Arranging a general practice appointment
All patients at Willows, with the exception of emergencies, are seen by appointment. Please contact us by telephone or alternatively feel free to call in at the surgery in order to make an appointment.
Routine appointments with our general practice vets last 15 minutes. This is an extended time by comparison to many veterinary practices. Although a 15 minute consultation is inevitably more costly than if it were shorter (say, 5 or 10 minutes, for example) we prefer to work in this way as it gives us the opportunity to take a full history, give your pet a proper physical examination and have the time to formulate a potential plan of action and discuss it fully with you.
If your pet is currently registered at another veterinary practice and has no ongoing problems you can transfer your pet to us by contacting your current veterinary surgeon and requesting that they send us your pet's clinical history. We will then see your pet at the first routine appointment you make.
If your pet is already under treatment for an ongoing problem by a vet at another practice and you wish us to take over your pet's treatment then you will need to contact your current vet and request that they provide us with your pet's clinical history including details of any blood test results, the results of any other investigations and also details of any treatment your pet is receiving. The appointment time will be extended to 30 minutes in order for us to have the time to fully assess the situation, and the fee for the consultation will be proportionately higher as a result. You will still be seen by one of our general practice vets in these circumstances.
If you wish your pet to be referred to one of our specialist vets then you will need to make different arrangements – please see Arranging a Referral for details of how to go about this.
Pricing and payment
If you would like details of consultation fees and routine procedures such as neutering, please contact reception for up-to-date pricing. If your pet has a more complex problem then the vet will be pleased to give you an estimate of further treatment costs at the time of the consultation, before you decide whether or not to go ahead with any recommended investigations and/or treatment.
Payment options
Cash, cheques and major credit/debit cards are accepted.
Payment will be expected at the time of consultation or on collection of your pet. A fee is charged for repeat consultations unless otherwise specified.
Please note there is a 2% surcharge for credit cards (not debit cards) and that we do not accept American Express or Diners cards.
Insurance claims
You will need to check with your insurance company about your level of cover, any exclusions you may have and what excess you will need to pay. We will do our best to help with this process, but insurance companies often prefer to deal with the policyholder.
Any shortfall in the cost of treatment which is not covered by your insurance company will be payable to us by you.
Although we do not routinely make direct claims from insurance companies, they can be arranged with certain insurance companies under certain circumstances, provided that you discuss this with us, either prior to your appointment or during your initial consultation with the vet, before any investigations or treatment are undertaken. Please be aware that direct claims often necessitate quite lengthy preparation which may delay possible investigations and surgery, and we do charge a small administation fee for handling such claims.
Direct claims cannot be requested at the time of collection of your pet, after treatment has already been given.
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