Terms and Conditions
REGISTRATION, CONTACT AND YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION:
It is essential for us to maintain accurate and up to date records of our customers and their animals.
In order to do this, we will periodically ask you to confirm the details we hold for you. If your details change at any point, please inform us so we may ensure our records are as up to date as possible.
We may contact you either by letter, phone, text or electronic means in order to advise you of outstanding accounts, reminders of your animal’s preventative health care treatments or appointments and any marketing offers that might be of benefit to you or your animal. Please tell reception if you do not wish contact to be made. However, please be aware that this will remove the ability for us to send vaccination, medication and appointment reminders.
PRIVACY POLICY:
Your privacy and personal information are important to us. Any personal information that you provide to us will be dealt with in line with our Privacy Policy, which explains what personal information we collect from you, how and why we collect, store, use and share such information, your rights in relation to your personal information and how to contact us and supervisory authorities if you have a query or complaint about the use of your personal information.
DISABILITY ACCESS:
If you have any special needs, please let our staff know so that we can help you, and also ensure you get the same support in the future. Please see the section on our website on disability access for further information.
REMINDERS:
Unless you have requested that we do not contact you, we will endeavour to remind you of appointments and when annual vaccinations are due for your animals. Please note that this is a courtesy – there is no obligation on the practice or the staff regarding the consequences of failure to provide such reminders and it remains your responsibility to keep vaccines and other routine treatments up to date.
CONSULTATIONS:
All consultations are by appointment only unless it is a genuine life-threatening emergency. Clients are requested to inform the surgery in advance, preferably at least 24hrs before your appointment time, if you wish to cancel or reschedule your appointment. We reserve the right to charge for missed appointments, or for appointments cancelled or changed at short notice.
Every effort is made to accommodate clients and to find available appointment slots and animals will never be turned away in a genuine emergency.
There is always a charge for repeat consultations with the exception of one complementary post-operative check for surgical cases. Suture removal is also performed free of charge for operations performed at the surgery.
There is an out of hours charge for consultations seen out of normal surgery hours (see more information below).
All animals brought into the surgery must be accompanied by a person over the age of 18 with the exception of genuine emergencies.
All cats must be kept in baskets in the waiting area and all dogs must be on a lead and kept under control by the accompanying person.
The safety of the pet, the client and our staff is of the highest priority and this may include measures to restrain the animal including the application of a muzzle or providing appropriate sedation. It is important for clients to realise that our patients can have the potential to cause harm and the advice of our professional staff should be heeded.
For pet travel, it is entirely the responsibility of the client to ensure that all the requirements are completed correctly and at the appropriate time. Our vets will be happy to provide advice regarding travel. It is also the client’s responsibility to ensure that any rabies boosters are given at the correct time.
TREATMENT AND SERVICES:
Our veterinary services are supplied by suitably qualified staff, and we strive to always carry out our services with care and skill.
We reserve the right to provide any veterinary services at our discretion.
Treatment or investigatory plans will be agreed between the you and the vet following the initial consultation. In emergency events, we may be unable to prepare a treatment plan immediately; in emergency situations, we reserve the right to provide veterinary services as are reasonably necessary, in our professional judgement, without your agreement of a treatment plan.
We endeavour to carry out our services by the time, or within the period, agreed with yourself. If a time or period was not agreed, then this will be within a reasonable time.
Sometimes events beyond our control affect our ability to carry out services within an agreed or reasonable timeframe. In such events, we will endeavour to notify you of the delay and provide a new timeframe if possible. Should a service need to be cancelled due to such an event, we will strive to re-organise the service as soon as possible, once the event(s) have been fixed.
X-Rays, ultrasound images and blood results belong to the surgery. Copies may be requested from the surgery, and we will endeavour to provide copies within 5 working days. A small charge will be made to cover our costs of providing the copies.
It is understood that anaesthetics carry a small risk. We use the safest available anaesthetics as deemed appropriate by the veterinary surgeon. If appropriate we have a complementary free consultation on the morning of the scheduled procedure to check the animal over and discuss any concerns. An estimate of likely costs will be provided on request. It is accepted that whilst taking blood samples, placing an animal on an intravenous drip or performing an ultrasound scan there will be clipping of the coat.
HOSPITALISATION AND IN PATIENTS:
Our patients are looked after by a team of veterinary surgeons, qualified nurses and student nurses. Vets discuss cases and examine in pateints as many times as necessary during the day.
We have a nurse on site 24hrs a day, the only exception to this is in the event of a medical emergency requiring the nurse’s attendance off site. Your pet will be examined by a vet at some point during the evening and again in the morning, more frequent checks will be made in the night if, in the vet’s opinion, it is necessary. The nurse has a designated sleep period between 11:00pm and 8:00am. Additional nurse checks during the designated sleep period will be made if, in the opinion of the vet, they are necessary.
Morning updates are given by the vets between 8:30-10:00 am. If you want to know how your pet is doing in the daytime, you can call reception and speak to the ward nurse after 11am.
Animals are not discharged outside of normal surgery hours.
HOUSE VISITS:
We are able to offer house visits; these must be arranged in advance with the practice and will incur an additional fee.
Please be aware that our availability for house visits will depend on our staff availability and that sometimes we may request that you bring your animal to the surgery if we feel this will be in the animal’s best interest (e.g. because we will have access to on site equipment).
PRESCRIPTIONS:
All medications prescribed by our vets are available to be dispensed directly from our surgeries at the time of your appointment in accordance with the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons and Veterinary Medicines Directorate Guidelines. On occasion we made need to order a product for you and will be able to give you an estimated arrival time.
All Prescription Only Medication (POM-V) is dispensed under the authority of the veterinary surgeon treating your animal.
Prices (inclusive of VAT) of any medication prescribed for your animal are available upon request.
Written prescriptions for veterinary medicines are available upon request. These can only be authorised by our veterinary surgeons and are restricted to animals under their care. The fee for this service covers the professional service of your vet in authorising appropriate medication, dosage advice, and maintaining the required accurate pharmacy records for your animal.
Our repeat prescription service for animals on long term medication allows you to re-order medication and/or written prescriptions over the phone. Repeat prescription requests need to be submitted at least 48hrs before being required in most instances. This also applies to written prescriptions.
In compliance with the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons best practice guidelines, we do insist that your animal is examined by your vet every six months (or more regularly as deemed necessary by the veterinary surgeon) and that any recommended diagnostic tests associated with monitoring the efficacy and/or side effects of the drug are completed. We will advise you when these are due. Some flea and worm medication or POM-V medication used for preventative healthcare may also require that we check your animal’s health annually before supply.
It is practice policy to limit the amount of any Prescription Only Medication (POM-V) to that which our veterinary surgeons reasonably consider is required. For most POM-Vs we are able to supply two (2) months’ treatment whereas for flea and worming medications we can supply twelve (12) months’ treatment.
Medication posted to clients will be sent by recorded delivery and subject to a post and packing charge, which will be added to your account.
Refunds cannot be issued for medications that have left the premises. For legal reasons we cannot resell any medication returned to us. We can however dispose of them at no cost to you.
ANIMAL HEALTH CERTIFICATES (TRAVEL IN THE EU) AND IMPORT/EXPORT:
We have several Official Veterinarians able to certify travel documents and who can provide advice on pet travel requirements. Please note that we do not undertake the duties of an export agent and recommend that owners contact Animal Health (DEFRA) for current and accurate advice.
Please be aware that it is your responsibility to ensure that your pet’s travel documents and vaccinations are up to date. It is also your responsibility to ensure you have knowledge of the requirements for the intended travel, import or export of your pets and that these requirements are met and adhere to the Pet Travel Scheme.
HEALTH CARE PLANS:
We offer a healthcare plan for your pet which is paid for with a monthly direct debit.
Our Wellness Plan covers your pet’s preventative health such as vaccinations, flea and worm treatment, health checks and advice as well as discounts off consultations, neutering and dental treatment.
Please get in contact with us for specific T&C of our Health Care Plans.
FEES AND PAYMENTS:
Regardless of the high level of service we offer, we remain competitively priced. We do ask that you settle your bill at the time of treatment, regardless of insurance status. We accept cheques and all major credit cards excluding Diners Club and American Express.
Please do not hesitate to ask your vet beforehand for estimates of work to be done. Please note though that any estimate given can only be approximate and is not binding. Due to the nature of veterinary medicine, there is a level of unpredictability which may affect the costs of treatment and in some circumstances, the actual treatment may be more or less expensive. Where possible we will notify you in advance of this, however, on some occasions this may not be possible and if we are unable to contact you, we will treat your animal as is necessary for the prevention of pain or suffering.
Attempts will be made to recover outstanding debts and if unsuccessful we reserve the right to transfer your account to a debt collection agency.
INSURANCE:
We support the principle of insuring your animal against unexpected illness or accidents. For some insurers and in some instances, we are able to submit claims directly to your insurers and in other instances you will have to deal with your insurers directly.
Where we are dealing directly with your insurer, please be aware that it remains your responsibility to settle your account within thirty (30) days, if we have not received payment from your insurance company.
Any anticipated shortfall in the cost of treatment that is not covered by your insurance company will be payable by you to us at the time of making the first direct claim. Any additional shortfall that is owing after the claim has been settled will also be payable by you to us at that time. It is important to appreciate that if, having carried out careful checks with you and your insurers, we decide that we are prepared to undertake a direct claim for the treatment of your Animal, this is not a guarantee that your insurers will settle your claim, and if they fail to do so, this will result in a shortfall for which you will be liable to pay us in full.
Where you deal with your insurer directly, you will be responsible for settling your account in the normal way directly with us at the time of treatment. If you require information from us as part of your claim, we will provide all reasonable assistance as soon as we are able to.
SECOND OPINIONS AND REFERRALS:
Our practice does not currently act as a referral centre.
We are happy to accept second opinions; please speak to our reception team to discuss the process of transferring your pet’s history to us and booking an appointment.
External referrals can be discussed and organised with the vet. We do charge a referral fee to cover the time taken for telephone calls, letter writing and transfer of images /test results.
FEEDBACK:
We welcome your feedback; it helps us to improve and continue to deliver excellent services for you and your pet. If you have any questions or feedback for us, please speak to one of the practice team or send us an email at: reception@bsvh.co.uk
We also have a client feedback questionnaire which is accessible via the QR code below as well as feedback boxes in our reception areas.
