Right, I am setting up my own practice in the next month or so (gulp!) I want to get it right and give people the service they want. Things I think are important are:
Clean, comfortable waiting room, with seperate areas for cats and dogs
Friendly receptionist and staff, easy to get a same-day appointment
To see the same vet each time, if at all possible (as there is only me, you won't get any choice 
)
Your concerns to be listened to properly, and you and your animal to be treated with respect and empathy.
Procedures and prices to be explained and detailed. Prices to be reasonable.
A good range of in-house facilities (xray/ blood work etc)
Ample parking close by/ right outside
Computerised records/ receipts
What else? What makes a practice a good one in your view? Really interested to hear all views!
If you're worried about your pet's health, please speak to a vet or qualified professional.
The doghouse
What do you want from your vet? (not only for the dog-lovers!)
Joolyjoolyjoo · 15/03/2011 12:45
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I confess I am swayed by how well a premises has been maintained, and in particular, how clean it is (should add my house is a tip). This Practice in Bayeux, Normandy has become my benchmark having used it twice in the last 6 months....I've never visited anything approaching it in the UK!
after my comment about the cheap plastic chair in the consulting room i took note of the chairs in the waiting room when i was there yesterday.
they are the same cheap plastic green chairs. never noticed before. they are more comfortable than they look - think we had some the same as these when i was a child in the local village hall until they upgraded about 30 years ago! i am not bothered at all about the decor. i dont take it as a given, i really just dont care as long as its clean
anyway at least i dont feel bad if i go in their when muddy 
maybe woodchip with washable paint is the way to go . . .
IlsaLund- thank God you said that, having just returned from visiting the ramshackle shell of a building that is to be transformed into my surgery 
Yes, I'd seen it before (ages ago), but I've been blissfully working off the floor plan for months, without remembering all the details, like where the windows were (doh!) and that there were recessed bay windows, rather than straight walls (so now where is that line of units going to go?) Worse, I took my dad to see if he thought plumbing etc was feasible where I wanted it. As well as doing that teeth-sucking thing, he started going on about walls needing plastered, things needing "ripped out" and a whole host of other little niggles, so I am now panic- stricken that I will never get it half-way decent before my big opening party 
I told him that none of you lovely MNetters had put decor as your top priority, but he tells me that's because it is " a given" Sob! He's not totally negative, but he just feels the need to get everything just right. He is going to help with the refurb, but I fear everything is going to be more drawn out than I thought! Oh well, it will come together. But will you turn and walk out if there is woodchip on some of the walls??? Even if it's painted nicely and looks clean??
And catinthehat2- any swans will not be getting swish treatment. Shouldn't say it, but having worked with many many swans in one job I really don't like them, mean hissy creatures they are!
Thanks Jooly - Sniff! Sniff!
We used to freeze any unwanted eggs but I think dd would have refused to euthanise Gary - I think she thought he had a slim chance of recovery.
By the way, dead snails turn to putrid goo almost instantaneously. Poor Gary's remains are still sitting on a saucer on our patio table, where they spent around 6 weeks frozen to the table under snow! I will have to check that dd still wants to keep the shell and do something about it or it will have weathered too much.
PurpleFrog- sorry to hear about Gary If it's of any interest to you,the snail vet told me the best method of putting a snail to sleep painlessly was to put the snail in the freezer, and let it sleep away!! I was a bit apprehensive, and the snail ended up in the freezer for a good few months before I could be convinced of it's demise- I was very worried it would defrost and come back to life, like Walt Disney!
Ha Joolyjoolyjoo - I had better not tell dd that snail vets exist. Gary the GALS had some sort of wasting condition and sadly passed away last year. We checked on the internet and eventually found some description of the condition which indicated it was always fatal. and then it was just a waiting game...
chickchick- that will be the first name on my list of vets-to-call-on
Am very heartened that people seem to unanimously agree that listening to the client and spending time with them is one of the most important factors, as this is something I really believe in. My practice might not be as swish and swanky as some of the bigger ones (although it will be as swish and swanky as I can afford!) but I'm hoping that I will be the best, if I give the right service. That is where I am anxious to do well, and that is the thing that will give me the most pride and pleasure if I can achieve it! I'd love for people to talk about me the way many of you on here have talked about your vet!
at snail vet
great idea to keep a list of vets with a special interest
retford poultry vets (details on thread) give free advice over phone to vet and owners
I've paid many vets lots of money over the years, so have been thinking about what it has been about each of them which has impressed me.
The most important thing to me is that the vet listens to the owner. I know my dogs really well and know when they're not right. The vets I am happiest with are the ones who hear what I'm saying and keep looking until the find the cause of the problem. I moved vets in the summer because they didn't listen, didn't look hard and missed the massive infection one of my girls had from May until September. It wasn't fair on her, and I should have pushed much much harder for the right outcome.
Continuity of care and thorough reading of an animals history is also important to me (vet should have spotted the pyometra in the history before he suggested spaying for example) along with a hook for leads at the paying desk, and a chair in the consulting room. And not to have to pay on exit for each and every visit in a course of treatment or when an animal has to be pts. Our current vet works on an invoice basis - but that's probably because a lot of their work is big animal farm stuff.
Children playing in a waiting room is a big no no for me - one of my girls is frightened enough about the vet for even a routine visit let alone if she's feeling poorly without the additional stress of possibly loud toys or excited children to contend with.
I'm never had to wait very long in a waiting room - probably just because I've been lucky - but personally don't think it's necessary to separate types of animal. They're all under quite strict control in a waiting room and if an animal is too hard to control they wait outside until they're called in.
Same goes for suspected infectious diseases like kennel cough.
Really good luck with your new practice - shame you are such a long way from Somerset .
So pleased for you chickchick- she sounds a real character . Hopefully she is on the up and up now!
Will def need to do a bit of lurking on chicken -keepers forums! and it's always good to speak to an expert in the field! Someone once brought me in an African land snail with a strange protrusion from it's mouth area! I managed to find a snail vet (yes, really!) who was lovely, and so enthusiastic about all things snail-y, and gave me lots of advice gladly and for free (although sadly he told me that it was probably a prolapsed crop, and the end of the road for Solomon the snail) Think a good idea would be to get and keep a list of vets with a special interest that I can call up!
(I did actually tell a client with a cockerel problem to look up chicken forums last year! Quite happy to admit that you guys who are enthusiasts are usually far more knowledgeable than your average vet!)
re your new practice - good luck btw. think i forgot to say that
my surgery been absolutely great with this. vet was honest that he doesnt know a lot about hens, which i knew anyway. was very open about options and costs. he didnt bat an eyelid when i told him suggestions from chicken forum.
they gave me a few options of times to pick her up today. they suggested pick up outside surgery hours so nurse could talk me through their observations of her yesterday and this morning. nurse helped me to the car with her
overall they helped make an upsetting time so much more bearable and i am left feeling that even is she was pts she would have had the best care possible
jooly - she is home she has spent afternoon wrecking garden walking around the garden in the sunshine 
it seems likely that she had a trapped nerve affecting her legs. she is still more tired than usual and will see how she goes over the weekend but am hopeful.
there is some great info posted on my thread in the chicken keepers if you want to make a note of it for future reference. my vet rung the poultry vet listed on that thread and it helped enormously.
vet said to keep her separate just in case was contagious viral so she is now asleep in son's bedroom
vet nurse asked me if i ate chicken as they had all got so attached to her they didnt think they could eat chicken anymore
they did remind me though that she is geriatric dont think of her as old as she is head hen, last to bed and first to food
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Oh she sounds sweet Chicken. She's made herself a proper part of your family! I hope she's pulls through .
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