Safer

EMERGENCIES

What to do in an Emergency and how we provide 24 hour cover

PLEASE NOTE: 

AS OF 1st AUGUST 2023, OUR OUT OF HOURS PROVIDER HAS

CHANGED TO VETS NOW


DETAILS BELOW...


EMERGENCIES WILL ALWAYS BE SEEN AS A PRIORITY. 


PLEASE ALWAYS TELEPHONE THE SURGERY IN ADVANCE SO WE CAN MAKE THE NECESSARY ARRANGEMENTS OR PREPARATIONS.


ALWAYS TELEPHONE 01788 812650

for ANY Emergency at ANY Time .


Fully Staffed Out-of-Hours Cover is now available overnight and during weekends.

We have recently made some changes in the way that we provide care for emergency cases and high dependency in-patients that occur outside of our normal opening hours. 


We are absolutely committed to providing a high quality and sustainable veterinary service, irrespective of the time of day or night or the day of the week. 


In order to improve the level of care that we can offer "out-of-hours" we have now partnered with Vets Now, the UK largest provider of dedicated emergency and out-of-hours veterinary care.


Fully Staffed Out-of-Hours Cover is now available overnight and during weekends.

EMERGENCY COVER:

Weekdays:  Mon to Fri: 7pm - 8am

Weekends:  Sat: 1pm to Mon: 8am

Bank Holidays: all day/night

34 Barker Butts Lane

Coventry

Warks

CV6 1DT

Vets Now Coventry Website Find Us/Map

EMERGENCY COVER:

Weekdays:  Mon to Fri: 7pm - 8am

Weekends:  Sat: 1pm to Mon: 8am

Bank Holidays: all day/night

Gate 3 - The Holcot Centre

Moulton College, Pitsford Rd, Moulton, Northants

NN3 7SS

Vets Now Northampton Website
Find Us/Map

By working alongside Vets Now,
you and your pets will benefit from:

Out-of-hours emergencies are seen by experienced staff who are awake and fresh!

The night and weekend staff are working specific shifts, so this means that you will be looked after by vets and nurses who are not tired, haven’t been woken up and are on-site continually.

Continuous supervised treatment and care of high-dependency patients.

On the rare occasion that your pet is poorly enough to require round-the-clock monitoring, this can now be provided by the emergency centre where staff are there at all times to care and look after your pet.

Advanced facilities for critically ill patients.

As a specific Emergency Service, the staff have received additional training in ECC (Emergency and Critical Care) as well as having additional specialist equipment and facilities to deal with urgent or severely ill cases.

In-patients that are not critical continue to be looked after at our surgery.

Stable and non-critical in-patients are able to remain at Bilton Veterinary Centre during weeknights where we are then available to continue to care for them during the following day.  At weekends, all in-patients will need to be transferred to Vets Now.

A new "Video Vet" Service available for emergency advice calls. *

You are now able to book an online consultation with a video-vet.  These can be used for advice or general queries about your pet when our surgery is closed. 


If an emergency "in-person" appointment is suggested, you will get a refund of your initial video-vet consult!


* Available until 11pm

A detailed communication system between the two practices should your pet  be admitted out-of-hours.

Should your pet be seen any Vets Now clinic as an emergency out-of-hours, detailed clinical notes are passed back to Bilton first thing in the morning.

If we need to transfer a critical in-patient, we are able to pass the same level of  information on to Vets Now for seamless ongoing care.

FAQ about our improved Emergency Provisions

FAQ about our improved Emergency Provisions

FAQ about our improved Emergency Provisions

We are working alongside Vets Now who have a specific NIGHT and WEEKEND team of vets available who are able to provide on-site care for your pets during these periods.


The vets running this service are specially trained and experienced in emergency medicine.  Also, they are only working specific shifts - which means they are fresh, awake and can provide genuine continual care for your pet during the night/weekend.


You can either dial our practice number (01788 812650) and listen to the recorded message, or you can call Vets Now directly on the numbers above. 

Bilton Vets will still cover Emergencies:

Mon- Fri: 8am until 7pm

Sat: 8am until 1pm


Vets Now will cover Emergencies:

Mon-Fri: 7pm-8am

Weekend: Sat 1pm to Mon 8am

Bank Holidays

We don't believe in moving poorly animals unnecessarily.  If your pet is stable, then he/she will be looked after as usual by our duty staff until 10 pm.  (Please note, we don't have overnight staff at the practice.)


However, what we can now offer is that if your pet is more severely unwell and requires frequent or constant monitoring/treatment during the night, they can now be transported to the nearest Vets Now practice where there is a dedicated team available to look after them continually throughout the out-of-hours periods.


This is a significant improvement on what we have offered in the past, as due to staffing rotas we cannot have a vet awake all night to be on-site.

If your pet has been admitted  to Vets Now "out-of-hours" then we have an easy system whereby you can bring them back to us once we are open again.   

All treatment history and notes are sent back to us so we can continue to provide ongoing care/treatment.


In rare cases where your pet may be deemed too unwell to move, then Vets Now will be able to continue to care for your pet during the daytime as well.

We would normally expect owners to transfer their own pet between the veterinary surgeries.  Both practices would make sure that they are suitable for transfer, and would be able to help you at each end of the journey.


If the animal is critical or not suitable for owners to move them,  then we are able to arrange our own ambulance transfer.  There would be an additional fee for this service.

We have two Vets Now Practices available for our clients to use and you can choose which one you would like to visit. Depending on your location, these practices are usually within a 20-25min journey for most clients. 


(It is worthwhile noting that for A&E at UHCW (Walsgrave) is 30 minutes from our surgery.)

Due to data protection, there is no way for Vets Now or any other practice/emergency service provider to link into our system. 


It is always a good idea to have a list of any ongoing medication (including Name, Strength, Dose and Frequency) that your pet is on anyway and this is worthwhile having to hand in case of emergency.  


Vets Now are able to contact the clinical directors at Bilton 24/7, and so in the rare occasion that it is imperative that they need access, they are able to contact us and we will be able to access any records and pass on any necessary information.

Routine visits are generally not possible out-of-hours as the emergency staff will not be able to leave the surgery as this may leave critical in-patients and further emergencies unattended.


However, in exceptional circustances, where the welfare of the animal would be severely compromised by moving them, a house visit can still be arranged.  Further information about visits can be found on this page.

Vets Now are a separate company from Bilton Vets, so you will need to pay Vets Now directly for any fees or treatment that have been performed.  


Payment will be requested at the time, and it may be neccessary to take a payment/deposit  for the consultation before you are seen.  


This is very standard practice for emergency providers that, unlike our own practice, often don't know the credit history or previous payment histories of the clients they are seeing.


If an insurance claim needs to be processed, then you will need to send them a claim form as well.


Vets Now will normally provide you with an estimate when you contact them or when you are seen. 


Direct Claims are only performed in exceptional circumstances.  

Share by: