Opening times during coronavirus
Monday – Friday 9am – 5pm by appointment only.
Emergency service operating as normal outwith these times.
Just wanted to let you all know about the guidelines received from our governing body the RCVS.
“Although veterinary practices may remain open, in order to comply with the most recent government requirements, the number of clients seen face-to-face should be kept to an absolute minimum.
Furthermore, clients and/or veterinary professionals should only travel to see animals if judged essential to do so. This means that animals should only be seen in emergencies or where, in the judgement of the veterinary surgeon, urgent assessment and/or treatment is needed in order to reduce the risk of patient deterioration to the point where it may become an emergency in the near future (ie within the three-week time frame currently laid out by the Government for these measures).
We (the RCVS) are currently working with other relevant organisations to develop further guidance on what may and may not fall into these categories however, this will take time and so, in the meantime, we ask you to exercise your judgement as to when it is necessary for you to see an animal and/or their owner in person.”
This now means that we have taken the decision to stop all boosters and not start or finish any puppy vaccination courses.
After speaking to the vaccine company there is good evidence that adult dogs should have adequate cover for at least 3 months. Puppies that haven’t finished courses, or have had no vaccines should be allowed limited contact with unvaccinated dogs and be kept out of public spaces.
We should all be doing this anyway under the current stay at home restrictions. We should be considering the potential risks where we are walking these guys, i.e. avoid high risk areas such as parks or water courses and avoid contact with unvaccinated dogs. I know this is not ideal, but nothing is currently!
We are taking decisions on whether to see animals on very much an individual basis and we are available now for telephone consultations.
Our prescribing laws have been relaxed a little bit in this crisis so we can prescribe remotely in certain circumstances. There will be a fee for remote consultations of £22.00, I hope you understand that although we love you we do need to pay our staff!
On a more sad and serious note, house visits for euthanasia and owners being present for the process of euthanasia has been recommended to be halted so we can protect you, ourselves and our staff.
This is probably the thing that has upset me the most about the guidance but we all need to follow the advice and take this seriously. Hopefully it is not a situation most people will find themselves in. I advise you to call to speak to a vet if this is something you are worried about.
These are strange times and I am constantly reading advice and recommendations and trying to keep on top of things as best I can. I feel my obligation to keep my staff and my customers safe very strongly but it is sometimes at odds with my instinct to help animals.
However, in these times, that has to be a secondary consideration but in a true emergency then of course we are here for you.
We are going to change our routine opening hours now to 9am to 5pm weekdays and no Saturday surgery. This is to be able to give the staff (and us!) a bit of downtime where possible. We are still always available 24/7 on the phone.
We would also like to ask for 72hrs notice on prescription requests in case things start to take longer to reach us. We have no major issues with the medicine supply chain currently.
You may also have noticed the phone system is a little different. I have sent as many staff home as possible to protect them and they are taking calls remotely and emailing queries.
We will try and answer them as quickly as possible but there is only myself and Giles working as vets and a skeleton staff of nurses and receptionists currently so please bear with us and be patient and kind.
Anyway, that’s all for now, am sure I’ll be writing again soon
Stay inside and stay safe.
Love Charlotte
