You may have read in the media recently that there is currently a national shortage of vets. This has resulted from a perfect storm of increased numbers retiring and leaving the profession as well as a shortage of supply from the EU. This combined with a huge increase in pet ownership during the pandemic (estimated at 50%) has placed significant pressure on resources in veterinary practices.
Mansion Hill will always strive to provide excellent service to all our clients and patients. However, we must prioritise sick and injured animals. We have had to make some changes:
- We have closed our books to new clients with immediate effect. New clients are welcome to join our waiting list. Existing clients can still register new pets.
- Appointments will be prioritised by clinical need each day, which may lead to delays and fewer available routine appointments.
- Our six monthly routine healthy pet checks have been paused to free up veterinary consultations for sick pets; we will look to reinstate these appointments as soon as we can.
- Currently we will only provide a claw clipping service to clients on the discount loyalty club. In the circumstance that there is a nail problem causing welfare issues or you still wish veterinary staff to trim the nails there will be a full consultation charge.
- Due to the changes in taking your pet abroad because of leaving the EU, pet owners now need to have an ‘Animal health certificate’ (AHC). These certificates take a significant amount of time to complete. To prioritise dealing with sick animals, we will temporarily not be able to provide this service. We may be able to help in exceptional circumstances, but it will depend on the workload that week.
- Please give us at least 48 hours notice to get prescriptions ready; including routine flea and worm medication. This can be done by visiting our website and using the repeat medication link or email info@mansionhillvets.co.uk.
- All appointments are valuable so if you need to cancel one, please let us know as soon as possible. Due to the number of missed appointments that we are currently experiencing we will now be charging a full consultation fee for non-attendance. We will classify arrival more than 10 minutes late or non-attendance as a missed appointment. This charge will apply to all appointments; including free appointments covered by our health plan and operations. If you need to cancel, we require 24 hours notice.
- Due to the ongoing uncertainty of the pandemic, we have decided to continue with a closed-door policy for the time being. We cannot afford to have staff isolating as this will cause further disruption to our clients and the service that we provide.
We are experiencing busy times at the practice so please be mindful of other appointments and space in the carpark, when you arrive, please let us know that you are here by knocking on the reception window then wait in/by your car to avoid congestion around the reception area.
Please try to arrive no more than 5 minutes early. If we are running behind or look a little flustered, please give us a friendly smile! We will see you as soon as we can.
We understand these changes will affect the way we deliver health care for your pets, and we hope you understand that animal welfare will always be our highest priority.
From all the team at Mansion Hill Vets