THE TEAM

Peter Fenton BVM&S MRCVS

Director and Veterinary Surgeon

Peter qualified from Edinburgh University in 1999 and set up his own 100% equine practice in 2003.

Peter owns 2 horses – a show cob mare Lulu (aka Woodlands Pippin - affectionately nicknamed Fat Head! at home) and Lulu’s foal Chewy (aka Dizzee Rascal). Peter regularly attends events with them both so you may see them out and about at various competitions.

Peter and Woodlands Pippin

Diane Fenton
Director and Practice Manager

Diane joined the practice in February 2004. Prior to joining the practice Diane spent 10 years working for a large multinational insurance company as a Customer Service Manager covering the North of England.

Diane is also a horse owner and has a coloured gelding called

Chief (nicknamed Cheeky – which he most certainly is!).

Diane and Chief

Caterina Termine BSc (Hons), BVSc MRCVS

Veterinary Surgeon

We are very pleased to welcome Caterina Termine to the practice. Caterina graduated from the University of Nottingham in 2003 with a degree in Animal Science. She then qualified from the University of Liverpool’s vet school in Summer 2008. During her studies Caterina worked for a number of years for an equine welfare charity and consequently developed an interest in equine medicine and nutrition. Caterina assisted in the 2007 pre Olympic test run in Beijing and returned in 2008 to be one of a number of veterinary surgeons looking after the equestrian superstars out in Beijing at the 2008 Olympics.

Caterina owns a thoroughbred called Cedric and used to compete with him in

show-jumping. She also has two cats called Clive and Julian and in her spare time she enjoys windsurfing.

Daniel Makin BVMS MRCVS

Veterinary Surgeon

It is with much regret that we advise that Dan is no longer working with us at the practice. I know many of you will be sad to see him go, as were we. Dan has written a note to clients so that you understand his reasons for leaving. We wish him all the very best for the future and we will keep in touch on a regular basis.

“As some clients may know, back in 2007 I was diagnosed with Leukaemia.  Since the disease has been put into remission, I have thankfully felt well and fit.  However, I didn't expect the daily demands encountered whilst working with horses would take its toll on my stamina, to the extent that in June I became exhausted and drained.  It is with this reason that I made the difficult decision to leave the practice.  I am now fully recharged and working as a locum small animal vet.  I am finding this a much easier pace of work and am enjoying it thoroughly.
 
I greatly enjoyed my time working for Peter and Diane and was sorry to leave through ill health.  The practice is an excellent one and I wish Peter and Diane every success for the future."

Charlotte Crabtree

Practice Administrator

Charlotte joined the practice in January 2008 and undertakes all the administrative duties for the practice. She has previous administrative and extensive customer service experience. Charlotte owns a Welsh Section D cob called “April” and regularly hacks out and competes at local shows throughout the North West. Charlotte also has an adorable Heinz 57 puppy called Darcy.

Recent Courses Undertaken

CPD (Continued Professional Development) is compulsory for all vets. We ensure that all our vets undertake regular CPD to keep up to date with best practices and the latest methods and treatments available to our clients.

In January 2008 Peter attended a course on The Performance Horse – Orthopaedic & Upper Respiratory Tract at the University of Liverpool

In March 2008 Dan is attending a course in Hampshire run in conjunction with the British Equine Veterinary Association on Disaster Medicine: Rescue and Emergency Medicine Training for Equine Vets – this is part of the BEVA – Emergency Services Protocol which this practice has signed up to be a part of. See link for more details.

In April 2008 Dan is attending a course on Diseases and Disorders of the Equine Upper Respiratory Tract at the University of Edinburgh .

In May 2008 Peter is attending a Strangles Conference at the University of Edinburgh

Both Peter and Dan are in the process of undertaking the Certificate in Advanced Veterinary Practice CertAVP. Dan is focusing on Equine Practice and Peter is focusing on Equine Internal Medicine. This further qualification is undertaken in conjunction with the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons.

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FEES

As there is no National Health Service for pets, the fees you pay fund the practice.

We try to keep our fees as reasonable as possible while, at the same time, maintaining high standards of service and treatments.    We are happy to provide a detailed estimate for all procedures / medicines before undertaking any treatment.

PAYMENT OPTIONS

In order to keep administrative costs down we ask that, where possible, treatment is paid for at the time it is carried out. This also applies to insured pets where fees should be paid in the first instance to ourselves and then reclaimed from your insurance company.

We accept cash, cheque's, postal orders and all major credit / debit cards.   We have a large number of clients who now pay by monthly direct debit. If you want to discuss further / set up a direct debit please contact Diane on 0870 850 3817.

Alternatively we can invoice for treatment. Please note however that our payment terms on invoices are strictly 30 days and we have stringent methods in place to follow up on late payments.

It is important that invoices are paid on time as all cash income is re-invested back into the practice to ensure we can continue to be in a position to supply the very best in goods and services to our clients.

Our priority is to look after our good clients and ensure that we are in a position to provide the best treatment and service for their horses and ponies. Bad debt will have a negative impact on how we can invest in the practice. Therefore please help us to help you by paying all invoices on time.

We welcome these Credit/Debit cards

PRESCRIPTIONS

Prescriptions are available from this practice, you may obtain relevant veterinary medicinal products from your veterinary surgeon OR ask for a prescription and obtain these medicines from another veterinary surgeon or a pharmacy.

A veterinary surgeon may prescribe relevant veterinary medicinal products only following a clinical assessment of an animal under his or her care. The general policy of this practice is to re-assess an animal requiring repeat prescriptions for supplies of relevant veterinary medicinal products every 3 months, but this may vary with individual circumstances.

A prescription may not be appropriate if your animal is an in-patient or if immediate treatment is necessary.

For the past three years the Competition Commission has obliged all veterinary practices to provide written prescriptions to clients on request, free of charge. From the 31st October 2008 this restriction will be lifted, and in line with doctors we will now levy a charge to cover our costs.

From 1st November we will be charging £12.50 for a written prescription, which covers amongst other things, the cost of the veterinary surgeon’s time to check your records, confirm that the medication requested is still appropriate for your pet, and issue the prescription. We feel not only is this a fair charge for the time and responsibility involved, but also that this compares very favourably with the charge levied by the local doctors’ surgeries for issuing a private prescription, which varies from £13.75 - £18.00.

We trust that you will understand that we are no longer able to provide a service free of charge when that service bears a cost to the practice, and we have carried that cost for the last three years. If you have any queries, please don’t hesitate to contact the practice.

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INSURANCE

We would always advise that your horse/pony is insured for third party liability and veterinary fees to pay for those unexpected bills. Insurance allows you to treat and investigate conditions that you might otherwise find difficult to do. Modern veterinary medicine, as in human medicine, is moving at an alarming pace and it is increasingly expensive to use the latest drugs and techniques which can often only be carried out with the help of pet insurance.

As with all insurance please read the policy terms carefully to ensure that it covers everything that you expect it to cover.

The Insurance Companies with whom we have regularly had good claims experience on behalf of their clients include those listed below:

E & L INSURANCE AND PET-INSURANCE.CO.UK

A CHANGE IN PRACTICE POLICY

Normal practice policy for our clients claiming on their insurance policy for treatment would be to ask the client to pay the excess and the practice would then deal direct with the insurer and await payment. It is unfortunate, but due to the extremely poor level of service the practice has received from E&L when processing claims on behalf of clients, we regret to advise that we have made a change to our practice policy if you are insured with E&L. If a client is insured with E&L and is unfortunate enough to have to make a claim the practice now requires the client to pay for treatment upfront and claim the costs back direct from E&L themselves. This policy also applies to clients insured with Pet-Insurance.co.uk (underwritten by E&L Insurance).

If you have any concerns, or if you wish to discuss this change in policy please contact Diane on 0870 850 3817.