforms - Facebook.
• Match adoptees with suitable Greyhounds while promoting the breed as an ideal pet.
• Providing follow up post adoption calls; 3 days, 3 weeks and 3 months.
• Providing the previous owner (who entered the Greyhound into the program) confirmation of adoption at the 3 week follow up call and ensure a good relationship between participants and GAP.
• Organising Greyhounds for Adoption days and events; Including adoption packs, presentaion of the Greyhound and attending events.
• Behavioural Assessments - Assessing suitability for individual greyhounds pre-entry and entry in the Greyhound Adoption Program.
• This includes all data entry and record keeping.

• Surgery.
• Ensure surgical equipment is prepared and readily available for specific medical procedures and/or as directed.
• Coordinate the scheduling of support staff as required & in consultation with the Veterinarians.
• Manage and administer the patient intake & pre-operative procedures, as instructed.
• Monitor and record patient vital signs whist undergoing premedication, anaesthesia, surgery & recovery.
• Undertake post-op patient plan programs in consultation with the Veterinarians.
• Ensure patients progress and status is communicated to other staff and clients in a timely manner.
• Pathology.
• Ensures relevant samples are collected and are appropriately labelled and stored.
• Conduct haematological, blood and other specific laboratory tests as required and ensures results are recorded accurately and communicated to client, veterinarians and veterinary nurses as required.
• Maintain up to date knowledge of usage of various laboratory tests, patient care and positioning.
• Radiography.
• Ensure radiographic equipment, environment and patient is prepared, as required.
• Maintain and organise all radiation monitoring devices.
• Emergency and Critical Care.
• Assist the Veterinarians to administer first aid and critical care procedures, as directed.
• Ensure emergency equipment and supplies are prepared and readily available at all times.
• Consults & Medical Advice.
• Provide routine non-clinical animal health care, product, grief support, local law, responsible pet ownership and behaviour advice to clients, as required.
• Provide clinical, pre-operative and post-operative care advice in consultation with Veterinarians.
• General Animal Care.
• Administer daily treatments, routines and nursing care of patients as required & in consultation with the Veterinarians.
• Observe & monitors condition of patients, as required.
• Identify pain management methods for patients in consultation with the Veterinarians, if required.
• Assist with identifying, recording & highlighting abnormalities in patients to Veterinarians.
• Ensure patients are appropriate restrained, positioned and secured at all times.
• Undertake admission and discharge of patients.
• Stock Management Stock Health.
• Drive stock monitoring through assisting & coordinating regular rolling stocktakes, as required.
• Stock Replenishment, Ensure medicines and supply levels are monitored, ordered & replenished when required in.
• General Stock Management, Ensure medicines are stored as required by legislation and as directed.
• Ensure all medicine is correctly labelled at all times.
• Drive the timely management of price updates as required.
• Hospital Presentation Clean and tidy.
• Ensure all areas of the hospital and equipment are hygienic, clean, organised and presentable at all times.
• Ensure the hospital environment is inviting for customers and staff i.e.
• Heating/cooling, lighting (internal/external), smells, music/noise levels and content, etc.
• Brand - Ensure all internal and external signage is kept in line with company standards and is regularly maintained.
• Team/Training Individual Behaviour.
• Lead by example by upholding and displaying professional values and behaviours.
• Ensure the hospital is an enjoyable place to work for all team members.
• Contribute to the learnings of Vet Nurses, Trainee Vet Nurses and work experience students.
• Team Management.
• Recruit – On-board and induct high calibre new staff, where required.
• Assist in coordinating student work placement & trainee’s.
• Set and achieve store, team and individual goals.
• Ensure staff are adhering to company policies and procedures.
• Manage staff’s development through KPI monitoring, training & PDP’s.
• Coach staff to achieve and development skills further, where required.
• Manage staff’s performance issues appropriately, where required.
• Manage general staff queries on processes, policies and Award/State legislation.
• Manage the off-boarding processes for exiting employees, where required.
• Personal Development/Training - Participate in all training, including – face to face, e-learning, supplier, etc.
• And apply learnings in-store.
• Ensure mine & the teams animal care & surgery skills knowledge is kept up to date.
• Ensure staff are applying learnings in-store.
• Participate in performance appraisals and development plans.
• Communication - Drive regular team meetings with staff participation in line with company policy.
• Effectively communicate with internal and external parties.
• Ensure all staff are up to date and familiar with any relevant issues.
• Safety - Ensure the safety of the hospital, store, staff and customers by maintaining a safe work environment at all times.
• Investigate and report on safety incidents & hazards in a timely manner, where required.
• Monitor & coach others on safe workplace procedures.
• Appropriately handle, use, store & dispose of hazardous materials.
• Customer Service & Selling.
• Customer service - Drive the team to provide a positive and memorable customer experience for all customers & patient.
• Assist the team to manage customer enquiries.
• Manage the timely follow-up of customer feedback and NPS detractors.
• Assist the retail & services teams to provide informative advice & service to customers to assist with retail & services sales.
• Business Administration.
• Rosters - Monitor, respond and attend to shift assignments in a timely manner.
• Assist in reporting any roster issues, as required.
• Assist in ensuring rostering is kept in line with company policy and within forecast/supplied targets.
• Financial Performance - Ensure the hospital & team achieve financial targets.
• Ensure the hospital and team achieve daily, weekly and monthly sales targets.
• Manage roster to ensure wage targets are achieved & applied.
• Manage bad debts and credit control functions to maximise cash flow and reduce unproductive or costly practices.
• Ensure petty cash is administered and accounted for in line policy and procedures/as directed.
• Ensure other controllable costs are kept under targets/forecast.
• Ensure GP% is kept in line with company policy and forecast.
• Reporting - Ensure relevant reporting is made available to all staff.
• Ensure monthly reports are submitted to the PETstock Vet Operations team in a timely manner.
• Scheduling - Drive the timely management of consult bookings & re-bookings.
• In conjunction with the Head Vet, manage the timely and accurate completion of staff rosters.
• Medical records - Documents patient vital signs as directed.
• Input & maintain accurate client & patient information in the relevant computer systems in a timely manner.
• Prepare & coordinate the completion of relevant paperwork to clients as required.
• Uphold confidentially of all client & patient information at all times.
• General Administration - Ensure that all administration is kept up to date, including patient, medical care, employee, financial, reporting and stock management related admin.
• Assist to ensure alarm testing and key register is kept in line with company policy.
• Ensure banking/cash-up is completed on time, accurately and securely.
• Ensure staff areas and offices are appropriately set-up & updated with WHS & Operations posters, documents, policy folders & and other required memos.
• Report any issues or unknown queries to Management or the relevant HO Department through the appropriate channels.

• Reception duties in a very busy environment.
• Maintaining exceptional presentation of the reception areas.
• Organising veterinary consultations throughout four consulting rooms to ensure maximum productivity.
• Inventory of drugs and consumables, unpacking orders, computer inventory, packing orders for branch clinics.
• Taking blood for progesterone testing (which is done in house).
• Running and interpreting progesterone test levels.
• Calibrating progesterone pathology machine.
• Giving advice on reproductive treatments.
• Assisting in transcervical insemination TCI.
• Assisting in artificial semen transplanting with fresh, chilled and or frozen semen.
• Thawing frozen semen and assessing motility to be used in a surgical implantation.
• Handling liquid nitrogen.
• Assisting in numerous caesarean sections and neonatal care.
• Emergency and critical care duties.
• Maintaining and operating five kennel wards.
• All aspects of surgical nursing including bone plaiting and orthopaedics.
• Ultrasonography and radiology.
• Placing intravenous catheters without assistance and running fluids at required rates.
• Taking blood for PreGA screens and running tests on our in house idexx pathology machine.
• Liaising with veterinary staff in care of in patient animals.
• Aseptic surgical routines in prepping, during and post-surgical procedures.
• Cleaning and autoclaving equipment with thorough aseptic techniques.
• Training junior staff and new members to the hospital.
• Assisting nurses in completing their Cert IV in veterinary nursing as their workplace supervisor.

• Greeting each client and patient with a smile.
• Excellent telephone and bedside manner with every client and patient.
• Operating and maintaining computer software Open VPMS, previously operated Vet Ware, Rx Works and CHS Vet.
• Client relations.
• Quoting, invoicing and receipting patients.
• Balancing clinical till.
• Clinical drug ordering (placing orders, entering drug arrivals and stock control) this is a job that is solely managed by me.
• Meeting with drug and company representatives.
• Creator and maintainer of the official Pound Road Veterinary Clinic facebook page.
• Part builder of the official Pound Road Veterinary Clinic website.
• Implementing and practising United Veterinary Group strategies within the clinic.
• Weekly printing, proofing and mailing patient reminders.
• Organising and implementing clinical promotions.
• Being a valuable team member.
• Clinical, :.
• Assisting Veterinarians in consultations.
• Collecting blood samples (which I can collect with a assistant or by myself with a willing patient).
• Running in house pathology, (PCV, TP, USG, dipstick, staining slides etc.).
• Safe handling of all patients.
• Restraining aggressive animals.
• Cleaning and restocking of consultation rooms.
• Cleaning and maintaining a neat presentation of the reception and waiting area at all times.
• Clipping patient nails (special skills with aggressive animals that would normally require sedation).
• Puppy PreSchool Teacher.
• Groomer (In 2003 I started the Pound Road Veterinary Clinic grooming department.
• Over the years I had built a large client base and I successfully taught a fellow nurse the art of grooming.
• Together we maintained a large client base with constant regulars.
• The grooming department also generated business within our clinic eg: dentals and numerous other ailments that were detected during the time of grooming).
• Surgical Nursing:.
• Admitting patients.
• Pre-Operative examinations.
• Pre-Medicating patients.
• Catheterisation for intravenous fluids.
• Setting up theatre for surgical procedures.
• Administrating anaesthetic.
• Intubating and extubating patients.
• Prepping for all types of surgical routines including ultrasounds.
• Monitoring anaesthetics with the aid of pulseoximiter, apalert, temperature measurements, HR via stethoscope and oesophageal stethoscope.
• Maintain sterility and aseptic techniques at all times.
• Routine dental ultrasonic scaling and polishing for dogs and cats.
• Cleaning and autoclaving instruments.
• Maintaining all clinical and hospital equipment.
• Taking and developing X-rays.
• Operating IV fluid pumps.
• Medicating and nursing hospitalised patients.
• Emergency and critical care.

• Grooming at a professional standard.
• Customer relations.
• Managing the grooming department.
• Veterinary Nursing.
• All duties ranging from being a junior veterinary nurse to becoming a very capable experienced veterinary nurse.
• Reception duties.
• Clinical nursing duties.
• Surgical nursing duties.
• Kennel hand in the clinic cattery.