RCVS accredited practice
Within 6 months of opening we became an approved member of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons Practice Standards Scheme. To be an accredited practice, we have to pass inspections carried out by an experienced veterinary surgeon focusing on a range of areas, including hygiene, health and safety, clinical governance and the facilities we provide, to name just a few of the many criteria.
The Practice Standards Scheme is a voluntary initiative – not all practices are part of it. RCVS accreditation means that as a client you can rest assured that our practice offers a high quality of care – both in those bits of the practice you can see – and those that you can’t.
Consultations
Whatever your problem, big or small, book an appointment to see us. Not only do we have expertise in the diagnosis and treatment of disease, but we can also advise you on all aspects of health and preventative medicine for your pet. Many problems befalling pets can be prevented or eased by proper preventative medicine or better knowledge of our pet’s wants and needs. At Hope Vets we consider this care to be our responsibility and so we are on hand to help and advise you on the care of your pet. In addition we run special clinics for your puppies and kittens, new pets and elderly pets to ensure any problems are prevented or dealt with quickly.
Operations
Unfortunately, sometimes medicine just isn’t enough and your pet may need an operation to get things sorted. We have a dedicated operating theatre which is fully equipped and ready for action. In order to ensure that your pet receives the best care whilst under anaesthetic our fully trained and highly experienced staff have the full range of monitoring equipment to keep your pet safe.
Physiotherapy
Just like people, animals can often benefit from physiotherapy for rehabilitation as well as the management of common conditions such as arthritis. We can provide some physiotherapy at the practice and will refer you to specialists where required.
Hospitalisation
However heartbreaking it is, sometimes your pet may need to stay with us in order to receive specialist care. We try and make this stay as comfortable and stress free as possible. To this end we have separate dog and cat wards, ensuring that barking dogs aren’t terrifying wide eyed cats. We also have an isolation ward, well away from the hubbub of normal surgery life. This allows more sensitive creatures a quiet respite or allows us to keep infectious animals separate from the other patients. We are also spoilt for outdoor space, which means that providing your dog is well enough there is plenty of room for gentle exercise and a change of scenery. Being a small practice we can’t routinely offer overnight hospitalisation for poorly pets. Should your animal need to be hospitalised overnight we will ask you to transfer him or her to Vets Now. This is a dedicated emergency service who can provide constant supervision and specialist critical care. Very occasionally animals do need to stay with us overnight rather than be transferred. Any animals hospitalised at the practice are checked as often as their condition requires overnight and over weekends, ensuring they receive the very best of care.
Diagnostic imaging
We have a full range of diagnostic imaging equipment. This allows us to see inside your pet, so we can work out what’s going wrong. We have an X-ray machine and processor on site giving us x-ray vision almost as good as Superman. If that isn’t enough we also have an ultrasound machine – perfect for visualising inside the abdomen.
Laboratory
Sometimes seeing is not enough to make a diagnosis, you need to measure things. We have equipment on site, which enable us to measure blood parameters and provides information on your pet’s organ function within minutes. We can do tests on urine and look a cell samples on site too. If this isn’t enough to make a diagnosis we have a courier poised and ready to rush samples to a professional veterinary laboratory that very same day so we can get results back to you as quickly as possible.
Dentistry
Vets have to be jacks of all trades and to this end we also take responsibility for your pet’s oral health. We would love to prevent all problems and have all animals teeth brushed as diligently as yours are, but unfortunately this isn’t always the case. For animals with dental problems we have full facilities to deal with it, from a high speed drill to an ultrasonic de-scaler and a polishing unit. This means we can get your dog’s breath smelling sweet and pleasant!
Supplies
Whatever you need, from pet food to flea treatments to odour eliminator, we’ve got it (and if we haven’t got it, we can usually get it for you the next working day). Not only that but we also stock a full range of medications, so whatever your pet needs, it gets as soon as possible. We are also happy to supply you with a prescription, with which you can obtain medications from other vets or pharmacies although of course we can only prescribe drugs to animals which we have responsibility for and have examined recently. We understand that drug bills can add up, particularly when your pet needs long term treatment. At Hope Vets we try to keep the cost of long term medications as low as possible. The prices of any medication are available on request along with our prescription charges.