Terms and conditions
This document sets out the terms of the contract established between us (Shepherds the Vets Ltd) and you (the registered animal owner or individual requesting veterinary services) which comes into being when you register your animal with our veterinary practice or when you ask us to provide veterinary services.
Should you have any queries regarding any aspect of these terms of business please do not hesitate to ask us for further clarification.
Estimates
Estimates are provided verbally either at the time of booking the appointment or during the consultation itself. Written estimates are available on request. All estimates given are only approximate, and the final fee could be higher or lower depending on complications and patient response to treatment. We will endeavour to contact you as soon as we have reason to believe that the costs could be significantly higher than the estimate.
Fees
All fees for services and prices for goods (including food, accessories and drugs) are subject to VAT at the applicable rate. Prices for goods are as marked or notified at the point of purchase. A full fee breakdown will appear on your invoice which is available upon request.
Fees for services include our professional fees in respect of the veterinary services provided along with the cost of any drugs, materials or consumables used in the provision of the services.
Any fees for our services which are fixed are displayed in our waiting rooms and can be found on our website and Facebook page.
Payments
The following general payment terms apply in all cases.
You must pay for all goods (including drugs) at the point of purchase.
You must pay for all services as they are received.
You will be advised exactly when payments are due depending upon the nature of the services that we provide to you but you should expect to make payments at the end of each consultation and upon the discharge of your pet from our care. In the event that your pet is hospitalised we may require part payment in advance of any period of hospitalisation and/or stage payments for longer periods of hospitalisation. If your pet is hospitalised, we will try to phone you each day to discuss the progress of your animal and the fees incurred once the veterinary surgeon has completed their morning rounds.
Payment is accepted by cash, debit/ credit card, or BACS transfer. Please note that if a pet is registered with our practice we will assume that any person other than the registered pet owner who may bring the pet in for treatment is duly authorised by the registered pet owner to seek treatment for the pet and to incur costs for which the registered pet owner will be liable. Where a pet is not registered with our practice, we will assume that the individual requesting treatment accepts liability for all costs incurred.
If you become unable to pay your account according to the standard terms, this must be discussed with the veterinary practice as soon as possible.
If you do not pay your invoice when it falls due, we shall take such action as we consider appropriate to recover our fees which may include engaging third-party debt collection agencies to recover the outstanding fees. In such cases, any costs levied by the debt collection agency will be added on to the outstanding balance owed by you. Please note that the use of debt collection agencies could affect your future credit rating.
We are entitled to suspend the provision of any further goods and/or services until you have paid any outstanding sums in full. Where we consider it appropriate to do so we may require payment on account before goods and/or services are provided.
Prescriptions
Written prescriptions are available from this practice.
The charge for this service is displayed in our reception area and can be found on the fee section of this website. Prescription charges are applied only when you request a written prescription from us but go elsewhere to have the prescription fulfilled.
Animals requiring repeat prescriptions will need to be re-assessed periodically by the veterinary surgeon dealing with the case. The re-examination interval will vary between clinical cases. Please be aware there is a charge for a re-examination. Our full policy can be found under the services section of this website.
Please give us 48 hours’ notice (72 hours if after 2pm) for any requests for a repeat or written prescription.
Please note that we cannot accept the return of any prescription drugs as such items cannot be resold. If you wish us to safely dispose of any unwanted medication we can do so.
Client records
Client and clinical records, and other such similar documents (including, but not limited to, digital imaging results), are and shall remain the property of Shepherds the Vets LTD. Copies of clinical records may be passed to you or another veterinary surgeon on request should you move surgeries.
We never discuss or sell confidential records to any third party other than if you move surgeries or are referred to another veterinary surgeon.
There are limited exceptions to this. If we sell our business in which case the personal information that we hold will be part of the transferred assets. If it is required by law, or to support our website or to enforce our terms of use. This includes exchanging information with other organisations for the purposes of fraud protection and credit risk reduction and also law enforcement agencies.
Our full privacy policy is displayed on your website.
Data protection
When you register your animal with our practice or request that we provide veterinary services we will collect personal data about you and/or your agents. We will only collect data that we need to perform the services, take payment or contact you such as names, contact details and some financial details. These details will be passed to a referral centre if more specialised clinical services are required. Please note that we may pass your details to debt collection agencies or our legal advisers for the purpose of recovering unpaid fees if you do not pay invoices when they fall due.
We comply with the GDPR regulations and will take reasonable precautions to ensure that your data is kept securely, used appropriately and is not shared with third parties except as required for the purposes outlined above.
Complaints
We pride ourselves on offering a gold standard service, and take customer complaints seriously. Should we not meet your expectations on any aspect of our service, please let us know at the time where possible.
Alternatively, should you wish to raise a formal complaint, we ask that you contact the practice manager in writing within three months of the complaint event. The practice manager will then investigate your complaint in accordance with of our Complaints Procedure.
If you are not happy with the outcome of this investigation, we recommend that you refer your complaint for external mediation through the Veterinary Client Mediation Service within three months of the outcome of the investigation.
Insurance
We strongly support the principle of insuring your pet against unexpected illness or accidents. The practice can, at the client’s request, submit a claim directly to an approved insurer. In such cases, the client must pay the excess and any excluded amounts at the end of the consultation or upon demand and, in the event that a claim is refused by the insurers, will remain liable for our fees. The practice does levy a charge for this service.
Home visits
At Shepherds, Veterinary Hospital we endeavour to provide the highest levels of clinical and support care to our customers at all times. Therefore, when a customer encounters an emergency with their pet, we always request that the animal is brought to either the local surgery or Bridgend hospital dependant on its anticipated clinical needs. This approach ensures that the patient receives the speediest and best clinical treatment possible. Only limited treatment can be given in a patient’s home and then unnecessary delay is encountered when the patient must be brought into the hospital. While we provide a home visit service, whether this would be appropriate, will be decided on an individual case basis.
There is an additional charge for a home visit. You will be provided with an estimate of fees when calling to book a visit.
Out of hours care and hospitalisation
Our highly trained clinical team provide an in house 24/7 emergency service at our hospital in Bridgend. While our hospital in-patients benefit from the constant care and monitoring provided by our designated night nurses. Further details concerning the precise arrangements for emergency service are available in the practice.
