When visiting a veterinary practice, many of us will be worried about our pet, and feel anxious about what is wrong with them, what care they may need and the costs involved. For many of us, the relationship with the veterinary team is good one and we feel in safe and trusted hands.

If a problem arises, this can often be talked through and resolved with the veterinary professional at the practice. However, when your concern cannot be resolved by the practice, then Veterinary Client Mediation Service (VCMS) service can help. VCMS is a mediation service, so we do not judge, takes sides or penalise either party. We remain impartial to find a resolution. As a mediation process, the VCMS seeks to resolve your complaint fairly and quickly.

The solution may be an apology, a refund, an offer of further treatment, a discretionary payment, an explanation of what has happened and why or that no further action on the part of the practice is required.

For more details on how we will do this, please see our complaints process.

We will:

• Listen to you to establish a clear picture of the complaint
• Identify the key issues of your concerns and what you are hoping to achieve by pursuing the complaint
• Obtain all the relevant information from the practice
• Talk to you and the practice to discuss possible solutions to resolve the complaint
• Help implement and conclude the complaint so both parties can move on
• At all stages of the process, we will keep you informed of what is going on
• Use mediation techniques to explore the areas of disagreement and agreement, to help you understand the other party’s point of view. We will also look at why your complaint is ongoing and how we can start to move forward. We will need to ask questions and to explore your views and position so we can see how best to move forward. This does not mean we are taking sides, but is necessary to help you and the practice find a resolution
• Importantly, we will also ask you how we have done and listen to your feedback to continuously improve our service.

For further information and answers to queries frequently asked questions, please do visit our FAQ area of the website.