Terms & Conditions

Instructions

In certain circumstances, Summerhill Equine Vets may receive instructions from the client’s representative (including trainer, stables, liveries and insurers). Unless we receive written notice from the client to the contrary, we accept that the client’s representatives have authority to act in the interests, and on the behalf of the client.

Vaccination Reminders

It is the client's responsibility to check their animal’s vaccinations are up to date, Summerhill Equine Vets do not send out vaccination reminders. It is your responsibility to keep your animal’s vaccinations up to date. If you delay or fail to do so, and this causes us to restart a course of vaccinations, you will be responsible for any costs that are incurred.

Ownership of images and similar records

As part of the diagnoses process of your animal Summerhill Equine Vets may carry out specific investigations; for example, taking radiographs or performing ultrasound scans. Even though we make a charge for the process of taking the images and interpreting the results, ownership and retention of the resulting record, for example a radiograph, will remain with the Summerhill Equine Vets.

Similarly, case records remain the property of Summerhill Equine Vets. On the request from another veterinary surgeon taking over the case, copies and a summary of the history will be passed to them following authorisation from the client.

Fees and charging structure

All of our fees are determined by the professional input to the case and according to the medicines and consumables used.

Written estimates are available on request, but please be aware that any estimates given can only be approximate.

A visit fee is charged (determined by the distance from the practice) unless the call qualifies for a reduced fee, either a shared visit, visit in area or free of charge visit. Our out of hours service does incur an increased visit fee.

Pre purchase exams for non registered clients require a deposit before the exam takes place. If the PPE is cancelled less than 24 hours prior to the appointment the deposit will not be refunded.

Payment Terms

Invoices are sent out at the end of each month and payment is due 21 days from the date of invoice. It is at the discretion of Summerhill Equine vets whether you will be charged interest on any invoices not cleared within 60 days from the date of invoice.

We understand that on occasions, unexpectedly large bills can occur and we are willing to arrange a payment plan with you. Please contact our office to discuss payment options.

Complaints and Standards

Here at Summerhill Equine Vets we take complaints very seriously and we seek to resolve any issues quickly and in the best interests of all those involved.

First, raise the matter with the member of staff involved or the vet dealing with your case. Then if you are not satisfied and wish to make a formal complaint please address the Complaint to Tim Beauregard or Buffy Shirley-Beavan. Complaints regarding fees can be addressed to the office and the issue will be discussed with the treating vet. Alternatively, you may ask for an appointment to discuss your concerns with one of the partners.

Remember, our aim is to do our best for you and all the horses in our care. We rely on feedback to guide us in how to provide the best possible service. If you are unhappy, please let us know. We cannot remedy a problem, if we do not know about it, so always tell us please.

If you wish to proceed further any comments or major concerns can be raised with the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons (RCVS) Belgravia House, 62-64 Horseferry Road, London SW1P 2AF Tel: 020 7222 2001, email: info@rcvs.org.

Privacy Policy

Summerhill Equine Veterinary Partnership LLP is committed to protecting and respecting your privacy. When you register with the practice, request treatment for your animal, contact us by email, telephone or in writing we will collect and process personal information about you. Data usage is considered a legitimate interest to allow us to provide veterinary services to you.

Data Retention

We will keep your personal information for as long as you are a client of our practice and for 7 years following the most recent date of treatment of your animal in order to comply with our statutory legal requirements (as outlined in the VMD/VMR 2013 Financial & Clinical History legislation).

Sharing your Information

There are certain circumstances where it is necessary to share your personal information with a third party such as a referral hospital, specialist, laboratory or your insurance provider. In these cases we will only ever share the necessary data. These parties are also required to have measures in place which are fully compliant with the General Data Protection Regulations. In the case of long overdue payments we may engage solicitors and or debt collection agencies to recover the debt on our behalf. All employees of Summerhill Equine Veterinary Partnership LLP are subject to a duty of confidentiality which requires your prior permission before any data is released to a third party within the limitations of necessity as outlined above. We will not sell or rent your information to third parties or share your information with third parties for marketing purposes. No anonymised data is held or provided to third parties for research purposes.

Our Responsibility to You

In holding your data we have the responsibility to ensure it is secure. All electronic data is kept on secure servers. All physical data is kept in supervised or locked storage. In the unlikely event that there were to be a data security breach we will notify you and the regulatory authorities.

Your Rights

You have the right at any point to access the information we hold about you. If you wish to do so please contact us and we will provide this data as soon as possible (not exceeding one month). You have the right to be forgotten within the limitations of our statutory obligations. If you wish for your information to be permanently deleted from our records please contact us.