Letter of complaint?

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I have recently had to have my beautiful stallion put to sleep because of (in my opinion) a vets mis-diagnosis, lack of treatment (they kept fobbing off over a 2 month period to do an x ray, saying it would show nothing! And I had to let the antibiotics work! even my farrier asked them! ) so negligence and unhyginic treatment causing further suffering possibly resulting in an in-operable condition.

Has anyone had any experience with this, and where do you start with writing a letter of complaint. I still haven't had the bill from my second vet, (which I had to ask to be reffered to, on welfare grounds!) I have a feeling they are trying to brush the whole thing under the carpet, they still haven't filled in my insurances vets report, it was sent 6 weeks ago now!
I'm an emotional wreck, and break down whenever I think or talk about him, and know I wont be able to call in or contact them by plone because of this. I have emailed the second vets twice requesting the bill and the x rays they took, but had no reply. I am also considering getting in contact with a solicitor, as I would hate this to happen to anyone again. Can anyone recommend a good one please?

One of the hardest parts of all this was having to deal with this sole mate and companion of 9 years. He is lost without him, we have managed to find a companion for him now, but its not the same :(
 
I'm so sorry for your loss. I had a similar situation a few years back when I lost a foal to what I still believe was negligence on the part of my vet. I raised a complaint with the RCVS, who I have to say, conducted a very thorough investigation. Here's the relevant info: http://www.rcvs.org.uk/concerns/ Good luck.
 
Thank you I'll look into that, my big fellow didn't deserve the outcome, he was the sweetest kindest horse you could have ever wanted to know, I miss him so much...( I need a tissue again :( )
 
I would write a letter outlining your concerns send by recorded delivery:
So Dear x,

I am writing regarding the loss of my horse x. I have unresolved complaints about his care, and the handling of the paperwork. These are x, y, z.
I would like a written response from yourselves regarding this issue within 7 days. If I do not recieve this or am not satisfied I will be upgrading my complaint to solicitor/ the rcvs etc. etc.
It may be that the presentation of the complaint was such that anti b-s were correct but you need to be happy in your head. What did x-rays show that was missed out of interest?
 
Thank you, I appreciate that x The second vets did a contast x ray, it seemed to show that his colateral cartilage had gone, his pedle bone was badly degraded and his joint had collapsed. The 1st vet had put a none sterile solution into the abcess hole he made, which turned out to lead directly to the joint. It was shortly after that, when it all flaired up reallyreally bad. I called into the vets with pictures of the gunge coming out of the abcess, they still told me to let the antibiotics work. Shortly after that I thought enough was enough! The second vet said the red gunge was probably synovial fluid and degraded bone, coming out of the hole :(
 
I was also told by the vet that the antibiotics wouldn't work much because of the low blood flow in that area, the second vet said the only way it could have been cured was an operation to take out the degraded bone/ cartilage. But it had gone too far. He also said that the amount of bute the 1st vets had told me to give him would have meant he. Wouldn't have been able to be operated on for at least 2 weeks!
 
I am very sorry for your loss.

It could be that the first vets were negligent, it could be that they wernt.
so try to get all the information before blaming anyone.

Vets do take a frustratingly long time to complete insurance paper work, so dont think they are ignoring this.
 
Sounds like a horrendous situation. I made a complaint about a vet when I had a pony misdiagnosed with a dental abscess when in reality he was in the mid stages of acute grass sickness. I had not seen it before however I posted on here about how worried I was and people said EGS straight away without even seeing him. The first vet tried about 30 times to take bloods, missed the fact he could not eat or drink (was desperately trying) and some other glaringly obvious symptoms, not least that I live in the EGS capital of the world. Anyway this led to the suffering of the pony for 12 hours longer than I believe was necessary. The second vet diagnosed it immediately and the pony went downhill and had to be PTS shortly thereafter.

I wrote to complain and received a letter back stating while they did not agree the vet was negligent, they wouldn't charge for his care, which I say means they do agree but aren't admitting it. The vet is no longer at the practice.

If I were you I would write a non emotional letter to the practice manager and take it from there but be prepared to take it further. My pony was going to die regardless but did not need to suffer for as long, where as your horse seems to have been treated in a far more negligent way. I've always been told antibiotics don't work well or aren't used on foot abscesses.

Sorry you've had to go through this and have lost your horse.
 
I believe that if it was to go further, the standard of care would be compared to what would be reasonably expected of a competent vet. They do get things wrong, whether or not it is negligence would have to be decided, but I do feel for your loss and your dreadful experience. FfionWinnie we too lost a pony to EGS and our vet knew what is was straightaway, to think of him suffering on would be unbearable. I do agree the letter must be non emotional and factual and without accusations at this stage. If you are in the BHS you can call their legal helpline for free for advice maybe.
 
horsemadmum1 said:
I believe that if it was to go further, the standard of care would be compared to what would be reasonably expected of a competent vet. They do get things wrong, whether or not it is negligence would have to be decided, but I do feel for your loss and your dreadful experience. FfionWinnie we too lost a pony to EGS and our vet knew what is was straightaway, to think of him suffering on would be unbearable. I do agree the letter must be non emotional and factual and without accusations at this stage. If you are in the BHS you can call their legal helpline for free for advice maybe.
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BHS is a good idea. Worth joining just to get their legal help on this.

I've lost two now to EGS and I knew the second one had it straight away, of course you hope it isn't, but it cemented the fact to me that that vet was negligent in the extreme.

The fact you were questioning the vet OP and being given platitudes about letting the abs work etc, shows the vet was at least an arrogant eejit.
 
to be fair- that sounds like a difficult complicated case - I;d suspect you would struggle to get a resolution on care standards but still would write a letter outlining your concerns.
 
I too would write to the practice and at least ask them for an explanation, including why he flushed the abcess in the way he did. Having had a few hoof abcessess over the years, with both vets and farriers cutting the hoof to release the pressure we have never had anyone (except us with one mare) flush anything into the abcess track. I would expect (hope) that at the very least they waive the fees for the incompetent vet.
 
Write a formal letter of complaint to the practice and ask for a written response within 14 days (Send it by Royal Mail Special Delivery so that there is no doubt it has been received).
If you are not satisfied with the response or they fail to reply then make a formal complaint to the 'Fitness to Practice Committee' of 'The Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons'.
If you wish to seek financial compensation then instruct a specialist equine solicitor to take action on your behalf before doing anything else so as not to compromise your position.
 
I'm so sorry for your loss. Maybe try contacting your insurance company and raise your concerns to them, they will most probably be happy to take on the legal case as it would mean that they would not be paying out so much for the claim.
It does sound like the first vet was negligent, the second vet should be able to confirm that the care given was incorrect as they offered a different option.

I would definitely try contacting your insurance company and advise them of what has happened and that you feel that the care given by the first vet was not correct and caused the need for a second vet and the outcome.
 
I wrote a letter of complaint to my previous vets when they incorrectly diagnosed by Wobblers horse with EHV although it was practically falling over when you blew on him at the time.

What annoyed me was the young vet woman when she clapped her hands together in glee and announced "I do hope its EHV as I will be the first vet in the Midlands to diagnosis this and I can write my thesis on it". This was my beloved horse she was talking about, yet my heart was thumping wildly and I was just about holding it together with shaky legs whilst I watched him walking away from me looking like a total car crash. Stupid woman. Very insensitive. The horse was later referred to Liverpool on my insistence following tests to establish he was a carrier and was not a shredder nor suffering from EHV. He was PTS within two hours of arrival with Grade 3/4 wobblers.

Unfortunatley I never kept the letter but I coudl give you a rough idea if that would help.
 
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