An animal owner will contact the VCMS with a concern or enquiry.

If a veterinary practice wishes to refer a complaint, the animal owner must give their consent for personal information to be shared with the VCMS. If a practice wishes to contact the VCMS while the complaint is being handled within the practice, the VCMS will discuss the complaint in general terms without sharing personal data.

We recommend that practices encourage animal owners to contact the VCMS directly.

Contact can be made via the online complaint form, email, telephone or letter.

The VCMS will ask animal owners for details of the complaint and for any information on what has been done to try and resolve the complaint so far. A complaint form will need to be completed and all copy correspondence with the practice provided.

Details are reviewed in full by the VCMS within five working days to ensure the complaint is within the VCMS remit and appropriate for mediation.

A VCMS ‘agreement to mediate’ form will be sent to the animal owner. This form outlines the rules of mediation and gives consent for the VCMS to contact the practice.

If the complaint cannot be resolved within the practice, and we confirm the complaint does fall within the remit of the OCCS we will ask you to read and sign an Agreement to Mediate. This document confirms the practice and the OCCS have the consumer’s permission to discuss their complaint.

Once the ‘agreement to mediate’ form is signed and returned, the practice will be invited to mediate. If this request is accepted by the practice, the VCMS will request all relevant documentation and further information including the response to the complaint raised, copies of clinical records (if necessary), invoices/statements and any other details which the practice consider to be useful or relevant. The VCMS will contact you and confirm when the information from the practice has been received, and the complaint can then proceed into the complaint mediation phase. The complaint will then be allocated a VCMS Resolution Manager.

A VCMS Resolution Manager will facilitate communication between parties in hope to progress matters and provide opportunity to reach a resolution.

The Resolution Manager may seek to gather further information or clarify particular aspects of the complaint. Communication will generally be by telephone or email. When we use phone communication, we will not place both parties on the same call. A call will take place with one party and then a separate call with the other party.

Within the telephone calls, the Resolution Manager will explore the complaint, the outstanding issues and possible options for resolution. The approach will vary on an individual complaint basis. This will involve us asking questions, exploring each party’s position and what those views are based upon. When we ask questions or put forward alternative points of view, we are not making any judgment. The most effective way for us to help find a resolution is to ask these questions and pose these alternatives to try and look at the complaint from a different viewpoint.

Generally, the VCMS will provide a date and time for the initial calls to allow both parties to allocate time and prepare for the call. If a session becomes available, one of the team may contact you to discuss the complaint and explore resolution. The VCMS aims to hold both initial conversations on the same or consecutive days, and then explore and find a resolution on the same day.

If resolution is reached by the parties, the VCMS Resolution Manger will create a ‘Mediation Agreement’ outlining the details of the resolution and dates of when any agreed actions are to be implemented.

Both parties are required to sign the agreement.

Once signed, both parties will receive a copy and the resolution can then be implemented.

The VCMS complaint will then be closed.

If resolution cannot be reached, the VCMS Resolution Manager will advise you of any alternative routes.

The VCMS will then conclude involvement.

Post mediation, when both the client and practice have signed the Mediation Agreement, the VCMS will not monitor the client and practice’s adherence to the agreed outcome. The responsibility will remain with the client and practice to decide how to proceed if either party does not adhere to the terms of the agreement.