HOUSE VISITS

Our policies on providing house visits and information about how they work.

House Visits

For most conditions and nearly all emergencies, we are far better suited to treat your pet at our surgery.  This is because we have better access to staff, facilities, equipment and medication.  Nearly all visits require at least TWO members of staff to attend.

We do understand that in some situations, particularlly home euthanasias , a home visit may be preferable. During normal opening hours, we will try our best to accommodate any requests for a house call - however we are still very short-staffed and we often do not have a vet and nurse available to perform these services.


 

  • House-visits are usually performed between 11am and 2pm.

 

  • Please call as EARLY in the day as possible if you would like a house-visit

 

  • If we feel we can offer a house-vist that day we will give you a time range that we intend to come out and will normally phone just as we are leaving to give you a better idea of our arrival time.

 

  • We cannot guarantee the vet of your choice being able to come out.

 

  • Sadly, visits requested outside of the time slots above, may not be possible.


  • If we are unable to perform a home euthanasia for you, we highly recommend the services of Cloud9 who are a specialist home-visit veterinary euthanasia service.

 

Night Visits

When our surgery is closed, any emergencies are now dealt with by Medivet Leamington Veterinary Hospital.  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.
Emergencies
However, in exceptional circumstances and at the discretion of the duty staff, a house visit may still be possible, but it cannot be guaranteed.  Examples of such circumstances would be where the welfare of the animal would be worsened by moving them to the surgery.  There is going to be an inevitable delay with the vet arriving for a house visit, as additional cover will need to be arranged for the hospital based service whilst the vet and nurse are away.  There will be additional fees for any house visits performed out-of-hours. 

Limitations and RCVS statements for House Visits

Short notice home-visits can put considerable strain on a practice as they can take a vet and a nurse away from the building for extended periods of time.  This can affect the care of animals that are already in the surgery, or can affect appointments that are already booked.


Veterinary Practices are not under obligation to undertake house-visits, but we do try and offer this service as an extension to the care we provide.



The Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons (RCVS) Code of Professional Conduct states: 


3.21 Owners are responsible for transporting their animals to a veterinary practice, including in emergency situations. The RCVS encourages owners to think about how they can do this and make plans before an emergency arises. Examples include their own transport, a family member, friend or neighbour’s transport, an animal ambulance or a taxi service that will transport animals.


3.22 In all but exceptional circumstances, the interests of companion animals will be best served by being taken to a veterinary practice, where the attending veterinary surgeon has access to a full range of equipment, veterinary medicines and appropriate facilities.