Pet Acupuncture NI
Terms of Business
1. Pet Acupuncture NI is a service which supplies acupuncture treatment for a fee in the pet’s own home environment.
Fees are:
● £60 initial assessment and treatment
● £50 each subsequent treatment
● £190 initial 4 session booking
2. Although I am a fully qualified and registered veterinary surgeon, I am not offering any other clinical services to pets from this service. This means that if a client approaches me for treatment of their pet I will only do so on referral from their usual veterinary practice and the responsibility for routine healthcare and 24-hour emergency care (including first aid and pain relief) remains with the referring veterinary practice. It is therefore important that communication with the referring practice remains open. I believe that only by working with the veterinary team that knows the animal best can my treatment be most effective. For this reason, I will require contact details for the referring practice and will send them periodic reports about the acupuncture treatment and any other information relevant to the animal's health and welfare. I will always be available to deal with any adverse reactions to, or complications from, my acupuncture treatment.
3. My service is guided by the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons Code of Professional Conduct and I endeavour to make animal welfare my first priority and treat my clients’ pets as if they were my own. It is my aim to provide a service to clients and their pets that they trust and are happy with and I will welcome any feedback on improvement.
4. I believe acupuncture is best used as a complementary therapy to conventional diagnosis and treatment and it is important a diagnosis has been reached before embarking on treatment. For this reason, I will only accept clients on a referral basis from their regular veterinary surgeon. Although clients are welcome to contact me directly for enquiries or to book appointments, I will require a full medical history and express permission from the referring veterinary surgeon to treat prior to confirming a booking.
5. Currently Pet Acupuncture NI operates between Derry City and Coleraine. If your address is outside this area, please contact us via email or mobile for further information. We currently charge £1 per mile travelling fee to your home. Taking into account our starting point of BT49 9JF (Ballykelly).
6. All clients with a confirmed booking will receive a Terms of Business document and a consent form via email at least 48 hours before the appointment date which must be read and agreed prior to treatment.
7. I understand that circumstances can change at short notice therefore booking cancellations can be accepted up to 48 hours prior to treatment without penalty. However, beyond this time cancellations may be subject to a late cancellation charge particularly in the case of repeated cancellations.
8. As I have young dependents, I reserve the right to cancel a booking at short notice. I will always endeavour to contact a client as soon as possible if this is necessary and make plans to rearrange treatment as soon as is mutually convenient.
9. Payment can be made by bank transfer (preferably), card payment or cash and is due at the time of consultation. Delayed payment will result in refusal of any further bookings.
Pet Acupuncture NI cannot offer credit.
Bank Details are as follows:
Name of Account: Emma-Jane Devine Trading as Pet Acupuncture NI
Sort Code: 60-83-71
Account Number: 24901085
10. The above condition remains in place even in the case of valid insurance cover. Insurance claims can be processed for an administration fee of £10 and claim forms will only be accepted for completion providing there are no outstanding balances and the client section of the form is already completed. I do not offer direct insurance claims.
11. A small start-up business such as Pet Acupuncture NI relies on a good reputation above all else therefore, I ask that if you have any concerns with your pet’s treatment or the service you have received, that you contact me directly at pet.acupuncture.ni@gmail.com to discuss these concerns rather than posting bad reviews on social media. It is only in this way that I can learn genuinely what is working for clients and what is not and thereby improve my service.
12. Being a lone worker, my personal safety is a priority and if for any reason I feel unsafe in a client’s home environment I retain the right to refuse further treatment at that address.
13. How I collect and store client data is detailed in the Privacy Policy on my website.
Emma-Jane Hunniford
5th June 2024