Terms & Conditions

Terms & Conditions

Thank you for entrusting the care of your pet to Kingdom Veterinary Clinic, an independent veterinary practice owned and run by JM Animal Care Ltd. Below are the terms and conditions of registration with the practice. By registering with Kingdom Veterinary Clinic, you agree that you have read and understood these terms and conditions and agree to be bound by them

General

Pets must be kept under control at all times within the practice. Dogs must be on secure collars or harnesses and leads, cats in appropriate, secure carriers or baskets and small animals or exotics in suitable carriers or containers.
Fellow clients and all staff members must be always treated with respect and courtesy. Abusive behaviour and language will not be tolerated and may result in your de-registration from the practice.

Our telephone calls are recorded for training and monitoring purposes.

We have closed circuit television (CCTV) cameras that cover all entrances and exits to the building, and our reception area, where audio is also recorded.

Fees & Payments

  1.    Kingdom Veterinary Clinic reserves the right to charge for any and all appointments and associated consultations, case discussions, referrals, treatments and other services provided depending on time spent, medications, consumables etc used during the course of the condition or consultation. All decisions regarding the alteration or otherwise of fees lie with the Practice Principal.
  2. All treatments and services, including emergency and out-of-hours treatment, are due and payable at the time of services rendered. If it is likely that you will be unable to settle your account this must be discussed with a senior member of staff BEFORE any treatment is carried out. Kingdom Veterinary Clinic cannot extend any form of credit and delayed payments may incur further charges. After due notice to the client any accounts outstanding for more than 90 days will be referred to our debt collection agency. This will result in de-registration of all animals and cessation of veterinary services by Kingdom Veterinary Clinic.

Estimates

A detailed estimate of costs can be provided upon request and will be provided for any single course of treatment expected to be over £500. Any estimate provided is valid for 28 days from the date it is communicated. The estimate will be provided in writing and will include the likely costs of a course of treatment or surgical procedure. Please note that this will be an approximate cost only and is subject to change as the treatment progresses. If unforeseen procedures or treatments over the estimate are found to be necessary, Kingdom Veterinary Clinic will always try to contact you on the telephone numbers provided.

Appointments

Where an appointment system is in place clients must endeavour to contact us as soon as possible to inform us of inability to attend or intention to cancel appointments. Missed appointments may incur a charge and repeated failure to attend (3 missed appointments in one year) will result in de-registration.

We always strive to ensure you are seen on time however some circumstances are out with our control. Emergency situations and clinical complications can cause delays however we will always try to resume normal service as soon as possible.

Reminders

It is the responsibility of clients to check that their pet’s vaccinations are up-to-date. Whilst Kingdom Veterinary Clinic may make reasonable efforts to send out reminders for vaccinations, and selected medications including parasiticides, it is your responsibility to keep your pet’s vaccinations, including those required to obtain and/or maintain travel documentation, up to date. Any delay or failure to keep these vaccinations up to date will result in the requirement to restart a course of vaccinations, you will be responsible for any costs that are incurred in such regard.

Emergency out-of-hours care

Kingdom Veterinary Clinic provides an in-house out-of-hours emergency service, to our registered clients, staffed by our own veterinarians and support staff. Registration to this service requires your pet to have had at least one clinical assessment within working hours.

In the event of an emergency, you should contact the surgery on 01592 753231 and listen to the answering machine message. This will give you the contact details of the vet on call.

The vet will normally ask to see your pet at the practice as most emergencies cannot be suitably dealt with at home. If you require transportation, there are many taxi companies who are happy to transport animals. There is an additional charge for out of hours’ treatment and this varies depending on the time of day the vet is called. Payment for all emergency treatment must be made at the time of services rendered. If your pet is insured these costs may be claimable depending on your policy details.

Current fees are:

Out of hours before 11pm (Incl. consult) £210.00
Out of hours 11pm – 9am (Incl. consult) £225.00

Litters of puppies and kittens

  1. In order to combat unscrupulous breeding, we will not vaccinate, microchip or health check litters of puppies and kittens where we have not provided the pre-natal care for the bitch (mother dog) or queen (mother cat). The bitch or queen must have been registered and examined by one of our veterinarians either immediately prior to or during each pregnancy.
  2. It is a legal requirement that all puppies are microchipped AND registered the breeder before they are 8 weeks of age. Therefor we will not vaccinate litters of puppies without also placing microchips, unless they fall under the Veterinary Exemption due to size or, they have been microchipped prior to the vaccination appointment.

Pets Imported from Abroad

It has become increasingly common for pets, mainly dogs, to be imported from other countries such as Spain, Romania and Russia. Unfortunately, these pets can come with an increased risk of carrying diseases which we do not currently have in the UK. Some of these diseases e.g., Brucella Canis, can pass from pets to humans. In order to manage the risks posed to our patients, staff, and other pet owners, and in line with guidance from the British Small Animal Veterinary Association and the Animal and Plant Health Agency, we will require proof that certain tests and vaccinations have been carried out in the form of a pet passport and/or animal health certificate and associated laboratory test results certified by a veterinarian.

Diseases we require proof of vaccination against are:

  • Rabies

Diseases we require proof of testing for are:

  • Rabies in pets travelling from a non-listed country (for listed countries see www.gov.uk).
  • Brucella Canis in dogs travelling from Eastern European countries including but not limited to Belarus, Bulgaria, Czechia, Hungary, Moldova, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Turkey, Ukraine & Russia and Southern USA, and Central and Southern America.

Dogs who have originated in the UK but have had contact, especially of a reproductive nature, with imported dogs that have not been tested for Brucella Canis will also be required to be tested prior to any procedures or referrals to specialist centres.

Pet Insurance

Kingdom Veterinary Clinic fully supports pet health insurance. We are happy to process insurance forms for fees to be paid back to our clients. There is a small administration fee for this which is payable at submission of the form. We will aim to process all insurance forms within 2 weeks of submission.

We will only process direct insurance claims in exceptional circumstances and only where we can obtain preauthorisation from the insurance company. This must be discussed and agreed with the Practice Principal before treatment is carried out. These claims will only be considered for initial treatments over £500 and will incur a higher administration fee. Any on-going treatment will be due and payable at the time.

Prescriptions

Repeat Prescriptions are available. A minimum notice period of 24 hours is required to order repeat medications or written prescriptions. Please note that Repeat Prescriptions ordered on Friday after 1pm or over the weekend will not be available until Tuesday of the following week.

You can obtain Prescription Only Medicine, Category V, (POM Vs) from your veterinary surgeon OR ask for a Written Prescription and obtain these medicines from another veterinary surgeon or a pharmacy which may work out more cost effective. Kingdom Veterinary Clinic is not responsible for the authenticity or efficacy of any medication obtained from another source.

Information regarding prescriptions can be found here: https://www.rcvs.org.uk/animal-owners/help-andadvice/prescription-medication

A list of approved online retailers can be found here: https://www.vmd.defra.gov.uk/InternetRetailers/accreditedretailers.aspx.

Your veterinary surgeon may prescribe POM Vs only for animals under his or her care.

A prescription may not be appropriate if your animal is an in-patient or immediate treatment is necessary.

You will be informed, on request, of the price of any medication that may be prescribed for your animal.

The general policy of this practice is to re-assess an animal requiring Repeat Prescriptions or Written Prescriptions every 6 months, but this may vary with individual circumstances.

Ownership of Records, Data Protection & Privacy

Clinical records including radiographs, ultrasound images and in-house and external laboratory test results will be retained by and are the property of Kingdom Veterinary Clinic. Copies of these records will be passed to any referral practices or other veterinarians taking over care of the animals on request. A full Privacy and Data Protection Policy is available on request.

Complaints

We are committed to providing a high standard of care and service. If you are dissatisfied with any aspect of our service, please raise your concerns with a member of our team as soon as possible, either in person, by telephone, or in writing – F.A.O The Partners, Kingdom Veterinary Clinic, North Street, Glenrothes, Fife, KY7 5NA Or by email F.A.O The Directors to; reception@kingdomvets.co.uk.

Where possible, we encourage concerns to be raised in writing or by email so that all the details can be included and considered. All complaints are given full consideration.

We will acknowledge your complaint within 5 working days and aim to provide a full response within no longer than 8 weeks. If this is not possible, we will keep you updated with the reasons why.

If you are not satisfied with our response, you may request a further review by a senior member of the practice.

If the matter remains unresolved, you can refer your complaint to the independent Veterinary Client Mediation Service (VCMS), which offers free and impartial mediation for veterinary service complaints (www.vetmediation.co.uk).

For concerns relating to professional conduct, you may contact the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons (RCVS), the profession’s regulatory body (www.rcvs.org.uk).

Please note: The RCVS can investigate concerns about professional standards but does not award compensation or deal with fee disputes.