Veterinary Practice

Choosing a suitable veterinary practice is a very personal decision. Some clients are happy to go with the cheapest or the closest, others like to choose a practice based on word of mouth or recommendation from a friend. If you are at a loss as to how to select a suitable veterinary practise please read the following;

Veterinary practices and surgeons are regulated by The Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons (RCVS). They set standards within the veterinary profession and ensure that they are maintained; safeguarding the health and welfare of animals and the interests of the public. Veterinary practices are also subject to a voluntary initiative called RCVS Practice Standards Scheme (PSS) which sets standards and carries out regular inspections. The Scheme aims to promote and maintain the highest standards of veterinary care. It is designed to offer peace of mind to clients of accredited practices and more informed choice to the animal-owning public.

To become accredited, practices volunteer for rigorous inspection every four years and will have met a range of minimum standards including hygiene, 24-hour emergency cover, staff training, certain types of equipment and cost estimation procedures. They may also be subject to spot-checks between inspections. In order to find out if your veterinary practise is accredited you can visit the RCVS website or look for the accredited logo displayed at the practice.

If in any doubt, contact your local veterinary practice and ask if you can have a tour around the practice and the facilities on offer. They may restrict the hours in which you can have a tour but this does not necessarily mean they are hiding anything just that veterinary practices can be very busy with operations and inpatients during the day and obviously these take priority at certain times.

It is important that you register your new pet with a veterinary practise even if your pet doesn’t require immediate veterinary care. This is to ensure that should an emergency arise that you are fully prepared and have the correct contact details and necessary information regarding opening times etc.

Veterinary treatment is not cheap, many clients often feel that they are being over charged for veterinary treatment but this is not necessarily the case, in truth veterinary staff earn a lot less in wages than their human counterparts. Most of the expenses are absorbed in expensive equipment such as blood machines, ultra sound machines, anaesthetic machines and monitors and x-ray machines. It is always advisable to get your pet insured to help with the cost of veterinary bills see article on pet insurance.