Dear Clients, Colleagues and Friends Updated – 15/10/2021
The last three months has flown by as we have worked tirelessly to finish off building work at the practice. Most of our clinical areas are now finished and in use and the rest of October will see the last of the snagging, staff comfort area and practice office finished off. We have made some significant changes to the car park which is now a really good size allowing a dozen client cars to park at once, not that we should ever need that many spaces! Over the next month we will be working to finish our reception area, when you come to see us you will be directed left for cats, rabbits and small furries and right for dogs.
The new build is enabling us to split the practice in two and become one of very few practices locally to have a dedicated area for waiting, treating and hospitalising cats and dogs separately! We are passionate about making every visit to the practice as calm and stress free as it can be for all our patients. The practice is busy but as we have moved ringing telephones out of reception, there is a much more serene feeling to every visit and our client care team love being able to talk to clients without the usual distraction of a constantly ringing telephone. Modern technology is wonderful and has allowed us, like many to embrace working from home in these strange times. Those of you who remember our lovely receptionist Amanda who left to follow her RAF husband to Lincolnshire can still speak to her most days as she answers the phones, books pets’ appointments and completed admin tasks for us remotely! The rest of the client care team rotate between front of house and telephony which is now located in the original practice office upstairs.
HOT OFF THE PRESS – Emergency Out of Hours – Now OPEN
Have you ever considered what would happen if your pet became ill during the night, or maybe this has already happened to you? Imagine the situation……Its 9pm and you notice your much loved family dog is looking really unwell or 5am and your cat has just come in dragging his back legs. What happens next? Who do you call? At the moment as with most local practices, if you call us you will be redirected to Vets Now in Barton-le-Clay, where the dedicated emergency staff will treat your beloved pet. This hospital and the care are great, but we really believe this could be better achieved by our team in Lower Stondon.
The advantages of having on-site 24 hour care are significant:
- Located at HVC – you are already familiar with where we are located, so there’s no stressful drive to somewhere new.
- Staffed by our team – you will deal with HVC staff who understand your pet(s)
- Clinical records – very importantly, unlike most 24 hour clinics, we have full access to your pet’s clinical records including medication and lab results
- Shorter waiting times to be seen – we only treat patients registered at Henlow Veterinary Centre. A registered pet is one that has been to see us recently and for whom we have full clinical records.
- No transfers – your pet will not have to travel back and forth from Vets Now to us for day and night care, as they do now
As you can imagine delivering this service will require considerable investment, and unfortunately with our current number of patients, the costs will be much greater than any earnings from the service. Therefore, if you, our valued clients believe in this service as we do, we need your support.
All new pets wishing to register with HVC, will be required to pay a small annual Emergency Service membership fee, to make the service possible. The cost will be just £25 per year, per cat, dog and rabbit.
Henlow Vets Emergency Service membership will not only offer your pets seamless care, but you will also benefit from a discount of £50 off the Out of Hours Emergency Fee, anytime you used the service.
Existing clients with existing registered pets will have the choice to subscribe or not, but we would really value your support. Henlow Healthy Pet members may spread the cost by adding just £2.10 to their monthly direct debit.
Please contact us to show your support and sign up! If you have any questions about the service please feel free to email me graeme@henlowvets.co.uk
Graeme Mason,
Practice Manager
