Overnight care of in-patients
Any patient requiring overnight care at the Caerphilly and Pentyrch branches will be transferred to V.E.T.S. at either Cardiff or Ystrad Mynach. Depending on the case, transfer may be undertaken by the client, Valley Vets staff in their private cars or V.E.T.S. ambulance. There are no staff on site overnight at the Caerphilly and Pentyrch branches; therefore no patients are left in the surgery. Rarely, a healthy pet may be boarded at Caerphilly surgery overnight.
At both Ystrad Mynach and Cardiff, any Valley Vets patient remaining in the surgery overnight has the benefit of continual attention from the vet / nursing team from V.E.T.S. who start their night “shift” when we finish the day “shift”. V.E.T.S. will charge clients separately for overnight hospitalisation and treatment. Please ask for further details. The day and night teams schedule a handover period at both the start and end of shifts for complete discussion of cases to avoid any confusion arising.
Costs and Pet Insurance
We appreciate that the cost of veterinary care for your pet can be considerable. In our attempt to provide the best possible facilities for your pet, we need to invest continually in both equipment and training of our vet / nursing team. The range of medications that are available to us to treat your pets is continually expanding, with many of the new, advanced medicines being considerably more expensive than older ones. We now have medicines to treat problems considered untreatable five years ago. Please bear potential veterinary costs in mind when a new pet joins your household.
We strongly advise Pet Health Insurance!
Many companies offer this now, so shopping around for the best quote is advisable. Bear in mind the very important differences between a time restricted twelve month policy, a value restricted condition policy and an unrestricted life policy when comparing quotes. Valley Vets always advises life cover. Please discuss this with the staff if you are unsure of the differences. Our staff are Appointed Representatives for the largest insurer of pets in the UK, Pet Plan.
Remember that payment for consultations and treatment is always expected at the time. All invoices are itemised to show the cost of services, medications and sundries used.
Estimates will be given for anticipated in-patient work, but please ask if we forget. Additional charges may, however, arise if unforeseen complications occur. We will endeavour to contact you if this is the case. Please ensure that we always have all your current contact details. Please check if these need updating with our reception staff.
Prescribing Policy
For those patients on continual medication, a veterinary surgeon must recheck the patient at a maximum interval of three months. This is a legal requirement. The frequency of this recheck may seem excessive to some clients, but please remember that in terms of body ageing one year in a dog or cat’s life is equivalent to approximately seven in a human life, so rechecks every three months equate to a doctor checking a human patient for on-going medication every two years or so.
Veterinary surgeons working in the UK can only dispense, or prescribe, medication following a clinical assessment of the patient. Valley Vets are happy to provide prescriptions, rather than medication, to those clients that request them.
By law, veterinary surgeons have to use / prescribe medications that are licensed for use in animals. We can only use unlicensed (human) products if there is no licensed alternative available to us. Certain medications are available in the human field at considerably lower prices than the licensed veterinary equivalent. This cost differential is there to account for the work that the manufacturers and researchers have undertaken to confirm safety and effectiveness in the various animal species. It is therefore essential and unavoidable.
Second Opinions and Referrals
Valley Vets are happy to see second opinions from other veterinary practices. However, it is professional etiquette that we contact the client’s previous vets for the clinical history up to that point. For this reason we will ask for the previous vet’s details so that we may obtain relevant notes prior to our first examination. It is imperative that clients co-operate with us in this matter. Without this information we may chose a medication that might interact with one previously used, causing problems to your pet. Also, we would not want to put a patient through diagnostic tests unnecessarily in instances where those tests have been previously performed. There is a small additional charge on top of the normal consult fee for organising second opinion consultations.
We are aware that some of our clients may wish to seek a second opinion at another veterinary practice from time to time. We are happy to forward all relevant clinical notes and laboratory test results directly to the instructed vet. There is no charge for this service. Radiographs ( X rays ) that may have been taken as part of a case always remain the property of the Company. We will, however, provide our interpretation of them to the newly instructed veterinary practice.
Clients may on occasions wish to read the clinical notes pertaining to their pet. We are happy for any client to make an appointment at the Practice to view the relevant notes with a member of staff on hand to help interpret the medical abbreviations used.
Client and patient information will not be released to any third party without the prior written consent of the client.
There are occasions when our veterinary team will advise a client to attend a specialist centre for a referral appointment. Some medical and surgical conditions are beyond our expertise as general practitioner vets and necessitate referral to specialists in a particular area of expertise. We will help arrange these appointments and organise directions, clinical notes, laboratory results, radiographs and a referral letter. There is a small charge for this service.
Complaints Procedure for Clients
We hope that you will never have cause to complain about any of our staff, or the standard of care that we provide your pets. However, should you have concerns, please speak initially to the senior member of our nursing team, or the senior veterinary surgeon, at the relevant branch. Most problems should be able to be sorted out at this level.
More serious complaints must be addressed, in writing, to the Managing Director. We will then investigate the complaint and respond in writing.
Valley Vets will not tolerate any aggressive, or abusive, behaviour to any staff member at any time. Any client behaving in such a way will be asked to leave the premises immediately and will then be notified in writing that they must find alternative veterinary cover.
RCVS Practice Standards Scheme
In 2005 The Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons started a scheme whereby private veterinary businesses could choose to be independently inspected and accredited. This inspection and accreditation process is on-going and is designed to reassure members of the public that the veterinary practice they have chosen for their pet conforms to high standards of service and cleanliness as well as conforming to all relevant UK regulations.
We are proud to say that 2 of our branches (Cardiff and Ystrad Mynach) have independently achieved Tier 3 accreditation as Small Animal Hospitals, and 2 of our branches (Caerphilly and Pentyrch) have independently achieved Tier 2 accreditation as General Veterinary Practices.
Please ask at reception for a copy of the RCVS leaflet detailing this scheme further. |
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