Vet Connection

After-hours tele-triage help and support services for your practice can be provided by The Vet Connection via NVS.

NVS / The Vet Connection – Veterinary Out Of Hours Services

Does your practice struggle to provide out-of-hours (OOH) services? Would you benefit from a service that fields all out-of-hours calls and only passes through the ‘emergencies’? If so, it could be worth a discussion with The Vet Connection.

As you know, pet owners sometimes have important questions, queries and even critical health concerns outside of your normal practice opening hours. And if your practice is closed, they have few options between “Dr” Google and your OOH service, with the associated costs and patient inconvenience. The Vet Connection essentially becomes an extension of your practice’s services and helps to fill this gap, by providing your customers with instant OOH support, advice and instruction as to what to do next.

The Vet Connection provides safe, appropriate and timely support, including health triage via their trusted Clinical Protocols, which have also been reviewed by the RCVS – they’re a safe pair of hands with over 18 years of experience.

  • The Vet Connection is not a replacement for your veterinary surgeon, but instead, they work as a support and extension to your practice.
  • The Vet Connection does not treat, diagnose or prescribe medications and is not a substitute for a physical examination by your veterinary surgeon.
  • The Vet Connection totally believes in the vet-client relationship. This is why they work to add value for your clients, helping to reduce unnecessary trips to the vet and OOH costs, if appropriate.
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All of The Vet Connection’s OOH calls are handled by RCVS registered Veterinary Nurses and Vets, each with a minimum of 3 years experience in practice and an average, across the team, of 10 years post qualification.

All of The Vet Connection’s nurses receive extensive and ongoing training on the use of clinical protocols and are experienced in providing high-quality and consistent triage decisions. They always lean on the side of caution and if a veterinary examination is required, they will recommend to your client that they see you in the practice.

The Vet Connection’s intention is to provide added support for your clients with 3 key outcomes:

  1. They provide help, assistance and advice about all pet health and welfare queries, from pregnancy, walking on a lead, socialisation and nutrition through to travel tips.
  2. Where possible, non-emergencies that require veterinary assistance are passed back to your practice for the next working day, thus providing footfall and ideally income for the practice.
  3. Emergency assistance for either an appointment with the on-call Veterinary Surgeon or your preferred OOH hospital.

All case notes are emailed to your practice including those with whom we have recommended an appointment, so you can follow up the next day.

Your return on investment:

  • The vet Connection’s service costs £310 + VAT per month, with an assumption that there will be around 30 OOH calls per month from your practice.
  • The vet Connection offers a discount through your partnership with NVS of 10%, so the monthly charge is £279 + VAT, or £9.30 + VAT per day.
  • If they are able to push 2-3 clients with non-emergency issues back to your practice for an appointment, the next working day, then our service becomes very much self-funded.