Vets4Pets set to revolutionise OOH with 24 hour clinics

RE: Vets4Pets set to revolutionise OOH with 24 hour clinics

Sal the 1st — Wed, 08 Apr 2015 10:13:21 GMT

in reply to Dawn - I don't think it will be too much of a problem to the average practice in all honesty - I can see it being a bigger problem to V4P with staff retention, the amount of bad debtors it will attract and just being able to maintain the service in the event they decide to do it. I think it will cost them dear

RE: Vets4Pets set to revolutionise OOH with 24 hour clinics

Dawn Ward — Tue, 07 Apr 2015 22:04:55 GMT

I wonder what damage it will do to vets in their local area. Loyalty is a thing of the past and if it's cheaper down the road at a time that suits in my experience you loose a client.........

RE: Vets4Pets set to revolutionise OOH with 24 hour clinics

slkelly74 — Tue, 07 Apr 2015 20:52:23 GMT

I worry about all these big corporate companies. I feel they put pressure on the independent vet surgeries to follow suit- how can we not charge ooh fee's? Staff still have to be paid! Maylane is totally right- every company that offers an ooh fee expect to be paid that extra amount, this is just corporate companies putting yet more pressure on the smaller vets. Hmmm I wonder where they will add the hidden charges.

RE: Vets4Pets set to revolutionise OOH with 24 hour clinics

maylane — Mon, 16 Mar 2015 20:43:06 GMT

I'm concerned this under values the service provided by good OOH clinics. Getting good experienced qualified staff to work nights is expensive (quite rightfully) Why should the public not pay more for OOH? If you want a plumber/ builder / dentist etc OOH you pay for it. I can see later consults and earlier starts could be useful but hardly a new concept. Not sure how you can pay decent wages without charging more and if they're paying the same they can't afford good staff.

RE: Vets4Pets set to revolutionise OOH with 24 hour clinics

elaine elder — Sun, 15 Mar 2015 15:49:06 GMT

I agree with Sal. I think this could potentially be a good idea to increase better inpatient care and extended consulting hours for owners. However, providing 24hr care needs to paid for and valued therefore I think they should still have an increased charge if out of hours. It is only going to put pressure on other practices to try and full fill already increasing client demands.

RE: Vets4Pets set to revolutionise OOH with 24 hour clinics

Sal the 1st — Sun, 15 Mar 2015 00:10:57 GMT

but looking on the bright side I would say a very high proportion of our difficult payers (bad debts) are one off clients that demand to be seen out of hours even if it isn't an emergency (but its not always easy to tell that over the phone) . They run up a bill for treatment and you never see them again. It's just about impossible to get a history from their previous practice in advance even if they do tell you they have one -and most don't (and that's dependant on them giving you the right name and address) because its closed and the only reasons they have picked you is that you are the first vets they come across in the phone book/internet that they dont already owe money to, you don't use an OOH provider (ie you are cheaper) or their previous practice has fired them through non payment of bills. So from that point of view I reckon V4P will be doing some of us a huge favour

RE: Vets4Pets set to revolutionise OOH with 24 hour clinics

Sal the 1st — Sat, 14 Mar 2015 07:52:06 GMT

and bang goes quality of life for veterinary staff - this is going to further undervalue veterinary care if it rolls out