Thank you for entrusting the care & attention of your pet to the Vale Veterinary Clinic. 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.
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.
Methods of Payment
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 & Amex.
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 28 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 VVC 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
VVC strongly support the principle of insuring your pet against unexpected illness or accident. Claims can be claimed back directly to the VVC upon presentation of an owner completed insurance form & Insurance direct claim agreement form, in these circumstances excesses should be paid at the beginning of the veterinary treatment. The VVC 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.
VVC 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
When the VVC is closed, our out of hours care will be covered by the South London Emergency Clinic, 23 The High Parade, Streatham High Road, SW16 1EX Tel: 020 8677 0976
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 VVC. However, if you feel there is something you wish to complain about, please contact the Practice Principal, 130 Streatham Vale, London, SW16 5TB Tel: 020 8679 6969
Dispensing of Drugs
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. A cost of £13.20 (inc VAT) per prescription will be incurred for this service. VVC 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.
