Guide to Making a Complaint
Our practice is committed to providing you with the highest level of service and customer care. We realise, however, that things can happen and that there may be occasions when you feel that the service provided has not met your expectations.
In these situations we want to hear about it and have an opportunity to address the issues that you raise. We cannot remedy a problem if we do not know about it.
How to Complain
Firstly we hope that you will give the us a chance address the issues at the time they occur and with the person concerned.
Talking with one of our senior team members can often result in a speedy resolution to the satisfaction of all parties.
Many problems can be solved just by talking about the issue. If your problem cannot be sorted out in this way, and you wish to make a formal complaint, we would like you to let us know in writing as soon as possible – ideally within a matter of days or at most a couple of weeks.
This will enable us to establish what happened more easily. Regretfully, we are unable to investigate complaints made more than 2 months after the event.
In your letter of formal complaint please include the following information to assist us in investigating the issues you raise:
• Why ? – Please tell us as clearly as possible the nature of the complaint or problem
• Where ? – Please tell us which branch or where the events occurred
• When ? – Please tell us the date and time the events occurred
• Who ? – Please tell us which staff were involved
• What ? – Please explain as clearly as possible what you are hoping for as an outcome to your complaint.
Please address your letter to :-
The Partners, West Bar Veterinary Hospital, 19 West Bar, Banbury, Oxon OX16 9SA UK.
What we shall do
We shall acknowledge receipt of your formal complaint within five working days, telling you who is the point of contact within the practice dealing with your complaint and when you can expect to receive a reply.
As part of any complaint resolution process we may decide it is necessary for you to attend the practice in person and with your pet at a mutually convenient time.
You are entitled to seek an opinion from any third party but please be aware that this may affect the options available to us as we aim to resolve your complaint. We will not be liable for any of your costs associated with you engaging the services of a third party.
In most cases we hope to give you a full reply within fifteen working days but if it is going to take longer, we will get in touch with you to let you know what is happening.
We shall then be in a position to offer you an explanation, and/or the results of our investigation.
When we look into your complaint, we shall aim to:
• find out what happened
• make sure you receive an apology, where this is appropriate
• identify the issues raised and address them within the practice
What to do if you are still unhappy
We hope that, if you have a problem, you will use this complaints procedure. We believe this will give us the best chance of addressing the issues you raise and is an opportunity to improve our practice.
Our complaints procedure does not affect your right to approach the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons.
The Veterinary Client Mediation Service (VCMS) is an independent service set up by the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons (RCVS).
VCMS may be able to assist you if your complaint is about the service you have received , the fees you have been charged or if you think negligence has occurred. To find our more contact the RCVS via the Professional Conduct Department on 020 7202 0789.
Please note that complaints made in the social media space ( including public reviews) will not be responded to and may result in termination of all services we provide to you.
