Working practices and information for new and existing clients to Ridge Referrals

In order to do our bit towards supressing the spread of Covid19 we have changed our normal working practices at Ridge Referrals and even as legal restrictions are eased from 19th July 2021 onwards we still intend to continue for the foreseeable future to work in the most Covid safe way possible to continue to protect our staff, our small business and you the pet owners.

We appreciate that our working practices may seem very peculiar, they certainly did to us in the beginning and we are doing everything in our abilities to ensure as high a level of communication and understanding with pet owners as possible even though we are not currently able to welcome you inside the practice. We will continue to strive to provide you with the information you need to make informed decisions as how best to treat your pet.

The first point of contact for any new referral cases will be with a nurse administrator who will arrange a convenient time for you to speak with Patrick on the telephone. This telephone consultation will be in order to review your pet’s history and discuss the current regime and treatments started. It will also involve a discussion of the likely cause of the problem along with options on treatment and the necessary imaging and investigations needed to proceed with treatment whether that is surgical or not.  In effect this telephone discussion forms part of the usual consultation (history gathering and treatment discussion) but cannot involve the clinical examination. The telephone discussion will incur a £50 fee which is payable at the time and this fee goes towards our usual fee of £200 for a full consultation which would have also included a thorough clinical examination.

After this discussion Patrick will then send you an e-mail with a review of the discussion and also information on the expected treatment and requirements. Depending on the case an appointment may then be made for your pet to be admitted to the hospital for a clinical examination, plus possible imaging or surgery (as previously discussed).

The decision as to whether a case should be admitted for imaging and surgery on one day or imaging on one day and surgery on a different day will depend entirely on the individual patient and its requirements. Complex cases often require detailed planning from imaging (CT or X rays) and these cases need to be scheduled for surgery after imaging has taken place. For cases that are admitted for imaging and surgery on the same  day it is essential that suitable arrangements have been made so that you are prepared for the post operative management and recuperation, this may involve acclimatising to a cage for post-operative confinement (cases that are not acclimatised to a cage that need to be may be sent back home for further training and this will delay your pet getting the treatment that he/she needs).

All pets are admitted to the hospital by a car park handover (we have an undercover outdoor area for wet weather). Cats and very small dogs should be brought in carry cages and all other dogs should be simply handed over on a lead. This ensures that social distancing is maintained. We ask that all dogs are given a bath/wipe over the night before their appointment as Covid19 can be passed on by pets on their coats and for this reason we also ask that you avoid close face contact (kissing and cuddling) of your dogs once they have been washed.  If you or anyone in your household are self-isolating because of shielding, clinical signs or a positive contact we ask that you declare this so that we can take suitable precautions. 

Patients should be starved from 10pm the night before so that they can undergo anaesthesia should they need to.

Overview:

• All first referral consultations will initially be over the telephone with Patrick Ridge and will incur a fee of £50 (payable at the time by card), this fee will go towards the usual full consultation fee of £200 should your pet then need to be admitted to the hospital for a full clinical examination.
• All pets admitted into the hospital will be done so by 'car park' handover so that we maintain social distancing at all times.
• You will not be allowed into the practice - PLEASE NOTE THAT THE NEAREST PUBLIC TOILETS ARE TWO MILES AWAY IN DAWLISH TOWN CENTRE.