In An Emergency

In an emergency please call 01453 762350.

Out of hours emergencies are seen at the Emergency Veterinary Service run from the Woods Veterinary Hospital in Quedgeley. The phonelines are automatically diverted after opening hours but if required can be contacted directly on 01452 543990.

Stable patients that do not require intensive nursing are able to stay at the Bowbridge Surgery overnight.

Why We Use The Emergency Veterinary Service

We have been using the Emergency Veterinary Service for a number of years now and most clients are familiar with this arrangement. It was initially adopted as a temporary measure when 2 vets had to be off work. However we learned using the out of hours service has the following benefits:

Pets are seen more quickly in an emergency as travel time to Quedgeley is quicker than us getting back to the practice and opening everything up.

Pets receive safer treatment as night shift vets are already awake and alert as they rest during the day.

Cheaper treatment! This may sound bonkers as out of hours treatment is more expensive. However, by covering the out of hours work for multiple practices the Emergency Veterinary Service treats enough pets to reduce the costs. If we were to provide a like for like service we’d need to employ a minimum of 2 vets, 2 nurses and 2 care assistants to cover the rota. If treated around 1 pet a night (the number we used to see at Bowbridge out of hours) we’d need to charge around £600 for an emergency consultation to cover the salary cost alone.

Our vets are happier and stay in the profession longer. The average career span for a vet from graduating is now 5 ½ years. Recruiting vets, especially experienced ones has now become extremely difficult so everything we can do to keep them happy means our clients get to see the same faces for their regular, and most frequent appointments.

Staff safety when we used to travel to the practice at night we were usually on our own and there was nothing to stop a less scrupulous member of society using the opportunity to break into the practice for cash or drugs.