Complaints Policy

Our aim is to provide you and your pet with the best possible service and care. Please let us have your feedback, comments and suggestions so we can endeavour to improve and make our service more suited to your needs. Our local teams of Vets, Nurses, Receptionists and Practice Managers will take your comments seriously and will want to know how we can help. 

Complaints: 

If you have encountered any problems with our services, please let us know:

• In the first instance, tell the person in charge of your pet’s care – they may be able to resolve your concern there and then 
• If they are unavailable, please discuss your concerns with any member of our team who will only be too happy to help – we would much rather talk to you about it now 
• Alternatively, you are welcome to write to us. Please address all correspondence to our Practice Manager or Clinical Director. It would be helpful to provide the following information: 
  • Your name, address and convenient contact telephone and email 
  • The name of your pet 
  • The date on which you last attended the clinic 
  • A brief description of your concerns 
  • A summary of what in your opinion we can do to best deal with your concerns 
• In general, if you have a concern, it is best to raise it as soon as possible – this will make it easier for us to investigate and resolve any matters, which are still ongoing 
• If any of our staff were involved, it would be helpful if you can provide us with their names 
• In the event your complaint is relating to an Out of Hours service or a Referral treatment that was not provided by our staff we would ask you to firstly direct the complaint to the relevant service provider. If you are not sure whether or not this was the case please ask any of the practice staff and we can quickly clarify to whom the complaint should be directed. We would also appreciate it if you could keep us updated on the outcome
• If your complaint is related to the provision of interest free credit please approach the providers - Care Free Credit - directly. Contact details are available on their website www.carefreecredit.co.uk

We will treat any point you raise in confidentiality. Upon receiving your letter, we will aim to contact you to find out more. Please let us know the most convenient time to contact you. We may need to investigate the matter further before being able to reach a conclusion; if that is the case we will do our best to look into it as quickly as possible and will reply to you as soon as we are able. 

In normal circumstances, we would aim to have addressed your complaint within 14 days of receiving it.

Escalation:

• If you are not satisfied with the outcome of this process, you may raise your concern with our central team by emailing complaints@independentvetcare.co.uk. Your email will be redirected to the appropriate individual
• Alternatively you may contact the Veterinary Client Mediation Service, www.vetmediation.co.uk

General Feedback: 

If you have any general comments please:

• Email the practice email address (usually found in our contact page on the website)
• Alternatively write to the Practice either via post or hand in to reception

Thank you for taking the time to give us your thoughts.