Thank you for registering with Avondale Vet Group and trusting us with the care of your horse, pony or donkey. By registering with us, you will have read and agree to be bound by the terms and conditions of our business as detailed below. Should any clarification be required, please contact us to ask.
New clients are required to pay in full for all work done over the first three visits. Should you register out of hours for the first time, full payment will be required to be made in cash to the attending veterinary surgeon. The provision of an account is at the practice’s discretion. In order for us to allow account privileges we require to see a copy of photographic ID and proof of address. This can either be brought into the practice or shown to the vet on a visit. Until we have seen this ID we require payment at the time of each appointment.
FEES
Our fees are set based on the level of expertise and time required to deal with each case and will be influenced by the drugs, consumables and materials used. All fees including drug costs are available on request.
PAYMENT OF ACCOUNTS
Our terms for settlement of accounts is strictly seven days from the generation of an invoice. Should accounts not be settled in full within twenty-one days, account privileges will be withdrawn and any work must be paid for at the time until the account is cleared. Should further reminders for payment be required, administration charges will be incurred. After due notice, accounts which have not been settled will be referred to a debt collection agency and will incur further charges.
Payments can be made by credit or debit card or by cash. BACS payments can also be made, please contact us if you require these details.
INABILITY TO PAY
If you are unable to settle your account within the time frames detailed above, please discuss this with a member of staff as soon as possible and preferably before treatment takes place. In some circumstances payment by instalments may be agreed but must be sanctioned by a clinical director.
INSURANCE
We strongly recommend you consider insuring your animal. Please take care to ensure the level of cover given by your policy is appropriate. It is your responsibility to pay any excess set by your policy and to supply us with a claim form within five days. We are happy to accept direct claims, however, please note that you remain responsible for the full amount of the account at all times and should there be delays of more than sixty days, we will ask you to settle the account. Please see our website for further details of our insurance process.
Read more about Insurance here.
VACCINATION REMINDERS
Whilst we send vaccination reminders, these represent a courtesy service and responsibility for ensuring your animal is vaccinated within the necessary time frame lies with the owner. Please note different competition bodies may require Influenza vaccinations to be given at different or more frequent intervals: owners should check the individual requirements for their horse.
PRESCRIPTION MEDICINES
We can only supply veterinary medicines (POM-V) for use in animals under our care. For long term medications use, the law requires regular check-ups for animals to fall under the description as being ‘under our care’. Usually this represents check-ups every 4-6 months but may vary with individual circumstances. There is a charge for re-examination and for any blood tests required. Clients are requested to give twenty-four hours notice for repeat prescriptions.
We can provide written prescriptions for you to obtain POM-Vs from another veterinary surgeon or pharmacy. There is a charge for written prescriptions of £22.82 inclusive of VAT per item.
In accordance with the Medicines Act, we will use licenced veterinary products. However, in some situations a product licensed in that species may not be available, in which case a product licensed in anther species may be used and if no such product is available, a human licensed product may be used. We will use off-licence products based on knowledge of their use in animals.
OWNERSHIP OF RECORDS
The treatment of your animal may involve making specific investigations for example taking of radiographs or performing ultrasound examinations. Charges made for these examinations are for the production and interpretation of the images but ownership of the resulting images remain the property of the practice, forming part of your animal’s clinical record.
Should you request it, radiographs, ultrasound images, laboratory results and a copy of your animal’s clinical record can be passed to another veterinary surgeon or practice.
FEEDBACK AND COMPLAINTS
We value your feedback, both positive and negative. We hope you never have cause to complain but should this be the case we would ask that any complaints are made in writing within 28 days to the clinical directors. Acknowledgement of receipt of any complaint will be made immediately. Response in writing will then be made following a period of time for the matter to be fully investigated.
Read our full Complaints Policy here.
THREATENING OR ABUSIVE BEHAVIOUR
We will not tolerate any aggressive or abusive behaviour towards our staff. Any client behaving in such a manner either over the phone or in person will be notified in writing that they should find alternative veterinary care.