Practice Policies

MONEY MATTERS AND THE SUPPLY OF DRUGS.

1. PAYMENT OF FEES: In all but the most exceptional of circumstances we expect payment at the time that our service is provided. To this end we accept payment in cash, by guaranteed cheque and with most Credit and Debit cards. Sending accounts adds greatly to our costs and inevitably increases the charges we must make for our services. It is our intent to keep clients informed about the costs of their animal's treatment at all times. Unexpected complications and unpredictable procedures make giving accurate estimates difficult but we will always do our best. Please ask for an estimate if you wish and please leave us contact details so that we can get hold of you should it prove necessary to significantly revise an estimate.

Pet Insurance. We strongly recommend that clients consider taking out Pet Insurance - just in case! The cost of treatments for serious illnesses or injuries can be high, particularly so should specialist referral be required and please don't forget the costs of investigations to show that a problem is not so serious! There are many different policies available to choose from. Information on some companies' policies can be collected from the Surgery. Shop around! Find a policy to suit you! (One thing in particular worth looking for is whether a policy would cover life-long treatment in the event of your pet succumbing to a chronic illness. Policies not offering this should, of course be cheaper.)

Please note, we expect clients to pay our fee, then claim it back from the Insurance Company. In return, we, at present, will complete claim forms for clients free of charge.

2. VETERINARY DISPENSING – THE LAW. Veterinary Surgeons have an absolute right in law to prescribe veterinary drugs for use in animals. However, when it comes to the dispensing (and sale) of these drugs, we have been given, in law, a privilege, not a right, to dispense drugs for “animals under our care”. This privilege is constantly under review and we have to ensure that we strictly obey this “animals under our care” rule if we are to justify retaining the privilege. Even as things stand, we can be ‘struck off’ by our Professional Body (The Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons) and/or prosecuted under the law if we can be shown to have broken the rules.

The result of this is that we cannot sell medicines for use in animals ‘over the counter’; we must have a working knowledge of the animal(s) first – in most cases we must have seen and examined the animal(s) within a reasonable period of time.

We have therefore made it Practice Policy that no Prescription Only Medicine can be supplied for use in an animal that we have not seen within the last 12 months. We can only apologize for any inconvenience these restrictions cause and hope that you understand the reasons for them. (A reduced consultation fee is payable for an examination under these circumstances.)

3. REPEAT PRESCRIPTIONS – PRACTICE POLICY AND THE LAW. As stated above, the law as it stands allows Veterinary Surgeons to prescribe and dispense drugs for use in “animals under our care”. What exactly this means is open to interpretation but it has become generally accepted that we should have a fairly intimate knowledge of the animal and should have seen it recently or, at least, on a regular basis. Animals on long-term treatment fall into this last category. At the same time, it is recognized within the profession that animals with chronic illnesses requiring long-term therapy should be monitored regularly – for example, to ensure that the condition that they are suffering from does not change requiring a change in the medication and/or to ensure that side-effects from the drugs are avoided etc., etc..

Within the above framework, it is up to individual Veterinary Surgeons (or Practices) to develop a policy that is in the best interests of their patients and obeys the law. This Practice’s policy is to ask clients to bring their animal(s) in for check-ups at regular intervals – usually every three months (there are a few exceptions both more and less than this). Generally, drugs are supplied to last the patient one month at a time and we ask clients to report on their animal’s progress each month – and, of course, immediately if there are any problems. (Please note, this policy statement applies to patients that are stabilized on their medication – during the period of stabilization patients will need to be re-checked much more frequently.)

We hope you will agree that this policy represents good sense and is likely to result in the best possible Veterinary care for your pet. Regular check-ups are charged at a reduced rate when compared to our normal consultation fee (as long as you purchase the medicines from us). If you have any questions about the long-term Veterinary care of your pet, please feel free to ask.

4. THE SUPPLY OF VETERINARY MEDICINES.

DID YOU KNOW THAT YOU DON’T HAVE TO BUY YOUR VETERINARY MEDICINES FROM US?

IF YOU PREFER, WE CAN WRITE YOU A PRESCRIPTION AND YOU CAN BUY YOUR MEDICINES ELSEWHERE – FROM A PHARMACIST PERHAPS – IN THE SAME WAY AS YOU GET YOUR OWN MEDICINES.

OUR FEE – THE MONEY YOU PAY US FOR YOUR ANIMAL’S TREATMENT – CONSISTS OF A CHARGE FOR OUR EXAMINATION AND ADVICE – THE “CONSULTATION FEE” – PLUS A SEPARATE CHARGE FOR THE MEDICINES OR PRESCRIPTION WE SUPPLY. (PERHAPS INJECTION, OPERATION, (ETC.) CHARGES ALSO).

THE MEDICINES CHARGE INCLUDES A “DISPENSING FEE” (IN MOST CASES – THERE ARE SOME EXCEPTIONS) AND A CHARGE FOR THE MEDICINES THEMSELVES.

SHOULD YOU WISH TO PURCHASE YOUR MEDICINES ELSEWHERE – FOR EXAMPLE, IF YOU CAN GET THEM CHEAPER – CONSULTATION AND PRESCRIPTION CHARGES REMAIN PAYABLE.

YOU ARE ENTITLED TO A FULLY ITEMIZED RECEIPT FOR ANY TREATMENT WE PROVIDE AND WE CAN EASILY PRINT ONE OFF FOR YOU.

WE MAY NOT ALWAYS REMEMBER TO AUTOMATICALLY GIVE YOU A RECEIPT, IN PART BECAUSE IT IS A WASTE OF PAPER IF YOU DON’T WANT ONE! BUT IF YOU DO WANT ONE PLEASE ASK – WE WILL BE HAPPY TO OBLIGE. IT IS YOUR RIGHT! PLEASE FEEL FREE TO EXERCISE IT!

PLEASE NOTE WE DO NOT POST RECEIPTS.

UNHAPPY WITH ANYTHING? Naturally, we would wish that clients should never be unhappy with the attention and treatment that we give and prescribe to animals brought to us. However, we accept that, occasionally, some dissatisfaction is bound to occur; rarely, we hope. Should you ever be unhappy with us PLEASE TELL US - we regularly discuss difficult cases and are more than happy to pool our knowledge and experience in order to solve a problem. Perhaps you don't understand what we are doing, perhaps you feel we have not explained things to you properly? We are more than happy to take time out to correct this.

SECOND OPINIONS. We are quite happy for clients to seek a second opinion away from the practice should they feel the need, indeed we can often recommend the best place to go for, and will organize for you, such an opinion. We must ask, however, that you inform us in advance of your intentions IN THE BEST INTERESTS OF YOUR PET - information on treatments given, test results etc., can then be passed to the Veterinary Surgeon involved resulting in a better "second opinion". Please note, we may refuse to see a client again if a second opinion has been sought without informing us first.