How Do You Complain About a Vet?

AndrewGC

Quick summary. Our dog, Patch, had Addison's Disease that meant two tablets every day. In 2016 the vet tells us one tablet is now no longer being made and we need her to get an injection every 30 days. With blood tests etc this set us with a monthly cost we agreed to pay at £87 a month, Ouch!


A few days before the first payment the Account Manager called us to say we needed to pay about £115 a month and we seriously considered if we could afford to keep the dog. I emailed the vets and the main vet then called my wife back. They had made an error and the Acc Manager had quoted us for a WHOLE box of injections (12 bottles in a box, 3 injections per bottle) rather than one, It was agreed that £45 was enough to cover tablets, a monthly injection and a six monthly blood test. We would get a statement and get told if the £45 was not enough.



We have paid that for two years and taken the dog every 30 days and each time checked the balance. About a year ago we owed an extra £12-15 and we paid it on the day.


Last visit August this year and the vet suggested another blood test as Patch was getting thin. My wife checked the balance at the time and we were told we were £245 in credit! The vet even charged our bunny's injection into the account and offered us two lots of Spot On at £28 each for our dogs as we were so much in credit. We let the bunny's injection go on but rejected the other two treatments.


Later that afternoon the vet called my wife to tell us Patch was nearing "end of life" and "Oh, you owe us £337".


Since then I have emailed the vets, the vets owners, the Veterinary Mediation Service (which they advertise on the vets website) and even the Royal College of Vets and Trading Standards.


The upshot? We are still paying the money and will only clear the balance next year. They admitted errors but refuse to waive the charges - and bear in mind going from a credit of £245 to a debt of £337 is about £600! We have since had loads of statements that show the cost of the injection went from about £30 to £60. We were never told and we never ever had a statement in 2 years. We checked each time we visited but they are implying no one would have told us we were in credit!



The Mediation Service can't do anything because the vets refuse to take part. Trading Standards suggested there was a breach of contract - but like any vets the treatments are agreed verbally. And the Royal College don't reply.


So what can you do? Anyone else had an issue with a vets? Would welcome any help.



The owners of the practice offered us £50 off but that is basically it.

[Deleted User]

Personally I'd stop paying and have my day in court when they case for payment.

AndrewGC

They have already indicated they would lodge against us on our credit reference. We have though about it but have a clean record and don't want that harmed.

Rubik

Have you requested, or been given a fully itemised bill that shows the individual treatments, the cost(s) of those treatments, and your monthly payments?

You need to see the figures first and foremost.

Rosemary7391

Double check, but I believe you only get an adverse entry on your credit record if you don't pay the court judgement within the time limit.

Undervalued

Rosemary7391 wrote: »

Double check, but I believe you only get an adverse entry on your credit record if you don't pay the court judgement within the time limit.

Or if the OP has entered into some credit agreement with a finance company (i.e. HP) and them fails to make payments as they are due.

Otherwise yes, if he simply owes the vet money and can't or won't pay, the the vet would need to successfully sue him and even then he would have to fail to pay the amount the court ordered before it gets on his credit records.

OP, the RCVS will only deal with fitness to practice issues. A dispute over fees would not normally, in itself, be a fitness to practice matter.

AndrewGC

Thanks for the info on the adverse credit. I believe you may be right.

Yes, I have learned the RCVS do not get involved. They refer you to a Mediation Service which although our vets advertise it on their site, they have indicated they do NOT wish to get involved. That sort of lead me to the title of thread to be honest. There seems to be no way to complain if the vets simply say they won't talk.

On the subject of bills, remarkably we have had three since I started the complaint in August. Our first bill for over two years. They show the injection costs have risen - we were never told.

At the moment on advice from CAB Trading Standards I am composing a letter that details Breach of Contract. As we agreed verbally with the vet the treatments and costs they also agreed 1). To send regular statements. 2),. To tell us if costs increased. 3). To advise if we were ever in debt. Effectively they have defaulted on all 3.

Apparently even though it was verbal - and most "contracts" with vets are - we have a position to fight from. My wife has been paying the bill monthly, so we may have a chat about stopping this and seeing what they do. She is a worried about what will happen if we stop so I will look into it, and if anyone else knows anything useful please pass it on.

Merlin's_Beard

Undervalued wrote: »

Or if the OP has entered into some credit agreement with a finance company (i.e. HP) and them fails to make payments as they are due.

Otherwise yes, if he simply owes the vet money and can't or won't pay, the the vet would need to successfully sue him and even then he would have to fail to pay the amount the court ordered before it gets on his credit records.

OP, the RCVS will only deal with fitness to practice issues. A dispute over fees would not normally, in itself, be a fitness to practice matter.

OP bear in mind that most vets have a large number of unpaid bills, and therefore will often have a standardised procedure to pass debtors onto a debt collection agency after a set time of no payment or communication. They won't necessarily need to actively do anything out of standard procedure.

But I would agree that you need an itemised bill of everything from the point you started paying monthly - check all the money you paid in ended up on your account, check all the outgoings match with that, check no mistakes have been made along the way. And for all your animals, not just the dog (especially as you know at least one set of rabbit vaccinations have been charged against the credit). If you can see an obvious mismatch or error there, you've got solid ground to go back to them. If you don't find anything, then at least you're then in a position where you can see which specific charges were more than you were expecting/had been told. You'll also know, month by month, whether you were in credit or debit at any particular point.

AndrewGC

We have had itemised bills SINCE we complained and the issue that has come up has been how the costs have increased for one.

Anyway: Some developments.

A useful CAB contact has advised sending them a letter telling them they are in Breach of Contract BUT to continue to pay as not paying would be me breaching it! At the start the vet promised for the amount we paid per month we would be covered for regular injections, tablets and a six monthly blood test.

He also said they would 1) Give us regular statements 2). Advise if costs increased 3) Advise if we owed money and 4) As the injection was routine, after the first 2 or 3 we would be trained to do them,

But none of that has happened so I am writing to say they have breached the contract and I am cancelling it. 14 days for a reply folks!

Also the RCVS has actually replied, They do not get involved in fee issues and suggest using the Vets Mediation Service but as they have refused to co operate with them, the guy from the RCVS has said I can lodge a complaint IF they have breached the Code of Conduct.

I viewed it and found 2.3 Veterinary surgeons must provide appropriate information to clients about the practice, including the costs of services and medicines.

In our case they have not kept us informed of costs as I have said so I have lodged a complaint based on that.

The one thing that is very very clear, though, is if a vet does something bad treatment wise you may have avenues for recourse, But if they simply do as they have with us and mislead us on costs, the path is very hard.

I will try to update as you have all been very kind and helpful and it is welcome

Undervalued

AndrewGC wrote: »

We have had itemised bills SINCE we complained and the issue that has come up has been how the costs have increased for one.

Anyway: Some developments.

A useful CAB contact has advised sending them a letter telling them they are in Breach of Contract BUT to continue to pay as not paying would be me breaching it! At the start the vet promised for the amount we paid per month we would be covered for regular injections, tablets and a six monthly blood test.

He also said they would 1) Give us regular statements 2). Advise if costs increased 3) Advise if we owed money and 4) As the injection was routine, after the first 2 or 3 we would be trained to do them,

But none of that has happened so I am writing to say they have breached the contract and I am cancelling it. 14 days for a reply folks!

Also the RCVS has actually replied, They do not get involved in fee issues and suggest using the Vets Mediation Service but as they have refused to co operate with them, the guy from the RCVS has said I can lodge a complaint IF they have breached the Code of Conduct.

I viewed it and found 2.3 Veterinary surgeons must provide appropriate information to clients about the practice, including the costs of services and medicines.

In our case they have not kept us informed of costs as I have said so I have lodged a complaint based on that.

The one thing that is very very clear, though, is if a vet does something bad treatment wise you may have avenues for recourse, But if they simply do as they have with us and mislead us on costs, the path is very hard.

I will try to update as you have all been very kind and helpful and it is welcome

Yes, but it is not in the RCVS's remit to award you compensation. If the vet is in breach of their code of conduct the RCVS may impose some sanction. If sufficiently serious they could even be struck off which would prevent them from practising in the UK.

However that would not, in itself, change what you owe them for treatment carried out. Obviously a finding by the RCVS may help you in a civil case against the vet but it remains a contractual matter just like a dispute over fees with any other professional or trades person.

The RCVS has statutory powers, just like the GMC, and even has the legal power to compel witnesses to attend and give evidence. However it is totally about the vet's fitness to practice.

[Deleted User]

I've seen posts about vets and RCVS on this forum. I know this is a lengthy post, but I think it's important that we share experiences like mine, as a warning to others. I had a dreadful time when my vet gave the drug Metacam to my dog without checking his records, his practice notes warned not to use it because it caused gastric bleeding and ulceration. This time the ulcer perforated resulting in peritonitis and liver failure.  He referred us as an urgent case to another vets. I paid them over £10,000 to treat my dog and carry out a liver biopsy.  They were Vile to me and didn't like the fact I was taking legal action against the referring vet.  They removed the drug  from the equation. they didn't mention it on the lab's submission form, and they ignored the lab's request for previous pathology in your case. The week before they'd received the pathology report on the ulcer, that report explained our case and the drug's ill effects. They withheld that report.
Underlying liver disease was identified in this test, in the absence of the drug and required history, the liver disease was cited as the only identifiable cause of the gastric trauma. The vets told me I couldn't argue with the pathologist, Metacam wasn't to blame.  I only found out later what they'd done. This report was used against us in our litigation against the referring vet. I wrote to the vets who'd betrayed us, I needed to know why they felt they had the right to do this with crucial evidence for my legal case. I was willing to accept a verbal apology, but they wrote back refusing to speak to me. They said this liver biopsy was to aid my dog's treatment, not to construct a legal case or any such request from me!
Who paid for this test, how can it be a good thing to hide a drug from the pathologist?  They said it's not standard practice to attach extensive notes, an outright lie, the lab's form requested those notes. I was incensed. I'd been bullied, abused and betrayed and my legal case corrupted.  They'd acted against the interest of their client.
I reported them to RCVS.
They took my case through their lengthy and costly procedure, no doubt paid for by us, and decided the vets' conduct 'did not fall short of that expected of a reasonable veterinary surgeon.'. I was bombarded with unreasonable excuses, insults and lies, for example, they said if the vet fails to include previous pathology in the case, the lab will search their records. Unreasonable, unacceptable and untrue, confirmed by the lab in question.
The vets had also deleted notes from our records, comments that to me suggested collusion.
To protect the public RCVS placed this formal advice on the vets' record, 'veterinary surgeons must be careful using the clinical record as an aide memoire, it's preferable to use notes or message boxes to insert comments that do not form part of the animal's clinical history'. 
I was bullied, abused and lied to by the vets and RCVS.  Don't trust them. They will destroy you.
And I paid over £10,000 for the privilege. All the above is true. I have documents to prove it all.  {Text removed by Forum Team}