Client Information

Appointments

Registering

New clients can register online. It records your details, your yard and your horses, and it is also where you accept the practice’s terms. You are only registered with the practice from when we acknowledge this by email. Registering does not book a visit — telephone for that.

Booking a visit

Appointments are arranged by telephone rather than online, as cases can vary enormously in the time they need. Booking by phone means the right amount of time is set aside for your horse.

When you call, it helps to have the horse’s age and history to hand, along with the yard address and postcode.

Fees and payment

Fees are quoted before work is carried out wherever it is possible to do so. For investigative work where the extent is not known at the outset, you will be given an estimate and told before costs go beyond it.

Work is payable at the time of the visit, or on receipt of invoice. Payment can be made by bank transfer, cash, debit card or credit card — we are not able to accept American Express. Current fees are confirmed when you register.

Insurance

Insurance is a contract between you and your insurer. The practice is not party to it, and you remain responsible for the account regardless of the outcome of any claim.

• Tell your insurer as soon as a condition arises — most policies have strict notification periods.
• Check whether your policy requires authorisation before investigation or treatment begins.
• Claim forms are completed promptly, and clinical history is released to your insurer with your consent.
• Direct claims are considered case by case and cannot be assumed.

Consent

Informed consent is taken before sedation, anaesthesia, surgery and any procedure carrying material risk. You will be told what is proposed, what the alternatives are, what it is likely to cost and what could go wrong, and you are free to ask as many questions as you need before agreeing.

Consent may be given in person or in writing. Where a horse is not owned by the person present, the owner’s authority is required.

Medicines

Veterinary medicines are prescribed only for horses under the practice’s care, which requires the animal to have been seen recently enough for a proper clinical judgement to be made. Written prescriptions are available on request, and the fee for one is confirmed on request.

Clinical records

Copies of records, and a summary of your horse’s history, are provided on request — including to another veterinary surgeon taking over your horse’s care. Clinical records and radiographs are the property of the practice and are retained.

Data protection

Personal data is held to provide veterinary services, to maintain clinical records and to administer accounts. It is not sold, and it is shared only where necessary — with your insurer at your request, with a referral practice treating your horse, or where the law requires it. See the privacy policy for the detail.

The formal terms

This page is the plain-English version, and it is the one worth reading. The full terms on which veterinary services are provided are set out in our trading terms, and those are the terms that apply.

Complaints

If something has not gone as it should, please raise it directly and as soon as possible — most concerns are resolved quickly by a conversation. Complaints are dealt with by Stephanie Miller personally rather than passed to anyone else. They are acknowledged, looked into properly, and answered.