Willows Veterinary Group Terms & Conditions of Business- Small Animal

 

Thank you for entrusting the care & attention of your pet to Willows Veterinary Group. Detailed below are our Practice Terms & Conditions. Some aspects of the terms may not be relevant to you. Please ask for further explanation or clarification if required.

 

Willows Veterinary Group Willows Veterinary Group Small Animal division consists of 14 RCVS Accredited branches and an RCVS Accredited Referral practice as follows:-

Alsager Vet Centre, The Point, Crewe Road, Alsager, ST7 2GP 

Abbeycroft Veterinary Centre, 38 Station Road, Northwich, Cheshire CW8 1LP

Acorn Veterinary Centre, 15-17 Acacia Grove, West Kirby CH48 4DD

Beech House Veterinary Centre, Wilderspool Causeway, Warrington, Cheshire WA4 6QP

Bridgefoot Veterinary Centre, 216 Knutsford Road, Latchford, Warrington, Cheshire WA4 1AU

Broom Cottage Surgery, 28 Chapel Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshrie SK9 5HZ

Clarendon Vets, Clarendon Avenue, Altrincham, Cheshire WA15 8HD

Holly House Surgery, Mobberley Road, Knutsford, Cheshire WA16 8HT

Laurels Surgery, Charter House, Victoria Road, Runcorn, Cheshire WA7 5SS

Lymm Surgery, 10 Booths Hill Road, Lymm, Cheshire WA13 0DL

Manchester Veterinary Centre, Parkway, Denton, Manchester M34 3SG

Middlewich Surgery, 39 Newton Heath, Middlewich, Cheshire CW10 9HL

Station House Veterinary Centre, Station Masters House, 157b Ashley Road, Hale, Cheshire WA14 2UZ

Willows Veterinary Hospital, 267 Chester Road, Hartford, Northwich, Cheshire CW8 1LP

Oakwood Referrals, 267 Chester Road, Hartford, Northwich, Cheshire CW8 1LP

Winsford Surgery, 70 High Street, Winsford, Cheshire CW7 2AP

 

Costs

All fees, food, shop sales & drugs are subject to VAT. Fee levels are determined by the time spent on a case & according to the drugs, materials, consumables, & diets used. A fee list can be made available with prior notice. You will receive a detailed invoice for every consultation, surgical procedure & transaction with us. Please Note: Referral work incurs higher costs due to the extra expertise available from our highly qualified referral veterinary surgeons. Your first opinion vet will inform you if a referral is needed.

 

Accounts are due for settlement at the end of the consultation, the discharge of your pet & upon collection of drugs, diets & shop sales. You may settle the account using cash, cheques with a current banker’s card or credit card/debit card – MasterCard, Visa, Delta, Switch.

 

Estimates of Treatment Costs

We will endeavour to provide an estimate for the probable costs of a course of treatment, when informed consent is given for veterinary procedures at any of our surgeries. Any estimate given can only be approximate. Often a pet’s illness will not follow a conventional course & unforeseen expense may occur. We will endeavour to discuss additional costs at our earliest opportunity depending on your pets safety. Please note for long term hospitalised patients account updates can be given daily upon request.

 

Terms of Business

Any account not settled within 14 days will be referred to our credit control department. After due notice to you, any overdue account will be referred to our debt collecting agency. This will incur further costs in respect of collecting the debt, production of the reports, correspondence, court fees, attendance at court, phone calls, home visits etc. Any cheque returned by our bank as unpaid, any credit card payment not honoured, and any cash tendered and found to be counterfeit will result in the original account being restored to the original sum with further charges added in respect of the bank charges and administrative costs.

 

Inability to Pay

If you are unable to cover the costs of the estimate as specified please ask to discuss the matter with a member of staff, prior to treatment where the options available will be discussed and a formal contract entered into before treatment is given.

 

Veterinary Care

The WVG will endeavour to provide veterinary services in accordance with reasonable standards denoted in the RCVS guidelines for practice standards and the professional conduct of veterinary surgeons and veterinary nurses. Guidelines are available at www.rcvs.org.uk. Please note veterinary care will be withheld from clients who appear aggressive and abusive to staff members.

 

Pet Health Insurance, Microchipping & Vaccination

WVG strongly support the principle of insuring your pet against unexpected illness or accident. Please note all insurance fees less than £250 need to be settled at the time the veterinary work is performed. Claims over £250 can be claimed back directly to the WVG upon presentation of an owner completed insurance form, in these circumstances excesses should be paid at the beginning of the veterinary treatment. The WVG will endeavour to complete and submit to the insurance company an insurance claim within 2 weeks of presentation. Please note if insurance companies fail to cover veterinary treatment, the debt incurred will be subject to full payment by the animal owner/agent.

 

WVG strongly support having your pet microchipped & regularly vaccinated. Any member of staff can supply you with details about these important actions you can take to protect, care for, & identify your pet.

 

Out of Hours Service

Weekend consults are available at some surgeries. Telephone calls to closed branches are automatically redirected to open surgeries on weekends or the closest night centre when all our surgeries are closed. The telephone call will be answered by a trained member of staff who will contact the duty veterinary surgeon to respond to your emergency at either:-

Holly House Surgery, Mobberley Road, Knutsford, Cheshire WA16 8HT. Tel: 01565 632253

Beech House Veterinary Centre, Wilderspool Causeway, Warrington, Cheshire WA4 6QP. Tel: 01925445500

Willows Veterinary Hospital, 267 Chester Road ,Hartford, Northwich, Cheshire CW8 1LP. Tel: 01606 723202.

In the rare event you are not called back within 10 minutes please redial. For animals needing 24 hour intensive care nursing this can be provided at the Willows Veterinary Hospital.

 

Alternative OOH pet care at: Manchester Veterinary Centre, Parkway, Denton., Manchester M34 3SG. Tel: 0161 337 2323

When this surgery is closed for out of hours care telephone calls are redirected to A & E Vets Based at Cheadle Hulme Veterinary Hospital, 2-4 Queens Road Cheadle Hulme, Cheshire SK8 5LU. Tel: 0161 486 2355

Acorn Veterinary Hospital. 15-17 Acacia Grove, West Kirby CH48 4DD. Tel: -0151 625 9916 Clients calling the above surgery will receive out of hours treatment at our surgery (Acorn) or at a local surgery, the number of which will be provided on the answer machine message

 

Ownership of Records, X-Rays & Similar Documents

The care given to your animal may involve making some specific investigations, for example taking blood samples, X-Rays or performing ultrasound scans. Even though we make a charge for carrying out these investigations & interpreting their results, the resulting records, clinical or otherwise, remain the property of the practice. Case records can be copied &, on request, can be passed to another veterinary surgeon taking over the case. There may be a charge incurred for copying any veterinary records and documentation.

 

Complaints & Standards

We hope that you never feel the need to complain about the standards of service received from WVG. However, if you feel there is something you wish to complain about, please contact the respective Branch Manager during normal office hours. If the Branch Manager cannot answer your query please contact the practice manager Jane Platt BSc ACA, Partner and Group Practice Manager at Willows Veterinary Group, Head Office, 265 Chester Road, Northwich, Cheshire CW8 1LP. Tel: 01606 723207

 

No addition or variation of these conditions will bind the practice unless it is specifically agreed in writing and signed by one of the practice partners. No agent or person employed by, or under contract with, the practice has the authority to alter or vary these conditions in anyway.

 

Prescriptions are available from this practice. You may obtain Prescription Only Medicines, Category V, (POM Vs) from this practice OR ask for a prescription and obtain these medicines from another veterinary surgeon or a pharmacy. WVG can prescribe POM Vs only for animals under our care. However we can provide POM V drugs if presented with a prescription from another veterinary surgeon. A prescription may not be appropriate if your animal is an in-patient or immediate treatment is necessary.

 

You will be informed, on request, of the price of any medicine that may be prescribed for your animal. The general policy of this practice is to re-assess an animal requiring repeat prescriptions at least every 6 months, however in more complicated/unstable cases re-examinations will be more frequent depending on the professional judgement of the veterinary surgeon managing that case. The standard charge for a re-assessment is £15.43

 

 

For up to date client information and news please see our website at http://www.willowsvetgroup.co.uk/