Quote:
Originally Posted by Ellie May  It would have been different if the owner was promised that their pup would be done in the morning or whatever. It sounds like the only deal was drop the pup off in the morning and the dental will be done. The pup can be picked up by 6PM. And unless I'm missing something, that's what happened.
If somebody wanted their animal to have their procedure first or in the morning, then that is something the owner needs to make clear up front (although that's really a good way to make the vet and staff..unhappy). Owner didn't tell them (I don't think) that if it couldn't be done early, she would reschedule. The only deal was that the pup be ready for pick-up by 6. So I still don't believe they did anything wrong. Had they said the dog will be ready for pick up at 3 and that wasn't going to happen, then they should have called.
I'm not sure why it's blamed on office management. Office management has very little to do with the vet's and tech's schedule. They could have the receptionists do it, but they are busy filling rooms for other doctors, scheduling appointments, cashing people out, checking people in. Besides, receptionists and assistants are generally not those chosen to call owners when a pet is hospitalized. That is up to the vet or tech who is involved with the case and knows what's going on. And during an emergency, calling an owner for something that isn't necessary when an owner already consented and agreed that the dog could be there til 6 - there's just no reason for it.
I'm sure they had no idea they did anything wrong. No news is ok news. IMO, if an owner doesn't want their pup to sit around there all day, then discuss that when scheduling. As Kalina said, most dogs are absolutely fine. They are taken care of and sometimes babied by the assistants. Any issues are immediately brought to the attention of a tech.
If my pup was the one having the emergency, I would rather nobody in the office took their attention away from that and started doing things that didn't need to be done. All attention is focused on the emergency except for the front desk which would have no business calling without talking to the vet and the assistants who would have no business calling without talking to the vet.
To each their own. JMHO, how this hospital is ran - this is exactly the kind of place I prefer to take my dogs to. |
Thank you for explaining more. However, unless people have worked in a stressful vet office they will never understand. When you are running around crazy busy with surgeries, emergencies, and appointments, making unnecessary phone calls is not top priority. The vets are busy doing surgery, seeing clients, taking in emergencies, and saving lives. The technicians are basically attached to the vets. They assist in surgery, monitor anesthesia, take vitals of the patients, treat the patients, walk/potty the patients, do physical therapy, take x-rays, draw blood, clean up, restock, check in/out, talk to clients and basically do everything else the vet doesn't do (within their skill level). The receptionist in most cases has no idea what is going on in the treatment room. They are too busy up front. They do not know which pet has gone into surgery already or who is finished. They do not know if fluffy had their x-rays, dental, went potty, ate breakfast, etc... For them to find out they have to put everything else on hold up front and go find a vet or technician available to ask them and hope they find the right person to ask about that particular patient.
So all in all, a "simple phone call" is not as simple as it seems.
When I was a tech i very rarely had time to even clock out for lunch. I snarfed down my lunch while running around, or didn't eat at all. I was over worked and underpaid as are the majority of staff at a vet clinic. To call an owner just to let them know that their dog didn't have surgery yet was not a possibility unless that dog was specifically supposed to have surgery at a specific time agreed upon by the vet and owner. Patients come in for a procedure on a specific day, not at a certain time. They are dropped off in the morning to ensure that they are there all day for the vet's and staff's convenience. The vet decides what order he wants to do the procedures and they try to stick to that. The tech usually have tests, blood draws, x-rays, etc to do on each patient before surgery so having the pt there early is necessary. If an emergency comes in then the routine and healthy animals are bumped back so the critical patient can be taken care of first. That may mean your dog will not have its procedure done until later in the day, but it will still be done. If the staff knows that they may not, or will not be able to get the procedure done that day due to emergencies then they will call to reschedule but honestly its quite hectic and things happen.
I'm sorry most people here to do not agree with me. If you've never been elbow deep in an emergency bloat surgery or covered in urine and anal glands from an aggressive and terrified lab that is flailing around after its fracture repair surgery and you are trying to subdue it so it won't rebreak its leg, then you won't understand why it sometimes slips the mind of the technician/vet/staff to call an owner to tell them their dogs dental hasn't been done yet