Holding vets to account - has anyone managed it?

[mainlymoderate]

I won’t go into the details but suffice to say we are having an extremely distressing experience regarding a vet’s misdiagnosis of our pet.

As a pet is considered 'property', one’s only recourse is the Small Claims Court. We spoke to a specific solicitor who deals with veterinary negligence who advised that as most pets have little financial value, a Small Claims court action is one’s only real recourse, and even then, if the financial value of the animal is, say, £100, that is all that could be awarded.

The RCVS cannot intervene, and the VCMS (mediation service provided by the RCVS) has not really helped us.

There seems to be so much support for vets, but almost none for pet owners.

I don’t think we have anywhere to turn and we have to just bear the injustice of what happened. But I was surprised to learn that the RCVS have no powers even to inspect veterinary practices.

On the plus side I have to say that in many years of pet ownership we have only come across this one very bad practice. I may be wrong but I feel that there is nowhere to go with complaints about vets. We could complain to the RCVS but as the issue is not one of very serious misconduct, that would seem pointless.

[StrongTea]

Have complained in writing to practice owner due to being given incorrect medication by receptionist, doubt very much if anything was done. I also looked at RCVS site but was far too upset at the time. Dog was put to sleep and really don’t know if correct medication would have made a difference. Also complained in person to vet and he advised writing to practice owner. Obviously changed vets after that and current vets are great. Hope you get some answers, really upsetting when you are let down by folk you trust.

[mainlymoderate]

Thanks Strongtea. Our pet is now dead but we are going through the mediation process which is awful as we are having to relive what happened. Knowing there is literally nowhere to go with this is very upsetting. I feel I want justice for our pet! But know that we just to bear the pain.

[BunnyJumper]

It's hard because you don't go into much detail. Usually if it was a complaint about the Veterinary Surgeon you'd go to the RCVS.


Did the misdiagnosis cause your pet harm?

[mainlymoderate]

The misdiagnosis made us focus on the wrong issue and caused confusion in our pet's last days. But no, it didn't cause our pet actual harm - which is why a complaint to the RCVS would be pointless. Having checked re why complaints go forward, I can see that they rarely do unless it concerns very serious issues such as stealing or lying.

[StrongTea]

Mainlymoderate. Really sorry, must be so hard going through it all.

[BunnyJumper]

@mainlymoderate I'm sorry about your pet. And what you're having to deal with whilst trying to grieve.

If the correct issue had been diagnosed and focused on, would this have improved your pets quality of life and increased their life span?
Or would it not have made much difference ?

If you want you can private message me, I was a Veterinary Nurse for 15 years although I'm not practicing anymore - for the last 4yrs.

[mainlymoderate]

Strongtea thanks - when you describe your situation it sounds as though the vet was more directly to blame, which must have been hard to cope with too. I think we also have to learn to live with this injustice.

[mainlymoderate]

BJ thank you for your offer

[kerbearr]

Sorry for your loss OP I understand your frustration before Christmas I had to put beloved dog to sleep, I was so angry at our own vets from last august I had been taking her every few weeks as I knew there was something wrong with her, and they said it was normal for a dog her age she then got a lump and they kept telling me it was benign even when I asked for it to be examined and told them there was no worry about money they told me she was fine and could have a few years left. The week before Xmas she couldn't move one day and we took her straight to the emergency vet MRI showed she had cancer everywhere they didn't say it so many words but hinted if it was detected earlier she would of had a chance! I was so angry at our original vets, I never thought of taking them up over it, we moved our other dog straight out of their practice and wrote explaining why, never got an answer from them. I'm still so angry over it to think she may have suffered and we didn't know and there may have been something to help her.

[mainlymoderate]

Kerbearr that is awful, I am so sorry that happened to you. I wish I felt there was somewhere you could go with your complaint, but as we found out, there just isn't.

I've been talking about this tonight with legal friends who say I should write to our MP re there being no body which represents pet owners. This would help all concerned - vets and the public. The feeling of powerlessness, when pets are like family to us, is appalling.

[kerbearr]

@mainlymoderate your totally right there should be something in place for pet owners, like if your pet got hit by a car and the car got damaged the owner of the car can claim of your pet insurance, but you can't claim of that persons car insurance to help cover the costs for your pet. It's all upside down if you ask me! Pets are a part of our family and they should be protected!

[Lastbonestanding]

Are you aware of the 'Not one more Vet' movement? Please read about it.

[RuleOfCat]

@Lastbonestanding
I watched the video this evening on NOMV posted by Helpful Vancouver Vet. It was certainly very moving, and more really needs to be done to protect the mental health of vets. But I'm not sure mentioning this will help the OP with their grieving process, especially if their vet was one of the few who don't really care, or have given up caring.

[mainlymoderate]

LBS yes, I know that there is an issue re suicide with vets. I have spent some time now reading up on this subject. I know vets are in crisis. I know also that there is a figure quoted of 85% of vets having felt threatened by clients angry over fees. Yet most vets don't publish their fees on their websites. If they did, that would help everyone.

I do feel, however, that there is an imbalance in the law and that pet owners need some form of protection. Vets may need more support, I accept it's a tough job. But pet owners also need support. We have been through some terrible times over this, and it's nowhere near as bad as that which Kerrbear and Strongtea mention. There is literally nowhere to turn.

I feel that vets should be held accountable for negligence which is really hard to do if pets don’t have any commercial value.

[mainlymoderate]

Thank you RuleofCat - for us this is a terrible time but I have to stress most vets I have ever come across have been fine. The vet who euthanised our pet was just wonderful. I feel that really bad vets are few, but we do need protection from them. The RCVS protects vets (although clearly vets are also very deeply unhappy).

[DogsNosesAreCute]

@mainlymoderate i made a complaint to the RCVS for negligence when they injured my pet. There is i think 4 levels of investigation and they took mine to the highest level, my complaint was upheld but the vet basically received a telling off and to be more careful. I'm surprised you have been told they can't investigate your case

[Easterbunnygettingready]

Sorry for your loss. We took our ddog as she had a lump. A locum prescribed antibiotics twice for 2 weeks each at £80 a pop. Next appointment saw our usual vet who said she needed a biopsy as most likely cancer. She denied a locum had told us otherwise... Left feeling very confused and overwhelmed... Ddog survived surgery and a further 2 k bill. Sadly died less than a year later of a suspected brain tumour. Got a dpuppy and went to a new practice..

[mainlymoderate]

Dognoses sorry for what happened to your pet - was it a serious injury? Or maybe a very clear cut case. I've been told RCVS can't help, yes, From RCVS site: 'The RCVS can only deal with the most serious concerns that relate to a veterinary surgeons professional conduct. This includes:

Very poor professional performance where there are serious departures from the standards set out in the RCVS Code of Professional Conduct
Fraud or dishonesty
Criminal convictions or cautions
Physical or mental health problems affecting ability to work'

[DogsNosesAreCute]

@mainlymoderate it was my rabbit, she had been spayed 2 days prior and i took her back for her routine check up. The vet opened her carrier and tried to take her out but clearly had no idea how to handle rabbits. She wriggled as rabbits do and he dropped her from waist height on to the floor.

I still get flashbacks of seeing her laying still on the floor I thought she was dead. They kept her in overnight and told me she was fine but when i came to pick her up she could barely walk.

I complained to the practice manager and she just said i need to buy a different type of carrier! I took my rabbit home and monitored her she was urinating where she sat and couldn't move so i took her to a different vet practice and they found she had severe bruising of her spinal cord.

Vet gave me pain relief for 2 weeks for her and said if she is no better she will have to be PTS. Thankfully she made a full recovery but that 2 weeks was just horrendous seeing her trying to hobble around.

It was the new vet that told me to make the complaint. And yeh the RCVS fully investigated the vet and the practice and although no financial compensation was given (i wanted them to pay for the second vets appointments and the medication) they told them further training was required in handling rabbits

[mainlymoderate]

That is such a sad story but I'm glad she recovered. I wonder if (some) vets - clearly the minority - understand that once a mistake has been made, the pain for the owner is compounded by their unwillingness to accept their mistake.

I am also interested that the RCVS investigated but the only outcome was 'further training'. The RCVS are without powers to make a vet apologise or pay compensation, two things that would go most of the way to helping in times of extreme distress for owners. In that sense I feel that even in extreme cases like yours, there is not really anywhere to go.

The law needs to change so that animals are not considered 'property'. Under UK law you cannot claim compensation for the suffering of an animal. In a professional negligence case, if you go to Small Claims court, you can only claim for your financial loss. I think this is just wrong.

[Sitdowncupoftea]

I had an issue with a vet. I complained first to the vets who just fobbed me off. I then sent a copy of my letter and response from vets to RCVS. I found the RCVS helpful and they dealt with my complaint and I got compensation. I found the RCVS very helpful.