Welcome to Dafne Veterinary Hospital

This document sets out terms and conditions of the contract established between Dafne Veterinary Hospital and yourself. This contract starts at the moment of registration with our practice or when you ask us to provide any veterinary services. 

Our services

Dafne Veterinary Hospital will provide veterinary services in accordance with reasonable standards denoted in the RCVS guidelines for practice standards and the professional conduct of veterinary surgeons and veterinary nurses. Guidelines are available at www.rcvs.org.uk

Please note veterinary care will be withheld from clients who appear aggressive and abusive to staff members.

Our opening hours can be found on our website.

Consults are arranged by appointment only. 

Emergencies during normal opening hours will always be seen as soon as possible but clients are asked to telephone the practice for immediate advice and to tell us that you are on your way.

Standard consultation fee – £48.38*

Emergency service- we provide our own in-house emergency service 24/7, including bank holidays. Emergency service is available exclusively to our registered clients and their pets. 

Out of hours fee before 10pm – £145.20*

Out of hours fee after 10pm – £193.60*

Above prices do not include consultation fee or any necessary treatments. 

Professional Fees, Written Prescription Charges

All fees, dietary and drug charges are subject to VAT at the current rate. Fee levels are determined on the basis of the expertise required, the time spent on a case and the drugs, materials, consumables and diets used. You will receive a detailed invoice for every consultation, diagnostic, medical, surgical or other procedure, service or product. Dafne Veterinary Hospital has chosen to reduce margins on a wide range of products to prevent penalising patients on long term medication and focus on the value of our professional services. The practice has a written prescription charge from £15.97* (incl. VAT) for each prescription/medication.

Policy on Prescriptions

You can obtain your pet’s Prescription Only Medicines, Category V (POM-V) from our clinic. We are also happy to provide a written prescription so you can obtain these medicines from a pharmacy on request. It is only possible for our veterinarians to prescribe these medicines for pets under our care. A written prescription may not be appropriate if your pet is an in-patient or immediate treatment is necessary.

The cost of a written prescription is £15.97* (incl. VAT) for each prescription/medication.

The general policy of the practice is to reassess a patient requiring repeat prescriptions every three to six months or every twelve months for flea and worming treatments. Our standard repeated prescription consultation charge is £43.56* (incl. VAT).

You will be informed, on request, the price of any medication that may be dispensed for your animal, and further information on the prices of medicines is available from your veterinary surgeon.

Refunds cannot be issued for medications that have left the premises. For legal reasons, we cannot re-stock the medications however we can dispose of them at no cost.

Policy on medications

All medications are stored at the practice in line with the legal requirements for that particular drug.  Once a drug leaves our practice premises we can not enforce these storage conditions and can not accept medication back for refund. We will happily accept unused medication for disposal.

Estimates

We will provide you with an itemised estimate of the anticipated costs of treatment for your pets. We will always endeavour to contact you if this estimate is likely to be exceeded. However, there may be circumstances when immediate treatment is required. As such we cannot guarantee the estimate will be the total final cost.

Insurance Claims

Dafne Veterinary Hospital strongly recommends insurance for your pet. We will help you with every insurance claim, irrespective of the company, but it is your responsibility to understand the terms and conditions of your individual policy.

We try to complete and submit claims as soon as we receive them but in busy periods this can take up to 7 working days from the date that you submitted your completed claim form to us. 

It is your responsibility to complete all the details in the “policy holder sections”.  We will keep a copy for our records as a back-up. Should you wish to post it directly or require a copy of the submitted claim, please notify us in advance.

Dafne Veterinary Hospital may claim directly with your insurance company if the treatment has been pre-authorised by your insurance company and is specifically agreed with the practice management. This facility is only available for fees over £1000 and does not extend to ongoing medication or treatment (unless preauthorization is obtained each time). The policy excess must be paid in full on submission of a fully completed claim form. We charge an administration fee of £18.16* for this service (from 01.01.2024). Non direct/continuation claim fee of £12.10.

Payment

Accounts are due for settlement at the end of the consultation, the discharge of your pet & upon collection of drugs and diets.

Veterinary practices in the UK provide a private healthcare for animals. The fees that owners of the animals pay reflect the time we spend to take care of your pet, expertise of staff, facilities and medications. All prices are subject to VAT ( currently 20%).

A full itemised receipt/ invoice will be provided each time you use our services/ buy our products or medications. 

If your animal needs hospitalisation- we will keep you updated with the costs of treatment. If prolonged hospitalisation is needed we may ask for interim payments on the account. 

We accept payments in cash and by credit/debit card (except of American Express). We do not accept cheques.

We do not provide credit terms. 

Ownership of records and documentation

Case records, radiographs (x-rays), ultrasound scans and other records are the property of, and will be retained by Dafne Veterinary Hospital. We are happy to provide copies of all records and images to our clients on request. If you are transferring your pet’s care to a new clinic, we will make sure copies of all your documentation and images are passed on at your request.

Client Communications Charge

We provide the highest level of care for our patients and their carers and regular high-level communication is an essential part of this. If we find ourselves spending an excessive amount of time on emails or telephone calls that  are not directly related to the immediate care of a case and/or would be better served by a clinic visit or telemedicine consultation we reserve the right to charge a fee of £33.00* to cover our professional time.

Complaints

We hope that you never have the need to complain about the standards of service received from Dafne Veterinary Hospital. However, if you feel that there is something you are unhappy about and would like to make a formal complaint, please direct your comments in writing to the Practice Manager.

When we receive your letter, we will investigate the details of your case and respond accordingly to you. Although we always endeavour to respond to a complaint within 7 working days of receipt sometimes this is not possible. In such an instance a member of the team will contact you to update you on the progress of your complaint.

Data Protection

We are registered under the Data Protection Act 1998 to keep your personal information for accounting and record purposes. We will not divulge your details to other agencies except for debt collection purposes. We may use the data that we have on file to contact you with information beneficial to your pets health, for reminders, drug recall information, other products which may be relevant and newsletters. Please read our Privacy Notice for further information.

Variation of terms of business

No addition or variation of these conditions will bind the practice unless it is specifically agreed in writing and signed by one of the practice partners. No agent or person employed by, or under contract with, the practice has the authority to alter or vary these terms and conditions in any way.

*All prices are correct at 01/01/2024 but are subject to change