Register with us - Equine

This sets out the Terms of Business upon which we, Macarthur Barstow and Gibbs Ltd (trading as MBG Veterinary Surgeons) will provide veterinary services to you. By instructing us to perform services, or by purchasing or ordering goods from us, you are making an offer and you are confirming that you agree to be bound by these terms of business. If we accept your instruction, purchase, or order, a legally binding contract is made between us and you. Some aspects of these Terms may not be relevant to you and we request that you ask for further explanation/clarification if required.

Our commitment to you

We aim to provide your animal with the highest standard of veterinary diagnostics, treatment and care at reasonable cost to you.

Fees

All professional fees, consumables and charges for drugs and services are subject to VAT at the current rate.

Fee levels are determined by the time spent on a case, the intensity of any investigation and/or treatment (including levels of expertise required and technical equipment used) in addition to the costs of drugs, materials and consumables. Example fees are available on request.

We charge a standard fee for completing insurance company claim forms. This is levied on a per-claim basis and it reflects the administrative burden associated with completing this paperwork. This fee is reviewed annually; please see our website for details.

Your commitment to us

You agree to pay to Macarthur Barstow and Gibbs Ltd all costs and expenses that may be incurred whilst your animal is under the care of the practice.

Please be aware that where unexpected problems and complications occur, costs are likely to increase. You understand that if complications do occur, the costs (for which you are wholly liable) may be higher than first anticipated, estimated, or quoted by us.

If requested, we will provide you with a written estimate. This is for guidance only.

Invoicing and payment terms

An itemised invoice will be produced after each visit or treatment of your animal. The invoice and an account statement will be sent electronically to the email address provided by you. Paper copies sent by post will be sent on request only.

Any invoice or statement queries should be raised with our accounts department within 14 days of the invoice date. Failure to notify us of any queries after that period will confirm your acceptance of the invoice and account statement.

If you have been registered with us for at least six months you will be invoiced at the end of each calendar month, or sooner, if the investigation and/or treatment has been concluded. Your account should be settled within 28 days of the invoice date. Interest will be charged at 3% per month for monies outstanding after 45 days of the invoice date. Accounts not settled within 90 days of the invoice date will be referred to our Debt Collection Agency unless extenuating circumstances are discussed with the Directors and a payment plan is agreed.

Further charges on accounts outstanding after 90 days will be levied in respect of costs incurred in collecting that debt. Any cheque returned by our Bank as unpaid or credit card payment not honoured, or cash found to be counterfeit will result in your account balance being restored to the original sum with further charges added in respect of bank charges and administrative costs together with interest of 3% on the original sum.

If you are a new client registered with us, you are required to pay an account deposit of £150 prior to your first visit or consultation. Should the costs associated with that consultation exceed £150, full payment is required within 24 hours of the consultation date. If significant fees are likely to be encountered due to the ongoing nature of an illness or injury, payment is required within 7 days of the invoice date.

If you have been registered with us for less than six months, you may be invoiced on a weekly basis with payment required within 14 days of the invoice date. Interest will be charged at 3% per month for monies outstanding after 45 days of the invoice date. Accounts not settled within 90 days of the invoice date will be referred to our Debt Collection Agency unless extenuating circumstances are discussed with the Directors and a payment plan is agreed.

Further charges on accounts outstanding after 90 days will be levied in respect of costs incurred in collecting that debt. Any cheque returned by our Bank as unpaid or credit card payment not honoured, or cash found to be counterfeit will result in your account balance being restored to the original sum with further charges added in respect of bank charges and administrative costs together with interest of 3% on the original sum.

Equine Zone Visits

Zone visits for routine vaccinations, teeth, prescription checks and follow up blood tests must be paid for at the time of booking. These visits are only available if all outstanding monies are paid to the practice. You cannot request a particular vet or time but only the date of the zone visit to your area. We will try to accommodate any requests but cannot guarantee to do so. A booking fee of £30 plus VAT will be applied to any account not paid and the normal payment terms (as detailed above) applied.

Methods of payment

The following methods are accepted:

Cards Mastercard, Visa

BACS: Please see our bank details on your invoice, or contact our accounts department.

Cash.

Cheques made payable to Macarthur Barstow and Gibbs Ltd.

Genuine inability to pay

If for any reason you anticipate being unable to settle your account in full in the timescale indicated above, we ask that you discuss this matter with us as soon as possible. In exceptional circumstances only, we may be able to accept instalments or part payments but this will be at the discretion of the Directors. Please contact Lynette Smith in the first instance either by telephone on 01905 773262 or by email to .

Equine Insurance

Macarthur Barstow and Gibbs Ltd strongly supports the principle of insuring animals against unexpected accident, illness or injury. 

If a proforma is required it can be completed by us prior to a routine procedure. In the case of an emergency the insurance company should be contacted out of hours if euthanasia is required or the next working day if not. Please see your own insurance policy for details of action required by you.

Most insurance companies require us to complete a claim form signed by the attending vet and returned with a copy of our veterinary report and invoice. 

Provided that the insurance company has agreed the claim in principle, and that you have not made payment to us direct in advance of a claim, we require that payments of claims by insurance companies be made direct to us.  To fulfil this requirement you must ensure that your insurance claim form is appropriately signed and you have instructed your insurance company to pay Macarthur Barstow and Gibbs Ltd directly. Please be aware that the cost of some aspects of the animal’s care may not be covered by insurance (e.g., policy excess). 

These costs, together with any costs subsequently rejected by your insurance company, and any fees over the insured amount must be paid directly by you to Macarthur Barstow and Gibbs Ltd. Regardless of whether the animal is insured, the entire bill remains your responsibility until it is paid in full.  A belief or understanding on your part that your insurers will meet some or all of our charges will not be a defence in respect of any claim we make against you for non-payment. 

Passports

It is a legal requirement that all horses, ponies and donkeys have a valid passport. This must accompany the animal during transport, and therefore will be needed should we refer your animal to a specialist hospital for admission. You must endorse your passport (normally section IX in an old passport and section II in a new passport) to confirm whether the animal is intended for human consumption or not. If your animal’s passport is presented to us unsigned, we reserve the right to sign this as not intended for human consumption. This will allow us to treat the animal according to its clinical needs and to ensure that it never enters the human food chain. In exceptional circumstances, where a passport is not available, a detailed record of medicinal products administered to the animal will be retained. You will need to keep a record of this treatment. This information is provided on your invoice.

Handling Facilities

We reserve the right to refuse to examine animals or undertake procedures should facilities be considered unsafe by a member of our staff. For cattle work we expect a minimum of a cattle crush and a competent stock person. For horses and other species, we require a competent handler who is appropriately dressed (including protective footwear) and able to access to a hard hat should the vet consider this necessary.

Ownership of records

Case records including radiographs and similar documents are the property of, and will be retained by, MacArthur Barstow & Gibbs Ltd. A summary of the clinical history can be passed to another veterinary surgeon should the need arise. This must be requested by yourself or an agent representing you with appropriate authority.

Ownership of radiographs and similar records

The care given to your animal may involve making some specific investigations, for example taking radiographs or performing ultrasound scans. Even though we make a charge for carrying out these investigations and interpreting their results, ownership of the resulting record (for example a radiograph) remains with the practice.

Prescription information

A prescription may be obtained on request from us.  However, the veterinary surgeon responsible for issuing the prescription may not issue the prescription unless your animal has been examined by a vet from MacArthur Barstow & Gibbs Ltd, and is under the care of a vet of MacArthur Barstow & Gibbs Ltd.  The maximum period allowed since the last examination of your animal will vary according to the medication being dispensed and the condition for which the medication is required, at the discretion of the vet issuing the prescription. The maximum period allowed will never be more than 6 months.

A veterinary surgeon must check and issue any prescription. As our Farm and Equine Vets are not always at the surgery, it is important to request such a service at least 24 hours prior to collection.  No other member of staff has authority to issue a prescription.  A professional fee is payable on collection of the prescription.

Complaints and Standards

We hope that you never have recourse to complain about the standards of service received from MacArthur Barstow & Gibbs Ltd.  However, should you feel there is something you wish to complain about, please direct your comments in the first instance to the Accounts Manager, Lynette Smith; Practice Manager, Jo Howl; or one of the Directors.

No addition or variation of these conditions will bind the practice unless it is specifically agreed in writing and signed by one of the practice directors.  No agent or person employed by, or under contract with, the practice has the authority to alter or vary these conditions in any way.

MacArthur Barstow & Gibbs Privacy Notice

This privacy notice tells you how MacArthur Barstow & Gibbs will collect and process your personal data if you register as a client, purchase our services and products, and use our website.

About Us

MacArthur Barstow & Gibbs is an independent veterinary surgery in Worcestershire. We protect the health and well-being of your pets, horses and farm animals, offering a range of services that include: diagnosing and treating sick and injured animals, advising owners on the right pet care, the best farm care and horse care, we provide a range of care related products for purchase.

Who to contact regarding your personal data

We take your privacy seriously. Our Data Protection Officer looks after data protection and would be happy to answer any of your questions about this privacy notice and how MacArthur Barstow & Gibbs uses your data. They can be contacted directly at  or on 01905 773262.

The personal data we collect and process

There are four main ways we process the personal data you provide. We endeavor to keep this information accurate and up to date, and not keep it longer than is necessary.

1. To administer your account as a surgery client

In order to provide our service effectively and ensure the best possible care for your pet, we need to collect and process the following personal data when we register you as a client.

This personal data will be used for the following services and purposes:

• To administer your account and provide the products and services you have requested from us. For example, invoicing, calling to change an appointment and to keep a record for legal and accounting purposes.
• To inform you by email of service information about the practice. For example, notification of seasonal opening times or changes to out of hours availability.
• If you have pet insurance and you wish to make a claim, we will pass on your pet’s clinical history with your name and address to your insurance company to allow them to process your claim.
• If we take a blood sample from your pet, we send the sample to our supplier and provide your surname and address for identification purposes only.

 If you decide to purchase our healthcare plan and pay by direct debit, you will also need to provide bank account details to set up and confirm your direct debit. We do not retain this information once your direct debit is confirmed.

2. To send you marketing communications as a surgery client

We send all our clients the following marketing communications:

• Reminders for pet vaccinations and administering preventative healthcare treatments.
• News information on animal welfare, like top tips for exercise and health checks you can do yourself.
• Promotions and the latest related product offers.

Clients find these communications useful in administering care to their pets and to keep up to date with what is going on at the surgery. They are only sent to existing clients who can opt-out at any time.

The personal data that we process for these communications is first name, email address and mobile phone number.

We would like our clients to enjoy these communications, so it is important to note that you can opt-out at any time by:

• Clicking the ‘Unsubscribe’ link in any marketing communications email.
• Calling our team at the surgery on 01905 773262 for Droitwich, 01905 453007 for Worcester or 01527 861771 for Wychbold.
• Dropping into the surgery and speaking to a member of our team.

3. To share with veterinary related 3^rd parties WITH your consent

There will be occasions where we will need to ask for your consent to share your personal data with a 3^rd party:

• If you would like your pet to be referred to a specialist veterinary surgeon, we will provide them with your pet’s clinical history with your name and address to enable them to confirm your referral appointment.
• Should you wish to move to an alternative veterinary surgery, we will provide your pet’s clinical history with your name and address to your new vets before closing your account.
• Should you wish to chip your pet (cats and rabbits), we register your name, address and contact number with the chip provider. Note that chipping dogs is a legal requirement and we share your personal data in this case under a legal obligation to do so.
• Should you wish to purchase a dog tag, we will provide your name for identification and your contact number for engraving to the dog tag provider.

MacArthur Barstow & Gibbs will not pass on your personal data to any third parties without your consent unless the law requires us to do so. We do not provide any personal data to the suppliers of the medicines we administer or the pet care products we sell.

4. When you use our practice website

When someone visits www.mbgvet.com we use a third party service, Google Analytics, to collect standard internet log information and details of visitor behaviour patterns. We do this to find out things like the number of visitors to the various parts of the website. This information is processed in a way which does not identify anyone.

MacArthur Barstow & Gibbs uses a third party service to help maintain the security and performance of our website. To deliver this service it processes the IP addresses (a number assigned to each of your devices connected to the internet by your broadband provider) of visitors to the MacArthur Barstow & Gibbs website.

We provide contact forms on our website and collect users’ personal information to help them complete certain tasks. Each form details the information required and an explanation of what the form is for. For general enquiries, once an enquiry has been dealt with, the data is deleted in line with MacArthur Barstow & Gibbs procedures.

Disclosure of personal data to our service providers

We may pass on your personal data to service providers contracted to MacArthur Barstow & Gibbs in the course of dealing with you. They act as a data processor on our behalf and are obliged under contract to keep your details secure, and only use them to fulfil the services they provide on our behalf. When they no longer need your data to fulfil this service, they dispose of it in line with MacArthur Barstow & Gibbs procedures.

How long do we process your data for?

MacArthur Barstow & Gibbs is required to retain information in accordance with the law, such as information needed for income tax and audit purposes.

In order to comply with our professional liability insurance, we keep and securely store past clients records for seven years. This includes full name, address, email address and telephone number, but excludes bank account details.

We will only process your personal data whilst you are a client. After one year and six months of inactivity we will email or call clients to prompt them to see if they wish to remain as a client. After three years we will write to or call clients again. If there has been no activity for three years and six months, and no response to our enquiries we will close the client’s account and archive the data.

Your rights as a data subject

• Right of access – you have the right to request a copy of the information that we hold about you.

You can do that by calling Droitwich 01905 773262, Worcester 01905 453007, or Wychbold 01527 861771. If we do hold information about you we will:

• give you a description of it;
• tell you why we are holding it
• tell you who it could be disclosed to; and
• let you have a copy of the information in an intelligible form.

Please note that you will need to provide proof of identity – a current passport or driving licence.

• Right of rectification – you have a right to correct data that we hold about you that is inaccurate or incomplete.
• Right to be forgotten – in certain circumstances you can ask for the data we hold about you to be erased from our records.
• Right to restriction of processing – where certain conditions apply to have a right to restrict the processing.
• Right of portability – you have the right to have the data we hold about you transferred to another organisation.
• Right to object – you have the right to object to certain types of processing such as direct marketing.
• Right to object to automated processing, including profiling – you also have the right to be subject to the legal effects of automated processing or profiling.
• Right to judicial review: in the event that MacArthur Barstow & Gibbs refuses your request under rights of access, we will provide you with a reason as to why. You have the right to complain as outlined below.

Complaints

We take the processing of your personal data very seriously and are here to help with any concerns you may have. Please do contact the Data Protection Manager at  or 01905 773262.

If you are still not happy with how your personal data is being processed by MacArthur Barstow & Gibbs or how your complaint has been handled, you also have the right to lodge a complaint directly with the Information Commissioner’s Office at https://ico.org.uk/concerns/ or by calling 0303 123 1113.