We attend any area within the practice catchment for routine calls during normal working hours. If this is not on an ‘area day’, the visit fee will depend on the distance from the clinic and take into account any adjacent visits. We will attend emergencies in any part of our practice area at any time.
Area Days
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Visits not on an area day are charged at distance from practice.
In the interests of efficiency, reduction in client costs and the environment, we have arranged weekly visits to certain areas with specific ‘area days’.
Many parts of the practice are now covered by ‘area days’ where on at least one day a week a vet will visit the area for routine calls.
The maximum visit fee for these days will be £48 (including vat) for a fixed time visit. If you are able to be flexible on time up to 5PM the day before the visit, our team will send out a text message with a time for the appointment once the vet has made their route for that day. In this case the visit fee is reduced to £42 (including VAT).
The visit fee would be shared between the number of clients seen at the same site.
See below for our area days & call out fees (all inclusive of VAT).
Monday
Bexley:
- Call out: £12 (for the Woolwich, Plumstead, Eltham and Mottingham areas, the call out is £48)
Meopham:
- Call out: £48
- Areas including although not restricted to: Meopham, Culverstone Green, Hartley, Betsham, Cobham, Longfield, New Ash Green, Ash, Fawkham.
Headcorn:
- Call out: £48
- Areas including although not restricted to: Headcorn, Tenterden, Biddenden, Bethersden, Shadoxhurst, Great Chart, Smarden, Pluckley, Sutton Valence, Chart Sutton, Charing, Harrietsham, Sheldwich, Challock.
Canterbury / East Kent:
- Call out: £48
- Areas including although not restricted to: Canterbury, Chilham, Herne Bay, Birchington, Margate, Minster, Sandwich, Woodnesborough, Deal, Aylesham, Barham, Nonington, Dover, Capel-Le-Ferne, Lyminge, Sellinge.
Goudhurst:
- Call out: £48
- Areas including although not restricted to: Goudhurst, Fordcombe, Crowborough, Tunbridge Wells, Southborough, Hurst Green, Mayfield, Cranbrook, Frittenden, Staplehurst, Marden, Horsmonden, Brenchley, Paddock Wood, Coxheath.
Faversham / Sittingbourne:
- Call out: £48
- Areas including although not restricted to: Bearsted, Boxley, Thurnham, Bredhurst, Rainham, Upchurch, Newingon, Borden, Lower Halstow, Iwade, Isle of Sheppy, Teynham, Sittingbourne, Faversham, Newnham, Milstead, Hollingbourne.
Tuesday
Chelsfield:
- Call out: £48
Chelsfield West: Areas including although not restricted to: Halstead, Knockholt, Biggin Hill, Cudham, Downe, Keston, Croydon, Warlingham.
Chelsfield East: Areas including although not restricted to: Chelsfield, Kemsing, Otford, Shoreham, West Kingsdown, Knatts Valley, Eynsford, Crockenhill, Chislehurst, Orpington, Bromley, West Wickham.
Swanley:
- Call out: £48
- Areas including although not restricted to: Swanley, Horton Kirby, Sutton at Hone, Darenth, Betsham, Southfleet, Northfleet, Greenhithe, Bean, Swanscombe, Dartford, Wilmington, Hextable.
Faversham / Sittingbourne:
- Call out: £48
- Areas including although not restricted to: Bearsted, Boxley, Thurnham, Bredhurst, Rainham, Upchurch, Newingon, Borden, Lower Halstow, Iwade, Isle of Sheppy, Teynham, Sittingbourne, Faversham, Newnham, Milstead, Hollingbourne.
Canterbury / East Kent:
- Call out: £48
- Areas including although not restricted to: Canterbury, Chilham, Herne Bay, Birchington, Margate, Minster, Sandwich, Woodnesborough, Deal, Aylesham, Barham, Nonington, Dover, Capel-Le-Ferne, Lyminge, Sellinge.
Wednesday
Bexley:
- Call out: £12 (for the Woolwich, Plumstead, Eltham and Mottingham areas, the call out is £48)
Goudhurst:
- Call out: £48
- Areas including although not restricted to: Goudhurst, Fordcombe, Crowborough, Tunbridge Wells, Southborough, Hurst Green, Mayfield, Cranbrook, Frittenden, Staplehurst, Marden, Horsmonden, Brenchley, Paddock Wood, Coxheath.
Meopham:
- Call out: £48
- Areas including although not restricted to: Meopham, Culverstone Green, Hartley, Cobham, Longfield, New Ash Green, Ash, Fawkham, Luddesdown.
Medway / North Kent:
- Call out: £48
- Areas including although not restricted to: Aylesford, Blue Bell Hill, Burham, Halling, Cuxton, Strood, Chatham, Gillingham, Walderslade, Wainscott, Shorne, Higham, Hoo, Cliffe, Lower Stoke.
Sittingbourne / Faversham:
- Call out: £48
- Areas including although not restricted to: Sittingbourne, Boxley, Detling, Hucking, Wormshill, Milstead, Doddington, Newnham, Faversham, Borden, Bredhurst, Stockbury, Newington, Lower Halstow, Upchurch, Isle of Sheppy.
Thursday
Sevenoaks:
- Call out: £48
- Areas including although not restricted to: Sevenoaks, Seal, Hildenborough, Tonbridge, Chiddingstone, Four Elms, Edenbridge, Ide Hill, Crockham Hill, Westerham.
Chelsfield:
- Call out: £48
Chelsfield West: Areas including although not restricted to: Halstead, Knockholt, Biggin Hill, Cudham, Downe, Keston, Croydon, Warlingham.
Chelsfield East: Areas including although not restricted to: Chelsfield, Kemsing, Otford, Shoreham, West Kingsdown, Knatts Valley, Eynsford, Crockenhill, Chislehurst, Orpington, Bromley, West Wickham.
Goudhurst:
- Call out: £48
- Areas including although not restricted to: Goudhurst, Fordcombe, Crowborough, Tunbridge Wells, Southborough, Hurst Green, Mayfield, Cranbrook, Frittenden, Staplehurst, Marden, Horsmonden, Brenchley, Paddock Wood, Coxheath.
Sittingbourne / Faversham:
- Call out: £48
- Areas including although not restricted to: Sittingbourne, Boxley, Detling, Hucking, Wormshill, Milstead, Doddington, Newnham, Faversham, Borden, Bredhurst, Stockbury, Newington, Lower Halstow, Upchurch, Isle of Sheppy
Friday
Sittingbourne / Faversham:
- Call out: £48
- Areas including although not restricted to: Sittingbourne, Boxley, Detling, Hucking, Wormshill, Milstead, Doddington, Newnham, Faversham, Borden, Bredhurst, Stockbury, Newington, Lower Halstow, Upchurch, Isle of Sheppy.
Medway / North Kent:
- Call out: £48
- Areas including although not restricted to: Aylesford, Blue Bell Hill, Burham, Halling, Cuxton, Strood, Chatham, Gillingham, Walderslade, Wainscott, Shorne, Higham, Hoo, Cliffe, Lower Stoke.
Meopham:
- Call out: £48
- Areas including although not restricted to: Meopham, Culverstone Green, Hartley, Cobham, Longfield, New Ash Green, Ash, Fawkham, Luddesdown.
Swanley:
- Call out: £48
- Areas including although not restricted to: Swanley, Horton Kirby, Sutton at Hone, Darenth, Betsham, Southfleet, Northfleet, Greenhithe, Bean, Swanscombe, Dartford, Wilmington, Hextable.
Bexley:
- Call out: £12 (Morning only) (For the Woolwich, Plumstead, Eltham and Mottingham areas, the call out is £48)
Headcorn:
- Call out: £48
Areas including although not restricted to: Headcorn, Tenterden, Biddenden, Bethersden, Shadoxhurst, Great Chart, Smarden, Pluckley, Sutton Valence, Chart Sutton, Charing, Harrietsham, Sheldwich, Challock.
Canterbury / East Kent:
- Call out: £48
- Areas including although not restricted to: Canterbury, Chilham, Herne Bay, Birchington, Margate, Minster, Sandwich, Woodnesborough, Deal, Aylesham, Barham, Nonington, Dover, Capel-Le-Ferne, Lyminge, Sellinge.
If your area is not covered by a zone day, do not despair! If you book your appointment well in advance we should hopefully be able to combine your call with others in the area and save you part of the visit fee as well – see below for tips on how you can save money.
Tips to reduce your call out costs
- See if your non-emergency, routine vet visits can be accommodated on one of our ‘Area Days’. Area visit days allow us to assign a vet to given area which we commonly visit. This means on the day a vet will be visiting several yards in the same area, saving time and fuel costs, which we pass on to you by reducing the call out cost to £48 (incl VAT), which will be split between clients seen on the same yard.
- Book early– If you are able to book in advance and can be flexible on dates, times and the vet attending, it is often possible to coincide several visits in a similar area, thereby reducing travelling times and subsequently call out costs, which again can be passed on to you.
- Share visits with other owners on the same yard – this can make a big difference to your costs. Our call out charges are usually assigned for a yard visit. Therefore, if we attend several animals on the same yard, we can divide the visit fee between each of the owners, which can significantly decrease the charges paid, especially on Area Days. Please book yard visits in advance in order that we can timetable effectively for the extra time required to see more cases.
- Pay on the day– we have a long standing policy of offering a discount on invoices which are settled at the time of the appointment. This discount applies not only to the visit fee, but also to any examination, vaccination, medicine charges etc. This will also help reduce your veterinary costs.
- Join HHP– our Horse Health Programme offers huge savings on preventative health care and further savings on any other service which is not included in the scheme. For further information, please see HERE for all the benefits or call the clinic to find out more.
- Call where possible inside normal working hours– we offer a complete emergency cover service outside normal working hours, however, this is expensive to run and consequently call out fees are proportionally higher. If you suspect your horse is unwell in the morning, it is preferable to call us to see if a visit is required. It may be we can offer advice which will help avoid a visit, or if needed, we can arrange a visit during normal hours with a vet who is local to you that day. If you monitor your horse during the day, and then contact us outside normal hours, if a visit is required, this will fall under our emergency cover service.
- Call for advice– there are many situations where we can help with phone advice alone, for which we do not charge. This can be very useful for monitoring ongoing cases or minor ailments. We will offer advice accordingly, and if the vet feels a visit is required we will do our best to schedule the visit in a way to keep your costs to a minimum.
For any other enquiries, please call our reception team on 01622 813700 and they will be happy to advise you.
