Staff caring for owners pets at home- risky?!

RE: Staff caring for owners pets at home- risky?!

Alison Clare Hickman — Thu, 13 Apr 2017 11:00:18 GMT

[quote user="Sal the 1st"]with owners consent [/quote]

Nail on the head. Consent.

In today's litigious society and to cover your ass to protect your professional integrity in the event of a disaster/disagreement/whatever - get it in writing and record on the patients record that full and informed consent was received.

Ali h

RE: Staff caring for owners pets at home- risky?!

Sal the 1st — Wed, 12 Apr 2017 20:03:04 GMT

I have taken kittens and puppies home for feeding a number of times - with owners consent and where owners didn't feel they could cope with through the night feeds on the understanding that I would give them a chance. Have never had a problem with it, have never charged and as we cover our own out of hours not depriving anybody else of an income.

RE: Staff caring for owners pets at home- risky?!

Steph Worsley — Tue, 11 Apr 2017 21:28:05 GMT

I do know some vets/nurses who have done this but only when the OOH provider has been external and it was a serious conversation between the vet/practice owner/pet owner and the patient wasn't in a critical condition.

I actually have a bigger issue with the tests being carried out without O consent!

RE: Staff caring for owners pets at home- risky?!

therainyj — Tue, 11 Apr 2017 13:59:49 GMT

Hey Sarino,

We had a nurse who used to do this, but she would take the pet home and charge the owner less than the hospital fees, saving the client money and making her a load of cash.
Even if your vet isn't keeping the money themselves as this nurse was, it takes business away from the practice owner who is losing out financially. Which is our problem, as businesses need to make money to pay our wages.

Money aside and more importantly, I agree that there is the real potential for disaster if the patient is off site and for example suddenly needs access to emergency drugs/equipment. This is one of the big reasons patients are hospitalised rather than sent back to the owners' home. I'm sure the vet is competent if something were to happen in their own home, but this doesn't negate the need for a fully stocked drugs cupboard, overnight support staff and emergency equipment for a critically ill patient. That's why businesses charge what they do for the full package of overnight care.

And of course as you mentioned, the law suit material for any slipped lead RTA style incidents! I'd be interested to know what the VDS think.

You could bring it up with management or the owner. I guess it depends how strongly you feel and how often this happens. But ultimately; the business loses money, the patient is not receiving full access to life saving drugs and equipment, and with the possibility that the vet could be sued if something goes wrong you're potentially saving their backside if you can prevent this in future.

I assume the reason why the vet offered to take the patient home was because they felt bad about spending the owners' money on diagnostics without their permission. I see that the owners wanted to keep costs low. If only they had insurance (though maybe the pet is uninsurable for some reason, not making assumptions).

Owners who are struggling financially should most definitely be offered help; referral to a charity or other financial assistance where possible. In our line of work we all want to help animals but excessive free/cut-price treatment is not fair on the business owners who pay huge overheads, nor on those owners who remortgage their houses, take out a loan or scrape by for months to pay their full price vet bills - and I do believe that owners get exceptional value for money even at full price.

Long response sorry

-therainyj

RE: Staff caring for owners pets at home- risky?!

Alison Clare Hickman — Tue, 11 Apr 2017 12:11:06 GMT

RCVS Code of Conduct:

2.4 Veterinary Surgeons must communicate effectively with clients, including written and spoken English, and ensure informed consent is obtained before treatments or procedures are carried out.

Can't find anything about off-premises care provision other than at OOH provider or at home with the client (2.8). Suggest this aspect may come under the insurance cover side of things?

Hth to some degree.