Further to the Prime Minister’s announcement last night and following the guidelines set out by The Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons (RCVS) and the British Equine Veterinary Association (BEVA), our vets will be doing emergency work only with immediate effect.
As vets our primary role is to maintain the health and welfare of the equine patients under our care. During the current National Emergency we are having to balance animal care with our responsibilities to the human health of the members of our team, as well as the health of our clients and the wider population.
We have already put into place many procedures to protect human health. Most of our office team have been working from home for a number of days and this system has been functioning very well. Our ambulatory vets are minimising their interaction with our hospital teams and we are following all the other distancing guidelines published by the Government and our professional bodies.
We have tried to maintain a normal service on the road and in the hospital, unfortunately we are now having to impose restrictions on the type of work that we are doing.
Please rest assured that we aim to maintain our usual excellent level of care for emergency cases 24 hours a day, 7 days a week on the road. The stud vet team will continue to handle all foalings and foal related issues, including post-foaling checks. Our hospital will remain fully open to admit all types of emergency cases. Our lab will also continue to process samples that are required to be run.
Our vets will be available on the phone (01903 883050) and by email (info@sussexequinehospital.co.uk) to offer any advice that you require.
If you are uncertain as to whether your horse fits the emergency criteria then please do call and discuss the situation with us.
Our office staff will also be on the end of the phone to deal with all your usual requirements.
As a practice, we will do all we can to maintain the balance between human health and animal health and welfare, as soon as we are permitted to we will be in a position to rapidly return to our normal routine service.
We wish all our clients the very best
The Directors
