Terms of Business

Hours of business

Monday to Friday 0830 to 1900hrs, Thursday 0830 to 2030. Saturday 0900 to 1200hrs. Consultations are strictly by appointment. A consultation costs £48.99. Appointments are available Monday to Friday 0900 to 1820hrs and Saturday 0930 to 1130hrs. Out with normal business hours the practice operates a 24-hour emergency service from its own surgery. A veterinary surgeon may be contacted by telephoning the normal surgery number 01324 829989 and listening to the short answer phone message. Out of hours consultations cost £175 before 10pm, and £225 after 10pm.

Home visits

Wherever possible, it is preferable for pets to be examined at the surgery where there is access to a full range of equipment, staff and medicines. In exceptional circumstances home visits will be carried out, on request, at a time convenient to the veterinary surgeon. Urgent cases are always better to be seen at the surgery where emergency facilities are available. House calls cost from £175.00 (business hours) exclusive of drugs and additional services.

Payment

It is expected that payment be made in full at the time of treatment, receipt of prescription or discharge of a hospitalised animal. Payment may be made by cash, credit or debit card, cheques are no longer accepted as a form of payment.
Please note: Missed appointments may be chargeable.

Prescription only medicines (POM-Vs)

The Veterinary surgeon in charge of a case will give information, on request, about the price of any POM-V to be dispensed, and will quote the price of any POM-V stocked or sold.

The veterinary surgeon will give advice on the frequency of repeat prescriptions for ongoing conditions and the requirement for subsequent regular examinations for such prescriptions to continue. In normal circumstances we will require to re examine each patient every 3 calendar months in order to be able to offer repeat prescriptions of any prescription only medicines. Such examinations will cost £37.99. You will be informed, on request, the cost of price of any medicine that may be dispensed for your pet. Further information is available on request. Veterinary surgeons may only prescribe POM-Vs for animals under their care.

The veterinary surgeon in charge of a case will provide, on request, a written prescription if clients wish to have POM-Vs dispensed at an alternative outlet. The cost of a written prescription is £23.00. A prescription may not be appropriate if your pet is an in-patient or requires emergency treatment.

Hospitalised cases

Animals requiring in patient overnight care will be hospitalised at the surgery in the on-site kennelling facility. Patients are checked and owners updated by telephone at 7pm and again around 10pm.Further checks and updates are arranged on a case by case basis with the veterinary surgeon in charge of the case, and depend on the needs of specific cases.

Dual Registrations

At Apex Vets we firmly believe in providing all round high quality care to our patients. When you register a pet with us, you are agreeing to use us as your sole provider for your pets' veterinary care. This includes both routine and emergency. This allows us to have an optimal understanding and up to date records for your pet, should an emergency arise. The exception to this is if you are on holiday or you have 2 homes, in these instances, please ask the local provider to contact us for your pets clinical notes and return any notes with treatment they provide. Should a pet be found to be dual registered without prior authorisation, for example, using another practice for boosters, and Apex Vets for emergencies, we will cancel your registration with 7 days notice.

Complaints

If you feel that you have encountered any problems with our service, then please in the first instance talk to the vet in charge of your animals care. The chances are that they will be able to resolve your concerns there and then.

If for any reason you are unsatisfied with a verbal response then please, write in confidence, to one the company directors and senior vets Mr Glenn Hodgson or Mr Douglas Paterson at the Practice address.

If for any reason you remain unsatisfied with the handling of your complaint or grievance, you are entitled to approach the veterinary surgeons regulatory body at the following address: Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons, Belgravia House, 62-64 Horseferry Road, London, SW1P 2AF