Vet Bashing

[Inda]

Sadly yes. It’s a badly paid job. I have a friend who qualified as a doctor the same year as me and he’s making more than 5 times, closer to 6, my salary. And my salary is pretty good for a vet.

on a good note, emergency surgery went well ?

 

[blitznbobs]

Sadly yes. It’s a badly paid job. I have a friend who qualified as a doctor the same year as me and he’s making more than 5 times, closer to 6, my salary. And my salary is pretty good for a vet.

on a good note, emergency surgery went well ?

He must be a very well paid doctor then - unless you get paid less than the minimum wage.

 

[Tiddlypom]

He must be a very well paid doctor then - unless you get paid less than the minimum wage.

Hefty private practice maybe?

 

[rabatsa]

I think your vets might be mine, is the vet who is frightened of horses, a cow specialist?

Differant vets I think, unless yours has just built a new small animal hospital?

 

[blitznbobs]

Hefty private practice maybe?

Probably but then it’s comparing apples with oranges ... I’m sure there are some vets out there making lots of money too

 

[Gingerwitch]

See I try to be as helpful as I can with my vets. So if it's a routine check up, teeth inocs, stitch removal I always say - if an emergency comes up I understand a d would re schedule on the day. Twice this has been used in the last few years. Yes it's a little annoying when you have booked time out of work, but I always know if I needed a vet now for an emergency I hope all the other owners would have said the same and be able to think "well there for the grace". A vet to feel forced to arrive at 9pm to give a flu jab with a few days left on it to run is frankly awful.
Maybe if all us equine owners said the same when booking and did not leave it til the last day before injections expire would take some pressure off.

 

[windand rain]

I an always prepared to wait for routine care and am often surprised by the fact they turn up in the dark Wish I had a pound for every hour I have waited for a vet or farrier. I would be extremely rich. That said my current farrier is brilliant and lets me know if he is going to be late, the zone day vet is not quite so good at communication but hey ho even they get delayed. In an emergency they are close by so quick often call on the way to another less pressing emergency.

 

[Inda]

Nope NHS, transplant surgeon at 250k.

My cousin is a nephrologist consultant in the NHS and makes close to £500k. He was offered a million to move to private practice in Ireland and told them no as would be a worse work life balance.

I am very much the poor relation, it’s now a family joke, especially as I’m now part time, 37hr, for my own sanity.

i was working over 100hr a week getting paid for no overtime over 40hr as CDs got no overtime, so my staff were getting a considerably higher hourly pay. The EU weighed in and said we were entitled to it but corporate wouldn’t back pay.

where I am now, no overtime pay, despite overtime to be done if required. I don’t expect it as I’ve never had it anywhere. So have I worked for minimal pay if you break down hours worked versus salary. Totally.

 

[Redders]

Nope NHS, transplant surgeon at 250k.

My cousin is a nephrologist consultant in the NHS and makes close to £500k. He was offered a million to move to private practice in Ireland and told them no as would be a worse work life balance.

I am very much the poor relation, it’s now a family joke, especially as I’m now part time, 37hr, for my own sanity.

i was working over 100hr a week getting paid for no overtime over 40hr as CDs got no overtime, so my staff were getting a considerably higher hourly pay. The EU weighed in and said we were entitled to it but corporate wouldn’t back pay.

where I am now, no overtime pay, despite overtime to be done if required. I don’t expect it as I’ve never had it anywhere. So have I worked for minimal pay if you break down hours worked versus salary. Totally.

In other jobs, I am sure 37 hours would be considered full time? My friend works in admin and does 37hrs a week and is classed as FT!

 

[windand rain]

Dad was a consultant psychiatrist he used to work solely for the NHS he was adamant he earned less than a bus driver per hour as he was on call 24/7 365 days a year on a basic but good salary. My guess is vets are even more poorly paid

 

[blitznbobs]

Nope NHS, transplant surgeon at 250k.

My cousin is a nephrologist consultant in the NHS and makes close to £500k. He was offered a million to move to private practice in Ireland and told them no as would be a worse work life balance.

I am very much the poor relation, it’s now a family joke, especially as I’m now part time, 37hr, for my own sanity.

i was working over 100hr a week getting paid for no overtime over 40hr as CDs got no overtime, so my staff were getting a considerably higher hourly pay. The EU weighed in and said we were entitled to it but corporate wouldn’t back pay.

where I am now, no overtime pay, despite overtime to be done if required. I don’t expect it as I’ve never had it anywhere. So have I worked for minimal pay if you break down hours worked versus salary. Totally.

Wow that’s an incredibly unusual nhs salary not sure how he got to that amount tbh...

 

[paddy555]

thought I would post about my vet's bill received today. Totally shattered by it. Called vet out a month ago to a horse with colic.This was the real thing. Horse was on his back with his legs in the air when I found him and spent the next 1.5 hours rolling in pain. No way could I hold him. He lived but he was the nearest colic I have ever had to being PTS that survived. We are a long way from the surgery.
Vet spent 1.5 hours with us. Constantly listened for gut noises, took heart rate, did a rectal, discussed if he should go for surgery if needed. Constant attention from the vet and she was good. Couldn't have had better. Injected with buscopan and finnadyne. He had 1.5 hours of constant monitoring by that vet.
I thought if the bill was no more than £350 I wouldn't even bother looking at it. The horse was alive.

Totally gobsmacked. The bill was £111.92. Just wow.

 

[Tiddlypom]

Wow that’s an incredibly unusual nhs salary not sure how he got to that amount tbh...

Very, very unusual if those figures do not include fees for private work on top of NHS consultant’s salary.

 

[ihatework]

Yes that does sound misleading.
Junior doctors start on around 30k give or take, Consultants in the early days circa 100k - there are pay bands and various allowances but for an experienced specialist in a London hospital they aren’t even going to be close to the figures quoted.

What most do routinely is take private clinics on top of their NHS role and will also consult with private industry. So when you factor that in yes the salaries are pretty huge (but so is the workload and knowledge, not sure I’d be up for it!)

That said, I’d imagine there are plenty of vets at the top of their profession earning similar. It’s just a pyramid scale after all

 

[ycbm]

thought I would post about my vet's bill received today. Totally shattered by it. Called vet out a month ago to a horse with colic.This was the real thing. Horse was on his back with his legs in the air when I found him and spent the next 1.5 hours rolling in pain. No way could I hold him. He lived but he was the nearest colic I have ever had to being PTS that survived. We are a long way from the surgery.
Vet spent 1.5 hours with us. Constantly listened for gut noises, took heart rate, did a rectal, discussed if he should go for surgery if needed. Constant attention from the vet and she was good. Couldn't have had better. Injected with buscopan and finnadyne. He had 1.5 hours of constant monitoring by that vet.
I thought if the bill was no more than £350 I wouldn't even bother looking at it. The horse was alive.

Totally gobsmacked. The bill was £111.92. Just wow.

I have to be honest, P, that while I'm pleased for you I think that bill is ridiculously low, and all it means is that someone else with that practice is going to be charged too much for another procedure and/or everyone's paying too much for flu jabs. And those people are the ones who will bad mouth vets on social media.

 

[Gamebird]

thought I would post about my vet's bill received today. Totally shattered by it. Called vet out a month ago to a horse with colic.This was the real thing. Horse was on his back with his legs in the air when I found him and spent the next 1.5 hours rolling in pain. No way could I hold him. He lived but he was the nearest colic I have ever had to being PTS that survived. We are a long way from the surgery.
Vet spent 1.5 hours with us. Constantly listened for gut noises, took heart rate, did a rectal, discussed if he should go for surgery if needed. Constant attention from the vet and she was good. Couldn't have had better. Injected with buscopan and finnadyne. He had 1.5 hours of constant monitoring by that vet.
I thought if the bill was no more than £350 I wouldn't even bother looking at it. The horse was alive.

Totally gobsmacked. The bill was £111.92. Just wow.

Your vet sounds amazing, and very kind, but also slightly bonkers! They've definitely made a loss on that job.

 

[criso]

It's possibly to do with the pricing structures that have examination as a service rather than billing for time.

Someone upthread complained that they were charged a full exam fee for a brief glance when the vet needed to check before providing bute. With my vets the same could happen where there is an exam fee whether it's a straightforward visual or an obvious injury or ages prodding and poking and flexions trying to work out mystery lameness. So you call the vet out and you get a £40 exam fee. A reexam next visit is low £30's. There is no extra charge if the vet has to wait around for something to take effect though mine would probably take the opportunity to catch up on some phone calls to follow up tests or communicate results between checks.

There is also a brief exam which is about a tenner but the only person I've seen use it is my regular vet who is the most senior. I've never seen it deployed by more junior members who are maybe less confident in using their discretion and are more likely to charge a full exam fee if you ask them to look at something when they are already there.

It's a bit like the hairdressers where you pay a fee for a cut and finish. I have a complicated cut that takes a lot of care and then a certain amount of work to style, my stylist books extra time. Someone else might just need a basic trim and wouldn't get such value for money.

ETA same vets have a blanket call out charge - just under £40. You pay the same if you are just down the road or if you're right at the edge of their catchment and over an hour away. Again some people are getting more for their money.

 

[Pearlsacarolsinger]

Differant vets I think, unless yours has just built a new small animal hospital?

And moved into it just over a year ago? That sounds like the same practice. He is actually my favourite vet of them all but it is a standing joke that he is so nervous around the horses that he usually manages to forget something. We have gained pairs of scissors, a twitch....... He once forgot to charge us for an emergency BH call out to a nervy horse.

 

[paddy555]

Your vet sounds amazing, and very kind, but also slightly bonkers! They've definitely made a loss on that job.

she was amazing. It is a large practice and she normally deals with the far end of it. She doesn't know yet she is going to be doing a lot more travelling to my side in the future. (nothing to do with the billing) she is just a really good vet and now top of my list for routine treatments.
My previous vets were poor vets and high charges. This lot have 6 horse vets any of whom I would be happy to have at 3am when the horse is climbing on the ceiling and their charges are reasonable. I am very lucky.

The previous lot were taken over by a corporate this lot are fiercely independent.

 

[paddy555]

It's possibly to do with the pricing structures that have examination as a service rather than billing for time.

Someone upthread complained that they were charged a full exam fee for a brief glance when the vet needed to check before providing bute. With my vets the same could happen where there is an exam fee whether it's a straightforward visual or an obvious injury or ages prodding and poking and flexions trying to work out mystery lameness. So you call the vet out and you get a £40 exam fee. A reexam next visit is low £30's. There is no extra charge if the vet has to wait around for something to take effect though mine would probably take the opportunity to catch up on some phone calls to follow up tests or communicate results between checks.

There is also a brief exam which is about a tenner but the only person I've seen use it is my regular vet who is the most senior. I've never seen it deployed by more junior members who are maybe less confident in using their discretion and are more likely to charge a full exam fee if you ask them to look at something when they are already there.

It's a bit like the hairdressers where you pay a fee for a cut and finish. I have a complicated cut that takes a lot of care and then a certain amount of work to style, my stylist books extra time. Someone else might just need a basic trim and wouldn't get such value for money.

ETA same vets have a blanket call out charge - just under £40. You pay the same if you are just down the road or if you're right at the edge of their catchment and over an hour away. Again some people are getting more for their money.

I hadn't thought of that. In fact I don't normally check vet bills that closely, just reckon that if they provide prompt emergency service they deserve what they charge.

However looking at earlier bills they have a standard call out charge of £34 incl vat (£60 on a sunday) and eamine horse fee 36.54 ((£72 on a Sunday) so living a way away I do well on the call out charge and in this case did very well on the time allocated to my lad.

I suppose it is swings and roundabouts. In the past I have asked the vet here on another matter to just look at a horse (who is on say bute and needs a check entering on his records) and note it is still on 4 legs. That takes seconds but still gets the exam horse charge.

 

[Gingerwitch]

It does make me laugh though that you pay for a call out and then an exam.... Why would you call a vet out and not have an exam lol

 

[ihatework]

It does make me laugh though that you pay for a call out and then an exam.... Why would you call a vet out and not have an exam lol

To give them a vaccination?

 

[Gingerwitch]

she was amazing. It is a large practice and she normally deals with the far end of it. She doesn't know yet she is going to be doing a lot more travelling to my side in the future. (nothing to do with the billing) she is just a really good vet and now top of my list for routine treatments.
My previous vets were poor vets and high charges. This lot have 6 horse vets any of whom I would be happy to have at 3am when the horse is climbing on the ceiling and their charges are reasonable. I am very lucky.

The previous lot were taken over by a corporate this lot are fiercely independent.

Just nice to hear a horse recovered without going for an op...I hate colic surgery as I often think owners panic and agree to it due to the pain there poor animal is in and many do not realise that the surgery is just the start of the process but at 3am it's so easy to be swayed to take a horse to leahurst just to end the suffering.

 

[Gingerwitch]

To give them a vaccination?

No been charged for that too as a call out exam and vaccinate, ?

 

[teddypops]

The only time I have complained and queried my bill was last year. Yet vetinary practice would not budge. I always pay my invoices. Due to an accident prone TB and huge insurance claims I’m sure I funded most of the vets salaries over the years !?. So ... last year my horse was colicing. I rung vets and says I knew what was wrong. When vet arrived, I was walking him around the yard. NO exam was made on the horse as it was obvious to his diagnosis. She did however put her hand up his bum which took all of 3 mins. She didn’t say that a rectal was going to cost me about 45 quid. When bill arrived it was pretty big. Call out charge. Agree. Electrolights given. Agree. Sedation. Agree. BUT, I was also charged 50 pounds for an exam which didn’t happen. My argument was why pay for an exam and also pay for rectal. Surely it would be part of the exam fee. Anyway.. they said I still had to pay it.

The reason there are separate charges for the examination for colic and a rectal is that not all horses can have a rectal. Would you be happy to pay a charge that covered both the exam and the rectal if you only had the exam? However, you shouldn’t have had to pay for an examination if it didn’t happen.

 

[Gingerwitch]

Not vet bashing but I have got fed up when I have arranged a visit then others add on at the surgery, and they get treated first as I have multiple horses and they only have 1, which took longer than mine.. then when the bill came i got charged a third for each of mine and the add on one did not get charged a call out.. it should have been split between owners not horses. I did argue that one but it fell in deaf ears so refused to change my slot time next time the receptionist asked as someone wanted to add to my visit but could not do the times I had asked for.

 

[milliepops]

I've had visits split pro rata when I share them, if they see 2 of my horses and one of someone else's, I pay 2 thirds. Seems correct to me.

 

[The Xmas Furry]

I've had visits split pro rata when I share them, if they see 2 of my horses and one of someone else's, I pay 2 thirds. Seems correct to me.

I do that, and get same.
Practice are very good as there are 4 (small) yards on our lane that use them, they are happy to split callouts. Usually if one of us is booking a routine call, we text the other 3 yards to let them know when.

 

[Gingerwitch]

I've had visits split pro rata when I share them, if they see 2 of my horses and one of someone else's, I pay 2 thirds. Seems correct to me.

There were 4 horse's and two owners, I booked the visit and vets only split upto 3, so I got charged a third for all of mine I o my had 3 then, the person who added on - and got seen first and changed the slot to in got the call out for free.

 

[milliepops]

I'm not quite sure i follow that but tbh I'd just expect to sort it out between owners if there's a problem ?‍