Iain McKenzie Equine Practice Terms & Conditions of Business
Thank you for entrusting the care of your horse to Iain McKenzie Equine Practice. This document contains our Terms & Conditions. Some aspects of the terms may not be relevant to you. Please ask for further explanation or clarification if required.
Registration & Contact Details
• Veterinary practices must maintain accurate records of our clients and patients. In order to do this we will periodically ask you to confirm registration and contact details.
• If your details change, please inform us so we can ensure our database is up to date and that you receive appointment and treatment reminders.
Data Protection
• Iain McKenzie Equine Practice, takes your privacy very seriously and takes great care to comply with our obligations under the Data Protection Act 2018in order to protect your personal information including any financial details that you provide.
• As per the DPA 2018, your organisation is registered with the Information Commissioner‘s Office UK (ICO).
• Iain McKenzie Equine Practice will only use your personal information in order to liaise with you regarding the healthcare of your horse. You have the following rights regarding Iain McKenzie Equine Practice’s use of your personal data
• You have the right to block or restrict any data processing relating to your personal information.
• You can ask for a copy of the information we hold about them.
• You can ask to correct mistakes in information that we hold about them.
• You can restrict our use of your data in certain situations.
• You can claim compensation for damages caused by any breach of any dataprotection laws.
• You can exercise any of their rights by emailing office@mckenzie-ep.com.
• If you feel that your data protection rights have been breached, and that Iain McKenzie Equine Practice is unable to resolve your concerns, you have the right to lodge a complaint with the UK Information Commissioner’s Office https://ico.org.uk/.
• Iain McKenzie Equine Practice may need to disclose or share your personal information with regulatory authorities for the purpose of fraud prevention and/or to comply with any legal or regulatory requirement. If you have any questions about the way Iain McKenzie Equine Practice uses your personal information, please write to the Practice Manager, Iain McKenzie Equine
Practice, Brookside Farm, Winkfield Road, Ascot, Berkshire, SL5 7LT.
There are 3 reasons why Iain McKenzie Equine Practice, may potentially use your personal data to contact you.
• General information about the practice's services
This type of correspondence is intended to inform owners about any changes to the practice's existing service provision such as changes the practice's opening hours during holiday periods.
• Reminders about ongoing existing treatments and appointments
This type of correspondence is intended to remind owners about products or services that have already been 'prescribed' or agreed for their horses such as vaccination reminders.
• Promotion of new products and services
This type of correspondence is intended to promote specific products or services that an owner is currently NOT using on an ongoing basis such as new products or services.
Iain McKenzie Equine Practice will ask you to choose which of the three reasons above you wish to give consent as well as how you wish to be contacted, (telephone, email, SMS or post). You have the option to unsubscribe to any of the three reasons above.
Legislation relating to Veterinary Care
• Iain McKenzie Equine Practice will endeavour to provide veterinary services in accordance with reasonable standards as specified in the RCVS Code of Professional Conduct for Veterinary Surgeons and Veterinary Nurses. Guidelines are available at www.rcvs.org.uk.
• Veterinary Surgeons at Iain McKenzie Equine Practice can only give advice, diagnose and prescribe therapies for patients that are ‘under their care’.
• Being ‘under the care’ of a veterinary practice means that the veterinary surgeon must know what is going on with the patient in order to make an informed decision about it.
• A patient cannot be considered to be under the vet’s care if there has been no physical examination; which means that a vet cannot prescribe a prescription only medicine to a patient if they have only conducted a consultation over the telephone or via the Internet.
• However, if a patient has been prescribed a prescription-only-medicine for a long-term medical condition, the client can acquire more medicine without the patient having to be examined every single time.
• Every repeat-prescription request needs to be authorised by a veterinary surgeon before it can be dispensed.
• Legally, the maximum period of time a vet can prescribe a prescription-only- medicine without having re-examined the patient is 6 months.• The minimum period of time between examinations is not legally defined. This is determined by the prescribing veterinary surgeon.
Supply of medicines for therapeutic purposes
• Iain McKenzie Equine Practice will offer to supply virtually all of the veterinary medicines that have been prescribed for your horse.
• Iain McKenzie Equine Practice will also provide written prescriptions if you wish to obtain prescription-only-medicine from another veterinary surgeon, or pharmacy. Please bear in mind that delay in the start of treatment may not be in the best interest of the welfare of your horse.
• Iain McKenzie Equine Practice will charge to provide a written prescription.
• Iain McKenzie Equine Practice can only provide a written prescription for animals under our care. Iain McKenzie Equine Practice will charge to examine all ongoing medical conditions should the client wish to acquire a written
prescription or not.
• Iain McKenzie Equine Practice can also supply prescription-only-medicines if presented with a prescription from another veterinary surgeon. Supply of medicines for preventative Healthcare purposes
• Iain McKenzie Equine Practice uses prescription-only-medicines (veterinary surgeon category ie POM-V) in order to prevent and resolve internal (worms) Prescription-only-medicines treat a greater range of parasites more quickly
and safely than non-prescription products. They often combine internal and external parasite in a single product.
• In order for Iain McKenzie Equine Practice to dispense Prescription-only preventative healthcare products, patients must be under the care of the practice. o Being ‘under the care’ of a veterinary practice means that a veterinary
surgeon must have examined the patient in order to prescribe and then dispense Prescription-only preventative healthcare products.
Return of unused medicine
• Iain McKenzie Equine Practice will accept unused medications for disposal free of charge.
• Legally Iain McKenzie Equine Practice cannot offer a refund on any medicines which have left the premises as these are no longer deemed fit for resale.
This is because Iain McKenzie Equine Practice cannot guarantee the conditions under which they were stored.
• Drugs purchased from another supplier will be accepted for disposal subject to a charge.Out of Hours Service
• Iain McKenzie Equine Practice is open Monday to Friday from 9:00 am to 5.00pm
• Outside of these hours all emergencies are transferred to one of our trusted team of vets.
• If your horse requires emergency treatment call our usual number 01344 937897 and follow the instructions.
Consent
• In accordance with the RCVS Code of Professional Conduct for Veterinary Surgeons, Iain McKenzie Equine Practice will ask for signed consent for
o All procedures including gastroscopes, joint injections etc..
o The use of medications in species for which they were not licensed.
o The use of medications in conditions for which they were not licensed.
o Permission to euthanise your pet Charges
• All fees for all services and drugs are subject to VAT.
• Fees are calculated according to the time, risk and skill require to perform a veterinary procedure.
• All prices quoted, whether in an estimate, are inclusive of the current rate of VAT.
Estimates of charges
• Most medical presentations can be resolved using a range of options. We will provide an estimate of the approximate cost of each option.
• Please note that medical care involves significant uncertainty and therefore unforeseen costs may occur. However, we will endeavour to inform you of an additional costs and explain why these have arisen as soon as practically
possible.
• All estimates are valid for 30 days.
Expectations about payment. Unless otherwise specified, payment is expected
• No later than 30 days from invoice date
• When you collect any pre-ordered medicine.
You may settle the account using cash, credit card/debit card or online BACS transfer. Personal cheques are not accepted.Pet Health Insurance
• Iain McKenzie Equine Practice strongly supports insuring your horse against the unexpected costs due to illness or accident.
• Unless otherwise specified, you are expected to settle your account and then reclaim fees from your insurance company.
• Iain McKenzie Equine Practice will complete their portion of the insurance claim in a timely manner assuming we have all the relevant information to do so.
• Iain McKenzie Equine Practice will charge £20 + VAT to complete the initial insurance form for a claim, any continuation form thereafter will be no charge.
• Iain McKenzie Equine Practice will facilitate payment directly from some, but not all insurance companies, subject to the following terms
o This option is not guaranteed and remains subject to approval by the director.
o Iain McKenzie Equine Practice reserve the right to refuse payment directly from an insurance provider we perceive as consistently slow to pay or represents a high risk of non-payment.
o Should Iain McKenzie Equine Practice agree to accept payment directly from an insurance provider, clients are expected to provide us with all the relevant documents to enable us to do this within 14 days of incurring the charges. Should these documents not be provided within 14 days after request, Iain McKenzie Equine Practice reserves the right to withdraw the offer of payment directly from the insurance provider and the client will be invoiced for the outstanding amount.
o The client is expected to pay the balance of their excess when the insurance claim is submitted to the insurance provider.
Unsettled accounts
• Any account not settled within 14 days will be sent a reminder.
• Should the account remain outstanding beyond 30 days, Iain McKenzie Equine Practice reserves the right to refer any unsettled accounts to our debt collecting agency, unless otherwise agreed.
• Should the account remain outstanding beyond 30 days, Iain McKenzie Equine Practice reserves the right to charge interest for late payments at 8% above the Bank of England base rate plus any costs reasonably incurred for
chasing late payments and to de-register the client and their horse/s.
• Any further costs incurred in collecting the debt will be added to the balance.
• Any cheque returned by our bank as unpaid, any credit card payment not honoured and any cash tendered and found to be counterfeit will result in the original account being restored to the original sum with further charges added in respect of bank charges and administrative costs.
Inability to Pay
• If you are unable to settle your account we ask that you discuss the matter as soon as possible with a member of staff.• We do not offer payment plans as payment for treatment is expected at the time. Instalments or part payments of any account may ONLY be sanctioned with the permission of a director. In other words, whilst receptionists and vets can relay requests for credit, please do not expect them to be able to make such agreements themselves.
Complaints about the standards of care and service provided
• Please note that the last thing we wish to do at Iain McKenzie Equine Practice is to cause you or your horse any undue distress. If this happens, we would like to reassure you that any upset or distress caused is not intentional.
• However, if you feel that the standards of care, service and value for money you received from Iain McKenzie Equine Practice weren’t satisfactory, please contact the Practice Manager.
• Whilst almost all client frustrations and concerns can be resolved informally, should you feel that your issue has not been resolved to your satisfaction by Iain McKenzie Equine Practice you may wish to raise your concern with the
RCVS using the link below. Please be aware of the following when doing so; https://animalowners.rcvs.org.uk/concerns/i-want-to-raise-a-concern-about-a-veterinary-surgeon/ • Please note; the RCVS only gets involved in complaints relating to the professional conduct of a veterinary surgeon (eg fraud, dishonesty) as opposed to accusations of negligence – unless the instances of negligence are sustained or represent a standard that would make the veterinary professional unfit to practice.
• This means that the RCVS does not get involved in complaints about charges.
• The RCVS offers a Client Mediation Service: https://www.vetmediation.co.uk Standards of conduct expected of our clients
• Just as clients are entitled to expect appropriate standards of care, service and value for money from us, the directors and staff are entitled to expect appropriate standards of conduct and behaviour whilst serving our patients and our clients.
• Iain McKenzie Equine Practice’ definition of ‘appropriate’ standards of conduct and behaviour is as follows; clients are not entitled to speak to us or treat us in a manner that would be considered inappropriate should we do the same to them. This includes
o Swearing
o Aggressive, abusive or intimidating behaviour towards members of staff.
o Defamation on social media without drawing our attention to a concern.
• Should such instances occur, Iain McKenzie Equine Practice reserves the right to de-register the client and their horse/s.