Terms of Business

Welcome to Starling Equine Vets Ltd’s terms and conditions.

Starling Equine Vets Ltd, is a limited company incorporated in England and Wales, company registration number 16016385. The company’s registered address and practice address is  Unit L, Camilla Court, Nacton, Ipswich IP10 0EU

The RCVS Registered Practice Premises number is 7637901. As a Veterinary Practice we are regulated by the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons (RCVS).

By accepting our services or purchase of goods, you are contractually agreeing to the Terms of Business set out below.

Our commitments to you

• Starling Equine Vets Ltd will strive to provide your horse, pony or donkey with the very highest standard of equine veterinary treatment and care.

• Services will be provided by qualified and experienced staff. Our team is committed to identifying opportunities to learn, refreshing and maintaining knowledge, improving our skills and staying up to date so that we can provide the best possible service.

• We will try to arrange appointments at convenient times and dates for you and encourage you to request the same vet at the time of booking.

• We will normally agree a costed treatment plan with you following an initial consultation and in advance of any further treatment. However, we reserve the right to provide such veterinary services as are reasonably necessary, in the professional judgement of our staff acting in the best interest of your horse/pony/donkey, without first agreeing a treatment plan with you (such as in an emergency).

• We will treat our clients and their animals fairly, kindly and with respect.

Your commitment to us

• We expect clients to behave with respect and courtesy toward all of our staff at every point of contact.

• You must keep a valid passport for all equines with your animal at all times, as per Government guidelines - https://www.gov.uk/horse-passport. The passport should be available when the vet attends. Please note: The Section 9 declaration MUST be signed to state if the horse is/is not intended for human consumption.

• In the unfortunate event that you need to cancel your appointment, please provide us with as much notice as possible.

• You are responsible for full settlement of your account. Payment is due at the point when an invoice is issued to you. An account should be settled within 7 days of the invoice date. Should an account not be settled within this time the outstanding balance will be subject to a 5% penalty charge of the total balance. After due notice to the client, overdue accounts will be sent to our Central Debt Team and then onto our debt collection agency, incurring a 10% fee of the total balance, should the debt continue beyond 90 days. Further charges may be levied in respect of costs incurred in collecting the debt, such as production of reports, correspondence, court fees, attendance at court, phone calls, home visits etc.

• Any Credit Card payment not honoured, and any Cash tendered that is found to be counterfeit, will result in the original account being restored to the original sum with further charges added in respect of bank charges and administrative costs together with interest on the principal sum.

• It is your responsibility to always notify your insurance company of any potential claim as soon as possible. You should arrange for Veterinary Fees Claim Forms to be forwarded to Starling Equine Vets Ltd without delay in order to hasten progression of a potential claim. It is your responsibility to ensure that your contract with your insurance company is valid before treatment commences as it probably will not cover your horse for pre-existing conditions.

Payments

Payment can be made by:

• Cash

• Debit card

• Credit card (except American Express)

• Bank transfer

• Transfer to Starling Equine Vets Limited Bank account using the account details on your invoice

If you have an account query or would like to make a payment, please either call 01473 970 393 between 08.30am and 5.00pm, Monday to Friday, or email office@starlingequinevets.co.uk

Looking after our staff, clients and animals

• We expect our clients to take reasonable measures to minimise the risk of injuries to our team, including, for example, advising us if the animal being treated is likely to kick or bite, and providing a safe well-lit area to carry out examinations if possible.

• We take a zero-tolerance approach against intrusive, offensive, violent or aggressive behaviour. Examples of behaviour that we deem unacceptable are:

  • Making malicious allegations about our staff or other clients.

  • Derogatory racial or sexual remarks.

  • Using violent, threatening or abusive language (including swearing and offensive remarks).

  • Violent, threatening or abusive behaviour towards our staff, our clients or animals in our care.

  • Theft and other criminal activity.

  • Non-compliance with Starling Equine Vets Ltd’s health and safety requirements.

• We reserve the right at our discretion to decline to supply veterinary services, to ask you to leave our premises and/or to terminate our contract with you if you or any person accompanying or connected with you engage in unacceptable behaviour, whether in our practice or when speaking to our staff via telephone, email or through our website.

• We understand that dealing with a sick or injured animal can be very distressing and will take this into account when dealing with such behaviour.

Contact details

It is a condition of our Terms & Condition of trade that you inform us as soon as possible of any changes in your address, telephone number, mobile number, horses, or yard, to enable us to update our records accordingly. Keeping our database up to date will help us reach you in the event of an emergency. Should you not disclose to us your new address and we have to trace you for ongoing purposes/debt collection, a tracing fee of £100 will be applied.

Ownership of Records

• The care given to your animal may involve making some specific investigations, for example taking radiographs or performing ultrasonography and blood tests. Even though we make a charge for carrying out these investigations and interpreting the results, case records, including radiographs and similar documents are the property of Starling Equine Vets Ltd, and will be retained by the Starling Equine Vets Ltd practice. Copies with a summary of the history can be passed on, on request, to another veterinary surgeon taking over the case.

• There may be a charge incurred for copying any veterinary records and documentation.

• No addition or variation of these conditions will bind Starling Equine Vets Ltd unless it is specifically agreed in writing and signed by one of the Practice Directors. No agent or person employed by, or under contract with Starling Equine Vets Ltd, has the authority to alter or vary these conditions in any way

Written Prescriptions/Ongoing Medicines

• We are happy to provide our clients with a written prescription where necessary for any medications their horse, pony or donkey may require. The fee charged (£25) is a reflection of the time taken for staff to re-assess the animal and prepare your prescription.

• It is a statutory requirement of the RCVS that any animal with an ongoing illness is reassessed by a vet at intervals of not more than 6 months. Regular monitoring of these cases ensures that we comply with the appropriate medicine’s legislation and that best responses to treatment are achieved. We will not supply repeat prescriptions for chronic disease problems unless your horse has been seen in the last 6 months.

Returned Medicines Policy

• The British Veterinary Association Code of Practice on Medicines (2000) states: "Once stock has been dispensed, it should not be accepted back into the dispensary. No returned goods should be offered for resale because there may have been problems with storage conditions beyond the veterinarian’s control."

• We cannot give refunds for unwanted medications, due to the legal requirement to dispose of them. We are happy to safely dispose of your unwanted or expired medication, if it was purchased from Starling Equine Vets Limited.

General Data Protection Regulations

The General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR) applies to professional and client records. Your personal data records will be kept confidential. Please refer to our privacy notice on our website www.starlingequinevets.co.uk for full details.

Complaints and Feedback

• We will always do our best for you and your animals. If you have any suggestions for how we can improve our services, please be in touch and let us know.

• We hope that you never need to complain about the standard of service received from Starling Equine Vets Ltd. However, if you feel that there is something you wish to complain about, please direct your comments in the first instance to the Practice Manager or one of the Directors. The best way to reach us is to email office@starlingequinevets.co.uk  using the word “Complaint” in the subject line.