Choosing a vet practice

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BBP2

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What are your key criteria when choosing a veterinary practice? Proximity? Number of vets? Their own in house clinic for round the clock care?

I'm looking to swap practices. I'll always be grateful for the care my existing practice has given my horses, but a few things have changed and I would like to switch.

I have two main options. One is approx. 25 mins away. It looks to have 4 ambulatory vets to cover the basics, from lameness workups, scopes, vaccinations etc. All surgeries or other in clinic care gets referred to a third party hospital (which is what my current vets have switched to. They are used by people my sister knows who have good things to say about them.

The second option is approx. 45 mins away which is the same as my current practice, who I had moved further away from part way through using them (it does make me twitchy about real emergency call out times, but I know a lot of people are much further from their vets), a much bigger team of 11 vets, their own in house clinic where they can take in patients for surgery and intensive care. Not a wildly convenient location for that as it is the complete opposite direction from my work and my sisters work, but that isn't a huge issue. I used them for mobile neck x-rays a couple of years ago as my vets didn't do neck x-rays out in the field and was very happy with them.

My key criteria I think are that I need vets who are kind to my horses with good horsemanship skills and are easy to talk to. I don't want gruff vets who see me as a fluffy horse owner not worth listening to. Part of me thinks with a bigger practice I would have more chance of getting the right vet to suit me and my horses, and a broader range of knowledge to access, but the other part thinks a closer practice is better.
 
I can't answer your question as my vet of 20+ years left big practice and is independent. He has an amazing amount of equipment but we do have a number of excellent equine hospitals locally if needed. I know I can, and do, phone him at any time if day or night in an emergency and he'll be here in under 30 minutes.

I'd try the nearest ones. 45 mins is a long way when time is of the essence.
 
BBP2 said:
What are your key criteria when choosing a veterinary practice? Proximity? Number of vets? Their own in house clinic for round the clock care?

I'm looking to swap practices. I'll always be grateful for the care my existing practice has given my horses, but a few things have changed and I would like to switch.

I have two main options. One is approx. 25 mins away. It looks to have 4 ambulatory vets to cover the basics, from lameness workups, scopes, vaccinations etc. All surgeries or other in clinic care gets referred to a third party hospital (which is what my current vets have switched to. They are used by people my sister knows who have good things to say about them.

The second option is approx. 45 mins away which is the same as my current practice, who I had moved further away from part way through using them (it does make me twitchy about real emergency call out times, but I know a lot of people are much further from their vets), a much bigger team of 11 vets, their own in house clinic where they can take in patients for surgery and intensive care. Not a wildly convenient location for that as it is the complete opposite direction from my work and my sisters work, but that isn't a huge issue. I used them for mobile neck x-rays a couple of years ago as my vets didn't do neck x-rays out in the field and was very happy with them.

My key criteria I think are that I need vets who are kind to my horses with good horsemanship skills and are easy to talk to. I don't want gruff vets who see me as a fluffy horse owner not worth listening to. Part of me thinks with a bigger practice I would have more chance of getting the right vet to suit me and my horses, and a broader range of knowledge to access, but the other part thinks a closer practice is better.
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Eleven vets and the clinical facilities sounds good - but any likelihood you can insist on the same vet each time, and how likely are you to be utilising that hospital, that surgical referral to a third party clinic makes the bigger practice more attractive?
I’d be inclined to go closer to home, recommendation of friends, and don’t allow anyone to treat your concerns as ‘airhead’.
 
It's really difficult, isn't it? Many years ago we had a series of 'hiccups' with our vet practice that we had used for a long time (equine and small animals) at about the same time as the best/most experienced horse vet resigned his partnership and left the practice to work for a charity.
We spend a few years in the wilderness; one excellent vet was a small practice who changed to outsourcing his OOH to a practice that was too far away and we had a very poor experience with another, recommended practice. Then the original vet left the charity and opened his own practice in our area. We heaved a sigh of relief and used the practice for several years until he retired. The practice then changed to small animals only.

Not long afterwards we needed an equine vet in an emergency and contacted the practice we had left years before. They had increased in size, some vets had moved on. We have had mainly good experiences with them since then. They have opened their own equine clinic and updated their small animal hospital.

All of which is a longwinded (sorry) way of saying we went with access to OOH care and wom recommendations for vets who listen to the owners.
We are fortunate though that we are in an area with plenty of choice for both equine/farm and small animal vets. I do prefer to deal with one independent practice for both.
 
My vets have an in house clinic, which I probably wouldn't use as they had my horse to x ray and scan and then when he was referred to Liphook they did all that again. Investigations cost me twice what it would have if he'd just been referred to the hospital initially.
 
Personally, good vets and practice management with good communication are my main criteria followed by location for emergency call outs and OOH service. If there was a choice an independent practice would be my preference but my main thing would be the quality of care for my horse. I wouldn't mind if referrals had to made to a vet hospital for more severe or complex issues.
 
I choose small independent vets, who know me and my horses well. I can communicate directly with them, and haven't had any major complaints.

They do their own out of hours and are local, which helps if I need to collect medication as well as meaning emergency care isn't far away.

They will refer on if it is out of their remit - which I don't mind.
 
Can you dual register? We have a local independent vet for most day to day things then we use the bigger vet hospital for stuff like scopes, work ups, and god forbid any surgery. They communicate with each other and it works really well
 
for me vets that do their own OOH and who also turn up quickly for emergencies which means having sufficient vets so they can provide that level of cover. Also vets who can handle horses. Most of our vets have their own so no problem there. Having a larger number of vets means you have more choice. I can choose based on their experience/horse handling and how I think they will get on with a particular horse be it a very nervous one or a total PITA.
also good reception on the phone. When I ring it is usually I need a vet now. (with several older horses there is always the potential for the inevitable) Within a few minutes someone has been found and is on their way. I am always 60 minutes away in an emergency. (unless someone just happens to be working closer to me)

My last vets were closer but had a lot less vets so if one was on a course and one ill say then I could be left without a horse vet and then in an emergency they would send a general vet who couldn't handle a colicing horse at 3am.
 
Not sure why distance of vet practice is relevant? The vets in the practice we use are out and about all over the area they cover during working day. Very rare to phone the office and a vet to be there! If you simply want to speak to a vet, receptionist takes message and vet phones back from where ever they happen to be at the time. If it is an emergency, receptionist usually knows where closest vet is and how soon they can get to you. Distance of actual office is pretty irrelevant.
 
Probably worth remembering that if you are an hour from the practice, and the practice has clients in every direction of an hour's radius, then at a weekend/night the vet could easily be 2hrs away from you. Daytime, vets may be all over the area and there will probably be one closer to you, but OOH there will likely only be one on call (unless a v big practice) and they may already be at a call on the opposite side of the practice to you.
 
I have mine all registered with the nearest big surgical/referral hospital - it generally works well as have access to everything I need, full OOH and stud services practically on my doorstep.

I have also registered them all more recently with one of their ex-first opinion orthopedic vets who went out on their own and I’m on very good terms with. They do very useful packages on X-rays and things like a set of joint injections are a lot cheaper.

So I pick and choose who I use depending on the horse and situation. The independent is very happy and flexible with that.
 
baran said:
Not sure why distance of vet practice is relevant? The vets in the practice we use are out and about all over the area they cover during working day. Very rare to phone the office and a vet to be there! If you simply want to speak to a vet, receptionist takes message and vet phones back from where ever they happen to be at the time. If it is an emergency, receptionist usually knows where closest vet is and how soon they can get to you. Distance of actual office is pretty irrelevant.
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It is actually very relevant. Emergency OOH cover doesn’t draft in whoever is closest, it drafts in whoever is on call. As stated above, they could be on the opposite end of their area to you, either because they live there or they are on another call. If you want to maximize your chances of getting someone quickly, choose the practice closest to you
 
I've gone for local small practise and am happy to be referred on for anything they can't do in house. They also help shop around for referral options and pricing. I like knowing the vets and a continuity of care. There has been a couple of administrative oopps but they were sorted quickly. They're also cheaper than the big practises for visits and for medications.
 
TheMule said:
It is actually very relevant. Emergency OOH cover doesn’t draft in whoever is closest, it drafts in whoever is on call. As stated above, they could be on the opposite end of their area to you, either because they live there or they are on another call. If you want to maximize your chances of getting someone quickly, choose the practice closest to you
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to a point but for me at 3am with an emergency horse the most important thing is experience and the ability of the vet to handle the horse.

The 3am one is likely to be the one where the vet's experience is going to save it's life or alternatively I can be confident that it cannot be saved.

I don't know what on call system ours use but I always end up with a vet phoning me (in the night) in around 5 mins of making the call, they all know me and can make a judgement if they are needed or they can tell me what I need to do.
 
If you’ve used practice 2 and were happy with their service that would be a massive plus IMO.

The other thing to consider would be if you went with option 1 whether you have been happy with any interactions you’ve had with the hospital they use or if you haven’t directly interacted with them then what their reputation is like as sounds like they’re part of the package so I’d want to be happy with them as well.

I’m in an awkward position myself in that I don’t really have a lot of trust in my current practice but am limited on other options that are likely to be any better. (Just in terms of I don’t have a “go to” vet there and my most recent experience wasn’t so great)

Basically I was with a different practice for about 13 or 14 years (I also did some of my RVN training at their small animal site) and had 2 or 3 of their vets that I built a really good relationship with to the point I could have really candid conversations about what were & weren’t realistic treatment options.

When I moved the orange Welshie to a track system in an ultimately failed attempt to save his life I had to swap vets due to it being waaay outta their cover area. Genuinely cried. New vets were ok but nothing special (& they don’t really cover where I actually live) but were very supportive when I had the orange one PTS.

When I bought Fuzzball where I originally kept him was also out of cover area for my previous vets so had to register him somewhere else. Obviously he then went to live in Cheshire for a bit and then eventually came home and I kinda left him with the place I originally registered him with as it was easier initially from a logistics POV but did have a vague plan to go back to original practice once settled in.

Unfortunately in the meantime the partners opted to sell that practice and the buyer wanted them to become small animal only so I kinda just stuck with who I was already with as they were next best option.

Again they’re ok, they have both a fleet of kitted out vans and a base where they can do minor procedures & overnight stays (but not general anaesthetic) but I’ve found them less pragmatic and haven’t really built a good relationship with any of their vets / they’re the practice I had a lot of pushback from re PTS decision with Fuzzball / were actively awkward about a few other things. (I really REALLY missed my old vets during that whole situation as think the conversations that would have been had, the paths we’d have gone down and how collaborative the decision making felt would have been totally different and for the better I think)

Sorry for my absolute ramble!

Anyhow I’d go with the practice you feel is genuinely going to meet your needs and work with you the best and if you try one of them and decide they aren’t offering what you’d like it is perfectly ok to change your mind (as long as you keep the vets informed about that so they can send your history).
 
Gamebird said:
Probably worth remembering that if you are an hour from the practice, and the practice has clients in every direction of an hour's radius, then at a weekend/night the vet could easily be 2hrs away from you. Daytime, vets may be all over the area and there will probably be one closer to you, but OOH there will likely only be one on call (unless a v big practice) and they may already be at a call on the opposite side of the practice to you.
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Our practice is about half an hour from the yard but they cover most of Fife and Central Scotland and I would imagine most of the vets live throughout the area. The actual location of the office is pretty irrelevant
 
Smogul said:
Our practice is about half an hour from the yard but they cover most of Fife and Central Scotland and I would imagine most of the vets live throughout the area. The actual location of the office is pretty irrelevant
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I'm going to disagree and say it genuinely is relevant for an awful lot of things! I have nearly 3 decades of experience on the other side of the coin. I've been an equine ambulatory vet for getting on for 30 years, have been Director of an equine practice for over a decade and been in charge of managing vet workloads, diaries and geographical allocations for two practices, both of whom do their own out of hours work.
I can genuinely say that for so many reasons, the closer you are based to the practice the quicker the service you receive. There are other considerations too. We currently have some clients whose horses are on long term medication that needs to be refrigerated, or that is classed as a controlled drug. We cannot legally post out these categories of drug out and our clients who live, say, an hour away find it really difficult to come in and pick their meds up. For most drugs obtaining them from online pharmacies is the solution, but several drugs are not available in this manner and do require physical collection.
As a practice it is SO much easier to fit in a visit to someone nearby than someone a long way away. Apart from the travel time, there is a 100% chance of several vets being in and out of the practice all day, but a much lower probability of a vet being close to any particular location on a given day, especially at the peripheries of a practice area. Simply put, if you want squeezing in same day for something (assuming not a medical emergency) and are near the practice we can almost always do it. If you are an hour away it is pretty unlikely. Same with kit - it's easy for a vet to nip back from a nearby client and pick up a piece of kit or drug they don't routinely carry, but difficult for a far away client.

I probably haven't explained it very well, and there are probably better examples than the ones I've given, and as a client you only live in one place so may not necessarily notice the difference in service, but I can guarantee that your distance from the practice does have a bearing on how easily/quickly/conveniently we as vets are able to deliver a service to you.
 
Gamebird said:
I'm going to disagree and say it genuinely is relevant for an awful lot of things! I have nearly 3 decades of experience on the other side of the coin. I've been an equine ambulatory vet for getting on for 30 years, have been Director of an equine practice for over a decade and been in charge of managing vet workloads, diaries and geographical allocations for two practices, both of whom do their own out of hours work.
I can genuinely say that for so many reasons, the closer you are based to the practice the quicker the service you receive. There are other considerations too. We currently have some clients whose horses are on long term medication that needs to be refrigerated, or that is classed as a controlled drug. We cannot legally post out these categories of drug out and our clients who live, say, an hour away find it really difficult to come in and pick their meds up. For most drugs obtaining them from online pharmacies is the solution, but several drugs are not available in this manner and do require physical collection.
As a practice it is SO much easier to fit in a visit to someone nearby than someone a long way away. Apart from the travel time, there is a 100% chance of several vets being in and out of the practice all day, but a much lower probability of a vet being close to any particular location on a given day, especially at the peripheries of a practice area. Simply put, if you want squeezing in same day for something (assuming not a medical emergency) and are near the practice we can almost always do it. If you are an hour away it is pretty unlikely. Same with kit - it's easy for a vet to nip back from a nearby client and pick up a piece of kit or drug they don't routinely carry, but difficult for a far away client.

I probably haven't explained it very well, and there are probably better examples than the ones I've given, and as a client you only live in one place so may not necessarily notice the difference in service, but I can guarantee that your distance from the practice does have a bearing on how easily/quickly/conveniently we as vets are able to deliver a service to you.
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nowhere do you mention the actual vets. That is what we are paying for. Their skill and experience. My nearest practice is 30 mins away. (I am in a rural area very slow driving) They are more general vets although they do do horses. They also use external labs. My horse vets are 1 hour away. They are vets with considerable horse expertise and equipment.. I needed a vet on a Sun pm after horse came back from riding with something whatever that was. Vet came out, also didn't now what it was took blood, went back to the practice and phoned a while later to tell me bloods OK. All on a Sun pm.

I think there are a lot of factors to weigh up when considering your practice choice and best horse vets are very high on my list. An extra 30 mins driving to pick up meds isn't the end of the world, getting the best care for the horse is. That could be the difference between life and death.
 
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