Moneygrabbing Vet!

[barnhill4x4]

Yesterday we had an accident where my German Shepherd while running had stepped on the left hind leg of my 7month old Jack Russel resulting in the leg being fractured. We immediately called our usual vet and were told to call the emergency number.  Upon calling we were advised that there would be a £60 emergency call out fee and we explained that we were prepared to pay that amount there and then but any further payment for treatment would have to paid the following week, we were told that is not a problem and to discuss that with the vet while we were there.
  We got to the Practice and gave our contact details to the receptionist. We waited approximately 20 minutes to be seen and were left alone in the waiting room, I realise that the Vet had another animal to see but we were not told anything just left to wait with an animal that was clearly in pain and stress and I would have expected to be told of a way to hold and support the dog and broken limb while we waited to avoid further damage. When we went into the surgery the Vet asked us for all of our contact details again and proceeded to enter all of that information into the computer before he even acknowledged the dog on the table. We had already given all of this information and I saw this as an unnecessary activity given the fact that our dog was still in pain. We were then advised that the dog has a possible fracture to its leg and would need an x-ray and sedation costing approx £170. We advised the vet that although we could pay for this treatment in full next week we were unable to cover the full cost there and then but could cover the £60 emergency fee and provide bank/card details to cover the rest to be taken in a few days time. At that point the vet stated that all treatment must be paid for in full immediately and if we were unable to pay now then he could not treat the animal.
  At this point my concern for the dog took over and I was more concerned about the welfare of the dog. I told the vet that I do not wish to enter into an argument about the reasons of refusing treatment as I needed to go and seek alternative treatment elsewhere. He said "Go then"! He sat down in his chair at the computer and made no effort to stop us leaving. A client in the waiting room asked why we were leaving so quickly as she knew the dog had a broken leg from our conversation with her while waiting. We told her that we had been refused treatment on the grounds of not being able to pay in full although we had offered alternatives. So we left there with a distressed animal still in obvious pain.
  After a few phone calls I managed to find a vet that would treat the dog and the dog is now awaiting an operation to fix the leg.
 
 I am left feeling disgusted at the way we and the dog were treated. If I had gone into the vets and said "My dog has a broken leg, fix it but I am not paying" then I could understand.
 I have complained to various governing bodies and emailed all of the local vets that use this vet as the emergency surgery. I dont want compensation, just dont want anyone else treated the same way.

[strapping young lad]

2 things from gleaning the thread...


are your dogs insured? if not... now would be a good time.

check your vet's t&c's regarding payment as some will demand immediate payment cos look at it this way...

hes forked out technically 170 quid for something, you say you will pay next week, and for arguments's sake, never be heard of again, so the vet is out of pocket.

also if you arent happy with the treatment demand to speak to the owner of the practice, and if that doesnt help, your solicitor for advice, im not sure whether the council's animal welfare officer covers the vet, but you could try.


then..

change vets!

ours is an animal hospital in chorley and albeit its more expensive than the other vets in the area they are great with us.

[RCRockCrawler]

That's just disgusting. The vet is clearly in the wrong job if he can leave a dog in obvious pain on the grounds of not getting an immediate payment, and still keep a clear conscience.

I agree with strapping young lad, though, taking out insurance would be a wise choice, as almost every pet will need veterinary attention at some point in it's life.

[barnhill4x4]

Are my animals insured? No, But the practice manager of the vets made us out to be irresponsible pet owners because of it!

The point is, this was an emergency treatment on a sunday, I offered to pay the £60 fee there and then and the rest next week, the dog would have been in for a few days most likely and I would have had the money to pay in full by the time the dog was collected, they wanted the money UPFRONT!
 He would not have forked out £170 for treatment, the majority of that cost is his markup, an x-ray realisticly costs about £5 to take, it is only a camera, yes an expensive camera but still a camera. My missus works as a dental practice manager and they take x-rays all day long. A pack of 20 films is around £20

I have since learned that this practice is accredited by the RCVS as an Emergency care clinic and their guidelines state:
 
"7.  If an owner of an animal, who is not a client of the practice, requests an emergency out-of-hours consultation, the veterinary surgeon may reasonably direct the owner to his or her usual veterinary surgeon and decline to carry out the consultation.  However, immediate first aid and pain relief must be provided to the animal if, for whatever reason, the owner cannot contact his or her usual veterinary surgeon. The veterinary surgeon should be aware that holiday-makers, new owners and other categories of animal owner may not have a 'usual veterinary surgeon' in the locality.
 
16.  A veterinary surgeon or a lay member of staff accepting telephone calls must not refuse emergency veterinary attention because the caller is unable to make immediate payment for the treatment.  Arrangements for payment should be discussed at an early stage, but immediate first aid and pain relief should not be delayed while financial arrangements are agreed."
 
No pain relief was administered or even offered, the dog was just allowed to suffer in pain and distress until we found an alternative. Payment for the treatment was primary concern and no consideration to the animals welfare was given.

[Drift]

Im sure he could have took your card details  :?

You would think he could have even made a bit of effort to make the poor dog comfortable.
Ste

[Edge]

Definately change vets, ive used various vets over the years and never experienced service like that.

[Yoshi]

I have pet insurance type thing with the PDSA.  They cover all emergency stuff up front so no payment needs discussing, also they cover all meds except the preventative care stuff like wormers and flea stuff.  This is rather handy cos my dog is likeley to be on meds for the rest of his life.

[graham78]

just an idea but it is actually against the law to mistreat an animal and i am sure that if you were to be seen causing the animal pain anyone would haul you to the cop shop for a slaped wrist and a fine up to 1000 beer tokens so surelly this is pretty much the same...

i know it is a bit different with the situation and all but i had the unfoetunate task of euthanising my puppy last bank holiday after an rta and the vet advised me of the costs and i said  i would return on tuesday to pay, i wasnt even registered with him...

it realy does amaze me that people are so money driven nowadays....

if it were a child in an a+e??????

i say get a petition and get him sacked he is in it for the dosh not the dogs (and other pets)

[beast5680]

our vet will defer payment if you are unable or let you pay in installments if you cant afford a lump sum
to send the animal away and provide no pain relief even if they wont fix it must be a dereliction of care? i think the RSPCA would have a few words to say about it

[Lord Shagg-Pyle]

I'm sure that vets are subject to a similar code of conduct as  doctors. That seems very wrong to me. Without quoting the full text (due to my brain being like a very leaky thing) it is an offence under the Animals act to cause unnecessary suffering to an animal., and I would suggest that refusing to treat an injured animal would fit that.
As an owner of 3 dogs, 3 horses and a hamster, I would whole heartily agree with getting insurance cover. If I hadn't, I would now be down at the docks doing favours for sailors! :shock:

[gtomo2]

I understand whet you mean. But must say my vat is very good in that respect. i had to take my cat (which i saved for being put down as a kitten 19 years ago). to my local vets the other week as she was in pain with her teeth and also lost a lot of weight. the vat looked at the cat and said she needs to have some teeth removed and to have her thyroid(?spelling) removed the cost for the teeth would be £140 and for the thyroid removel £170. i explained i could not afford the tottal amount £310 so he say as he would have to operatate on the cat to remove her thyroid he would do the teeth as well but with no charge. And give me a payment book to pay over 8 weeks. But as she came out of the anistetic she had a heart attack and passed away.  as we were just about to collect her. the vet was very sad and sorry about what had happen and cancelled the bill. so not all vets are bad.

[Andy 300tdi]

Whilst I can understand the Vets concerns regarding the possible payment or not (In the vets mind) surely it is a breach of their code of conduct to leave the animal in a distressed state and I would be inclined to make a formal complaint to the governing body.  This individual should not be allowed to continue practising

[BrumLee]

Definately change vets, ive used various vets over the years and never experienced service like that.

I've experience worse with a puppy we had for four days before she fell ill. We had to run the pup from one vets to another paying over £150 an night to keep her in (cheaper to put her up in the Hyatt) then when we said she was still the same they charged us £80 for this, £100 for that until we decided we had to let her go. £1200 in all and insurance didn't kick in for ten days so we were stuffed  

[barnhill4x4]

Thankyou for your support.
   We have just visited Daisy at the vet and she is happy, she will have her operation tomorrow afternoon and we will bring her home in the evening or wednesday morning.
  I have discussed payment with the vet and we are paying the £60 now and then £50 a month although we will be able to pay it all off before then. Total cost will be around £360 and that includes the sedation, x-ray and operation in 6 weeks time to remove the pins.
  That is how a vet should be. As I have said above, I appreciate that they are a business but they are not shopkeepers they are vets, they should have procedures in place to help people in my situation and they have clearly broken the code of conduct that they have to a adhere to as an accredited Emergency care Clinic. I have sent an email to my usual vet as they were the ones to point us in this direction, its not a complaint against them they just need to know how I was treated.
  I have informed the RCVS as they are the governing body, they are sending out the complaints forms.
  I will be contacting the local TV Consumer watchdog programme and the local media.
 I dont want compensation but I do want the local area to know what happened so they can make other plans incase they have an emergency with their pet.
  As said above, I would not have even gone there had we not been told that deffering payment was not a problem and to discuss it with the vet.
 I dont know whether to name the vet in question or not, I dont suppose they can do me for slander or whatever as it is fact.

[v8kenny]

well at least the wee doggie is alright - she'll be fine, hardy wee souls Jack Russels !  
That vet wants to try going to A&E with a broken leg and get turned away - see how he likes it   :x
I sympathise fully with you - the only vet in our town operates the same policy - pay up or get out
Our only other option is taking the ferry accross the Clyde to get to the next nearest vets (who incidentaly are very nice )


Obviously ethics and morals are not on the curriculum at vetinary schools    :roll:

[barnhill4x4]

Here is a pic of the xray. Sorry about the quality, I took it on my phone and resized it.

[Llanigraham]

Sorry about the dog and the crap way you were treated, but it does seem to be the way some vets are getting.
One of my customers was told that her rabbit was overweight and had to go on a "special" diet. She has been buying the "special" food from the vets from the last 2 months and happened to come into the shop today for some wormer for her cat and saw the exact same food on my shelf, but at HALF the price of that she is charged at the vets. She left absoluely fuming, but £5 better off!!

The emegency vets didn't happen to be the one that were involved with a programme on BBC Wales last year, were they? One surgery in the north of Cardiff, plus another one somewhere up in the Valleys?

[barnhill4x4]

The emegency vets didn't happen to be the one that were involved with a programme on BBC Wales last year, were they? One surgery in the north of Cardiff, plus another one somewhere up in the Valleys?

 That was exactly the vets in question! The one up the valleys in Ystrad Mynach. Its about 1 mile from me.

[Llanigraham]

Funny that!!!

There have been complaints about them in the past, I understand.

[barnhill4x4]

Funny that!!!

There have been complaints about them in the past, I understand.

Hmmmmm, Has there?
   Any chance you could point me in the right direction? Any info that can support my case would be appreciated!

[Llanigraham]

Afraid nothing specific, but comments that have been made by a couple of the reps in this business.
Will keep my ear to the ground.

[G-mod]

Interesting thread,  strange that nobody questions why vets increasingly ask for payment at the time like shops, garages, supermarkets etc etc.
I never used to ask for payment at the time and believed people would pay off their debts.(apart from a few gooduns, most didn't)
Then I found that I was owed 80K on a 500K turnover, NOT good!



Now an ex-vet...........

PS. hope your dog makes a speedy recovery!

[Red Defender]

interesting, my vet doesn't charge me anything up front or at the time of treatment they insist on sending me a bill at the end of the month

[Evilgoat]

Had to change Vets foir the degus as the old vet insisted on just treating symptoms rather than the illness, as a result we lost one of them. I have to say so far so good with the news guy :)

Thats said looks like I'm back there in a few days :(

[barnhill4x4]

I just had a call from the BBC Wales X-Ray programme.
  They are interested in the story and the researcher that called will be taking it to the next story meeting and will let me know in a few days.
 On another note, we should be collecting Daisy this evening, just spoke to the vet and her op will be at about 2 this afternoon and as long as she is out of the sedation by the time they close we can have her back.

 The vet she is at now has not asked for a penny yet although they have advised me on costs and we have worked out a payment plan.

[Keri]

What a horrible practice....... The vets my dogs are at never talk about payment untill they have treated wether that be emergency out of hours or just a visit...... Few times i have been out of hours they always tell you on the phone there will be an out of hours charge but then you just get down there go in and are seen straight away.

I mean they have notices on the wall like payment must be made in full blah blah but a few time for regular stuff nevermind emergency stuff iv been down and its come to more than iv thought and they've just said don't worry fetch it down in the next few days etc etc

[barnhill4x4]

Daisy is back home, very groggy from the sedative. She is quite happy hobbling along on 3 legs but she has to rest.

[richo]

Glad to see shes ok .Asda pet insurance is one of the cheapest with the most cover.Our little staffy costs around £13.00 a month to insure ,would be around same for your little en i would think.
If your dog had of been insured you could have watched you vets eyes light up as it's a good money maker for them.

[SWEETY]

Glad to see she's back home  :D My wife is in love with her