Jackie Bodimead

Review of Riverside Veterinary Practice

Riverside had been my mum & dad's vets for their n...

Riverside had been my mum & dad's vets for their numerous cats for years. All cats have now passed away and the service they received was very good & with care.
I was a qualified veterinary nurse for 17 years, in first & second opinion practice, so I know the profession very well. A 24/7 practice does not always mean it is staffed for 24 hours, it often just means it supplies a service to see your pet out of hours. I have worked in such practice. It needs to be made clear in any emergency that a pet may not have 24 hour care post operatively, and the vets judgement should be clear in this and explained to the owner. Sadly, I have known pets to die out of hours, as staff are not or cannot always be there to check on the animals. If you operate on an emergency case, then staff should be present to monitor, at least to check on the animal every few hours or so and not be left to chance. The owner will have signed a consent form before treatment, which states everything that can go wrong, however, a stressed owner needs to understand what they are signing, it works both ways.
I do not believe the vet behaved intentionally negligently, but should have used more caution in this case and perhaps explained the possible outcome, given the particular 24/7 circumstances of this practice.