Terms & Conditions

General Terms

Thank you for choosing Ampthill Veterinary Centre. It is important to us that you know what you should expect from us, and what we ask of you, in order to create the best outcome for your pet. Please read through our terms and conditions, and if there is anything that is not clear, or that you would like us to discuss with you further, please do get in contact with us.

Consultations

• The surgery is open Monday to Friday 8.30am-5.30pm, and Saturday 9am-12pm.
• For non-emergency cases, consultations and procedures are by appointment only, within our normal opening hours.
• For emergency cases, you are welcome to bring your pet to the surgery without appointment and we will make every effort to see your pet as soon as is practically possible. Where possible, it is helpful for you to phone ahead, so that we can prepare first aid measures ready for your arrival.
• If you know that you cannot make an appointment, we ask you to cancel or re-schedule appointments as soon as possible. Where appointments are repeatedly missed without warning, we reserve the right to charge the full fee for missed consultations.
• We may cancel appointments made by you if problems of staffing levels, material availability or relevant information comes to light.
• We do accept requests for home visits for consultations. These consultations are only bookable by contacting us by telephone, and not through the online booking system. We endeavour to attend home visits wherever possible, but home visits may be declined if staffing levels do not permit it.
• Out-of-hours care is provided by staff at Ampthill Veterinary Centre, but may be outsourced to a third party out-of-hours provider where necessary. In this case, any fees incurred will be payable directly to that third party.
• We will endeavour to start all consultations at the allotted time, but the nature of veterinary care means that some appointments may take longer than anticipated. We will keep you informed of any such situations.

Use of Other Veterinary Practices

• We request that when you register your pet with us, you use us as your sole veterinary provider (except for specialist/referral veterinary services). The reason for this is that when a pet has multiple records with multiple vets, there may be pieces of medical history missing in our records, and this may mean that we unknowingly perform procedures or prescribe medications that are contraindicated, or that may harmful in combination with previously prescribed medications.

Fees and Payment

• All products and services are chargeable, and you must pay the fees in accordance with estimates provided to you.
• Fees are determined by the time and skill level required for the case, and according to the medicines and materials used.
• We shall invoice you at the end of the consultation, upon discharge of your pet (or during your pet’s stay if prolonged), or upon the dispensing or collection of drugs and/or other products.
• Fees and other costs are payable upon invoicing, and payments may be made by cash, credit or debit card, or via online payments.
• Where treatment is covered by animal health insurance, in most circumstances you will pay all sums due to us, and reclaim the costs from your insurance provider.
• All prices given and fees invoiced are inclusive of VAT.
• We may alter our prices without notice, but if the price increases between the time of booking and the date of the appointment or procedure, the price increase will not apply to your appointment on that date.
• If, for any reason, you are unable to pay fees incurred, please discuss this with us at the earliest opportunity.
• We may if deemed necessary take appropriate action to recover unpaid fees, including instructing a third party debt collection agency or taking legal action. Associated costs will be added to the balance outstanding to be recovered. We may decline to provide you with further services until outstanding amounts are settled, or require payment in advance.

Estimates

• We shall provide you with an estimate for all treatments or surgery. Estimates are not quotations, and costs may vary due to unforeseen circumstances. We will endeavour to discuss any additional costs incurred, but some cases will not allow for this (for example in an emergency situation).

Treatment

• We will provide all treatment in accordance with all relevant laws, rules and regulations including, but not limited to the Veterinary Surgeons Act 1966, the Animal Welfare Act 2006, the Docking of Working Dogs’ Tails (England) Regulations 2007, the Veterinary Medicines Regulations 2013 and the Supply of Relevant Veterinary Medicinal Products Order 2005.
• We will not undertake any procedure that is in conflict with any law in force, any voluntary or mandatory code of practice, or any similar rules, regulations or codes.
• We will endeavour to provide you with the necessary information to make an informed decision about treatment options and procedures for your pet and to obtain your written consent. However, in some emergency situations where we need to act fast this may not be possible. You consent to us taking such reasonable steps that we believe to be necessary to promote the welfare of your pet in these circumstances, and confirm that you will be responsible for the associated costs.

Prescriptions

• You may only obtain Prescription Only Veterinary Medicines (POM-Vs) from a veterinary surgeon, and a veterinary surgeon may only prescribe medicines for patients under their care.
• The term ‘under their care’ has different implications depending on the medicine involved, for example prescription of routine flea and worm treatments require less patient monitoring that long term medications for chronic conditions.
• You may request a written prescription for medications to obtain them from other vets, online pharmacies or, in some cases, human pharmacies. There will be a prescription fee for this.
• We may refuse to provide a prescription in circumstances where we feel that patient welfare would be compromised by the delay in sourcing the medication.
• For long term conditions requiring repeat prescriptions, frequent reviews of the patient will be required. The frequency of the review will be determined by the individual patient factors, and how stable the disease is. We will discuss this with you and inform you of the required frequency of your pets reviews.

Return of Medicines

• We do not accept any unused medicines for a refund, but we are happy to dispose of unused medications. Depending on the volume of medications, there may be a charge for their disposal.

Reminders

• Ampthill Veterinary Centre has created automatic reminders, whereby we will contact you by email, text message, phone or letter, to advise you when treatments, vaccinations and check ups are due. This is a free-of-charge service, and we will send reminders in accordance with the information we have on our system. It is your responsibility to update us of any changes.
• Our reminder system intended to assist you, but it is your responsibility to make sure that the automated reminders are in line with your pets requirements. Ampthill Veterinary Centre accepts no liability for any loss, damage or costs which may result from the failure of a client receiving any reminder.
• We cannot advise of the requirements for Pet Passports, as the requirements vary for each country visited. It is your responsibility to ensure that your rabies vaccine is given in a timely manner according to the rules of the country you intend to visit.

Documents

• We will keep records and case documents relating to each client and animal registered with us
• When you register with us, we will request about you (contact information including your name, address, email address and telephone number) and your pet (including name, sex, species). It is important that this information is complete and accurate in order to provide appropriate treatment without delay and we will not be held liable for any resulting death or injury.
• When you register with us, we will request your pets history from the vet with whom you were previously registered. It is an express term of our business that you permit us to request any prior history as any omission in our medical records may cause us to administer medications or treatments that are not appropriate for your pet.
• If you move your pet to a different veterinary surgery, you should inform us and request for us to send all records and documents to the new surgery. Such records and documents shall not be released if you have outstanding fees on your account with us.
• Documents including, but not limited to, ultrasound scans, radiographs and ECGs remain the property of Ampthill Veterinary Centre, notwithstanding any associated payment that you make to us.
• You have the right to view documents and clinical records relating to your pet, and you should contact the practice if you would like to request these records.

Second Opinions/Referral to Specialists

• We are always happy to arrange a second opinion with another vet, or to refer to a specialist if you would like. Please ask if you feel this is a route that you would like to go down.

Monitoring Calls and Emails

• We record telephone calls and monitor emails sent to the practice, and by using these modes of communication, you consent to the recording of these.

Pet Insurance

• We recommend that you take out a suitable pet health insurance policy to cover veterinary fees, but we are not a party to the contract between you and them and cannot determine which conditions are covered and which are not.
• We do not recommend any pet insurance policies.
• If you make an insurance claim, we can process the claim and complete the required forms on your behalf. We will charge an administration fee for this.
• We may assist with liaising with insurance providers where necessary. Such assistance will be at our discretion on a case-by-case basis, and we may charge an administration fee for this.

Complaints Procedure

• We strive to provide excellent care and service to you and your pets. If, for any reason, you are dissatisfied with any element of our care, treatment or service, please do contact us. You are welcome to talk to us in person, over the phone, or in writing by email or letter.
• We will get in touch with you regarding your complaint with an initial response within 7 days, and you should expect a full response within 21 days. If you have further comments following our response, please do follow up with us as required.

Unacceptable Behaviour Policy

• We value our staff and want Ampthill Veterinary Centre to be a great place to work. We also want the practice to be a calm, comfortable and friendly place for all of our clients and their pets.
• We therefore operate a zero tolerance policy with respect to any abuse, aggression or violence directed towards our staff. This includes behaviour (whether in-person or in-writing) that is threatening, aggressive or intimidating, abusive, insulting or offensive, cruel or vindictive, or humiliating, degrading or demeaning.
• Anyone behaving in this way will be asked to leave the practice immediately and we reserve the right to terminate their registration and permanently withdraw all services.
• In this situation, we will notify the client in writing and record this behaviour and their dismissal as a client in the pet records.

Changes to our Terms and Conditions

• We may from time to time change our Terms and Conditions without notice, but will use reasonable endeavours to inform you as soon as reasonably possible of any such changes.

Last updated: 10 March 2022