Concerns
Concerns and Complaints – Policy and Procedure
Our mission is to take pride in being at the forefront of clinical excellence and development, providing a quality service and products to create sustainable competitive advantage and profits in a people driven fun environment, whilst maintaining strategic and operational control of the business.
If however you are unhappy with any aspect of the practice’s products or services we would like to hear about it. This may be concerns regarding our charging policies, treatment which your pet has received, poor communication, or the way in which a member of staff has dealt with you, and so on. It may even be more serious such as accusations of incompetence or misconduct. Whatever the nature of your complaint our staff will endeavour to deal with any issues in a prompt and professional manner and will treat you with dignity and respect.
We take complaints about the practice, our staff and the levels of service you and your pet receive very seriously, but we hope that before you make a formal complaint you will give us the chance to try and put things right.
Most problems can be sorted out easily and quickly, often at the time they arise and with the member of staff dealing with you. They will be happy to listen to your concerns and take appropriate action to assist in resolving the matter.
If your complaint cannot be resolved at practice level, or is more complicated, it may be more appropriate for you to complete a “Client Complaint Form” (a pre-paid envelope will be provided) or you may prefer to email us at enquiries@vetcareltd.co.uk as soon as possible, ideally within a matter of days, or at most a few weeks.
Regretfully, we are unable to investigate complaints that have been received six months or more after the event.
To help us investigate your complaint, please include the following details:
· Date of incident.
· Which surgery the incident took place.
· Members of staff involved (if applicable).
· Summary of the circumstances that led to the complaint.
· What you would like to see done to resolve your complaint.
We will acknowledge your complaint within five working days and we will let you know who is dealing with your complaint and when you can expect to receive a reply. In most cases, we hope to give you a full reply within two weeks of the complaint being made, but if it is going to take longer we will get in touch with you to let you know what is happening. We will then be able to offer you an explanation, and/or the results of our investigations, this may be in the form of a response letter/email to you, or you may be invited to the practice to discuss the matter face to face with the Veterinary Surgeon, or similar.
If after the investigation/explanation/action taken, you are still dissatisfied, you may be offered a meeting with a Director, or if the matter cannot be resolved then it may be placed in the hands of our professional advisers.
If you wish to take the complaint outside the practice then you can do so to The Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons.
We hope that if you have a problem, you will use our practice complaints procedure. We believe this will give us the best chance of putting right whatever has gone wrong and it also gives us an opportunity to improve our practice and the level of care and service to our patients and to you as our client. This does not affect your right to approach The Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons if you are dissatisfied with the result of any internal investigations undertaken.
