Knutsford Veterinary Surgery - Terms & Conditions

Terms & Conditions for Knutsford Veterinary Surgery

By accepting these conditions you are confirming that:

You are over 18 years of age;
Each time you bring to your pet to us, you consent to the care, treatment, procedures and / or medication we decide is necessary for the health, wellbeing and best interest of your pet; and
You have the means to, and shall, pay your full account before leaving the surgery.

Treatment and Advice

Where reasonably possible we will discuss the health and condition of your pet and any symptoms, injuries, findings, probable diagnosis and proposed treatment, procedure and / or medication with you in advance of implementing the same. The appropriateness of the degree of information we are able to share in relation to your pet will vary in each circumstance, depending usually on the severity (how important or critical the health impact is for your pet), urgency (how fast the action should and can be carried out for your pet) and the information readily available.

We will endeavour to provide veterinary services in accordance with reasonable standards denoted by the RCVS guidelines for practice standards and the professional conduct of veterinary surgeons and veterinary nurses. All Veterinary Services shall be supplied in accordance with normal professional standards.

Veterinary Services shall be supplied during our normal business hours (these may change from time to time), the current opening hours of Knutsford Veterinary Surgery can be found on our website at www.knutsfordvetsurgery.co.uk.

We reserve the right to decline to supply Veterinary Services at our discretion. You are free at all times at your cost and subject to the payment obligations in these terms and conditions, to seek a second opinion on or concerning any Veterinary Services provided.

Supply of Products

In the event of any defect or failure in any Product our liability to you shall be restricted to refunding the price paid by you for the Product or replacing the Product.

You acknowledge and agree that all Products must only be used in accordance with the instructions supplied with them or issued orally by the Veterinary Surgeon or other staff providing the Veterinary Services. If you have any questions or concerns regarding the use of any Product, you should consult the Veterinary Surgeon providing the Veterinary Services or other of our staff for clarification.

Any Products supplied by us shall be of satisfactory quality, fit for the purpose(s) expressly agreed by the Veterinary Surgeon providing the Veterinary Services or other of our staff and shall comply with any description given. All other warranties, expressed or implied, are hereby excluded.

Fees

Fees charged are determined by the time spent and drugs, consumables and equipment used in each procedure. All fees are subject to VAT at the current rate. Prices are subject to change without notice. There may be a charge for all administration services, including processing all claim forms, export certificates, referrals etc.

Products that have not been paid for may only be released at the discretion of the Senior Vet for medical reasons.

Our normal practice is for payment to be made in full by you at the time the Veterinary Services or the Products are supplied, either at the end of the consultation, the discharge of your pet or upon collection of the Products. All invoices must be settled in full on receipt of the invoice.

Accounts may be settled by:

An estimate may be given for all procedures on request. Please note that any estimate given is based on the planned treatment involved however costs may vary where unexpected or additional treatment is required and may exceed the estimate given.

Where possible, we try to advise clients when an invoice is becoming significantly greater than the estimate. In a clinical emergency this may not always be immediately possible. In these circumstances, the presenting person agrees they shall be fully liable for total costs incurred and payment of the same prior to leaving the surgery.

If your animal is hospitalised for treatment please feel free to telephone for daily updates of your account.

Settlement Terms

In the unusual event of an account not being paid for at the time of treatment, we will send an electronic invoice as soon as reasonably practicable to the registered email address on your account. This may incur an administrative fee. The total sum of the invoice shall be due and owing upon receipt and shall be paid within [10] working days of the date on the face of the invoice. After the [10] working day period has expired, then another administrative fee will be added on a monthly basis.

If the account remains unpaid for [28] days from the date on the face of the invoice, the account will be referred to a Debt Collection Agency or County Court. All and any further charges, fees, costs (including legal costs) and expenses incurred in the collection of the debt shall also be paid by you (as well as the total sum of the invoice plus all interest accrued). No further Veterinary Services and/or Products will be supplied to you until the debt is settled.

Any credit card payment not honoured and any cash found to be counterfeit will result in the original account being restored and further charges being made in respect of both bank charges and administrative costs and expenses. In such an event, the process outlined above shall then apply with an invoice being issued by us by email to your registered email address.

If you are unable to pay for the Veterinary Services we are only obliged to fulfil our minimum legal responsibilities and professional obligations in respect of your pet.

Ownership of records

The care given to your pet may involve making some specific investigations, for example taking radiographs or performing an ECG, ultrasound or CT scans. Case records including these investigation results are the property of, and shall be retained by, us. Copies with a summary of the history of any patient can be passed to another veterinary surgeon taking over a case, on written request to us and upon settlement in full of all sums due to us in respect of such patient’s treatment by us.

Prescriptions

Clients should be aware that prescription-only medications (POM’S) may be purchased from the practice, another veterinary surgeon or through an online pharmacy who stocks the appropriate medication. Upon request, Knutsford Veterinary Surgery are happy to inform you of the price of any medicine.

If you wish to have a written prescription instead of purchasing the medication from us, then we are more than happy to provide you with this, but there will be a small charge of £22.50 per item to pay to issue the prescription needed. A prescription may not be appropriate if your animal is being treated as an in-patient or immediate treatment is necessary.

UK prescription rules and Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons Codes of conduct require that we only provide medications, or issue prescriptions, for animals under our care.

If your pet requires regular medication for a long standing medical condition we are therefore obliged to examine your pet at regular, usually three monthly intervals (to conform to the British Veterinary Association). This will vary with each individual case and condition being treated. Repeat medication examinations are usually charged at a rate of £52.50.

All prescription requests both written and for purchase should be requested at least 24 hours prior to collection.

Off-license medication

There are certain situations where the best treatment for your pet may require the use of medicines which do not hold an appropriate licence for the species concerned. We might therefore, recommend using such a medicine “off-license” but these will be prescribed in accordance with the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons “cascade” rules. The cascade is a sequence that all veterinary surgeons must follow when treating animals.

Each vet must firstly look for:

There are a lot of human medicines that are extremely useful in the treatment of pets. Most of these medicines have been in general veterinary use for years (for example: antihistamines, adrenaline, aspirin, digoxin, diazepam and pain killers etc.) and there are documented dose rates and they are known to be safe.

Our use of off-license medication will be based upon our knowledge of the use in animals and an assessment of the risks and benefits involved. These medicines will only be used when they are indicated and deemed necessary and no licensed alternative exists. Due to the cost of obtaining a licence for full use in a particular species, there are only a few drugs actually licensed for use in the smaller and exotic pets (e.g. birds, rabbits and reptiles etc.).

The consent form we will ask you to sign for treatments for your pets gives a life-long agreement for the use of off license and unlicensed products (to save you having to sign a form every time your pet is treated). If you require further reassurance about this form or a particular recommendation we make for your pet please ask to speak to one of the Vets.

Out of Hours Treatment

Emergencies are handled by Vets Now Ltd, a dedicated pet emergency treatment service, which operates from Vets Now Macclesfield, 38 Cumberland St, Macclesfield SK10 1DD during emergency hours. This can be accessed by telephoning 01625 348083. Alternatively, the emergency contact details are given by an automated message when you call us outside of normal hours. A map with directions is available on our website.

Telephone calls and emails

All inbound and outbound telephone calls and emails are recorded for quality and training and purposes and where relevant form part of the clinical record.

Hospitalisation of animals over night

We believe clients have a right to know the level of care their animals have access to whilst hospitalised overnight or at the weekend at our veterinary surgery. Knutsford Veterinary Surgery has no dedicated night time veterinary staff. If an animal requires hospitalisation and we believe full time care is necessary we may recommend facilitating transport, if appropriate, to Vets Now Ltd for relevant monitoring and treatment. However if only intermittent night time or weekend care is necessary we will advise you of how frequently your animal will be visited. If we believe an animal’s condition will not deteriorate without direct attention then we will advise you of this on hospitalising your animal overnight or at the weekend.

Insurance

Knutsford Veterinary Surgery strongly supports the principle of insuring your pet against unexpected illness or injury. Please ask for details about insurance from any member of staff.

If you have insurance cover for veterinary fees in relation to this pet, please contact your insurance company and let them know your animal has required treatment. Please note, it is your responsibility to both:

Direct Insurance Claims

We may at our absolute discretion agree that you may delay payment of an invoice pending recovery of the sum from your insurer for such reasonable period as we may agree in writing. You remain liable in full for all invoices and all sums shall become due and payable in full by you at the end of this extended payment period irrespective of whether your insurer has made payment to you.

We accept direct insurance claims at the discretion of our Practice Manager. A direct insurance claim is one where you do not pay us the full amount, just a £250 deposit; and we claim the money directly from the insurance company. In the event that all or any part of the insurance claim is not paid by your insurance company for any reason you will be liable for the outstanding balance.

This facility is only available for fees over £1000. A £37.50 administration fee which shall be added to your account per condition, per claim. The facility does not extend to ongoing medication or treatment.

We will endeavour to assist with this by completing any necessary insurance documents. Please bring all the relevant paperwork with you when you collect your animal.

Liability

We carry professional indemnity insurance in the sum of £200,000 for criminal or disciplinary action, £10,000,000 per claim for human injury, £250,000 domestic pet (“Insured Sum”) for any single claim. We supply Veterinary Services and Products to you on the condition that our liability for any loss, claim, cost or expense arising out said supply shall not exceed and shall be limited to a maximum of the Insured Sum.

If you wish us to assume a level of liability greater than the Insured Sum then we shall so agree on condition that:

you so request in writing; and
we are able to obtain insurance cover for said higher level of liability; and
you pay in advance to us the additional premium incurred by us in respect of the additional cover. Nothing in these terms and conditions shall:
exclude or limit our liability for death or personal injury caused to a human being;
render us liable for any indirect or consequential loss (including, but not restricted to, loss of profit or loss of savings) which liability shall be excluded to the maximum extent permitted by law.

Data Protection

We will use the personal information you provide to us to:

provide the Veterinary Services and Products;
process your payments for the Veterinary Services and Products; and
inform you about the products and services that we or selected third parties provide, but you may stop receiving these at any time by contacting us.
In order to provide the services above, we use selected third parties to process your data. More information about third party processing is available in our Privacy Policy

Non discrimination policy

Discrimination is the differential treatment of an individual based upon their membership of a particular group (real or perceived) rather than based on their personal merit. One form that discrimination may take is harassment. Discrimination also includes the failure to reasonably accommodate the special needs of an individual or group unless that accommodation would create an undue hardship for Knutsford Veterinary Surgery.

It is our policy to provide equal services and consideration to all staff, clients or any other persons that may enter the premises, without regard to: race, colour, disability, religion, sex, age, sexuality. No person shall be excluded from participation in, or be denied the benefits of any service.

We will take any allegation of discrimination seriously. We will listen to our complaint sympathetically and record it thoroughly. If you believe you have been discriminated against, bring it to the attention of a Veterinary Surgeon. The complaint will be kept as confidential as is possible and will be dealt with promptly.

Customer Feedback/Complaints

Please visit our Complaints Policy to find out.

Variation of Terms and Conditions

No addition or variation of the terms and conditions may be made without prior agreement with the management at Knutsford Veterinary Surgery.