The Healthcare Plus Plan
Application for membership
- Membership of the Healthcare Plus plan is restricted to dogs aged less than eight years of age and to cats less than ten years of age; provided that membership is then maintained without a break, cover can continue for the remainder of the animal’s life.
- All pets joining the Healthcare Plus plan must have complete, ‘up-to-date ’vaccinations as the scheme does not cover either ‘primary’ or ‘restart’ vaccinations. Any routine booster vaccinations which are due within 4 weeks of a pet joining the scheme will be charged to the client at full normal rates.
- The Healthcare Plus plan cannot cover pre-existing conditions. All pets seeking to join the scheme will require a review of any previous clinical history (obtained from a former veterinary practice) and a full clinical examination by one of our veterinary surgeons at the time of application.
- Should this examination reveal that the pet requires immediate attention for a particular condition then any necessary treatment must be carried out before the pet can be accepted onto the scheme.
- All applications to join the Healthcare Plus plan will be subject to review by the Clinical Director. If, consequent to this review, any changes need to be made regarding exclusions to be applied, the owner will be informed and given the option to cancel their application, with any monies paid to be returned, subject to the deduction of the cost of any preventative healthcare treatment already supplied under the plan.
- Given the in-house nature of the Healthcare Plus plan, certain breeds of dog (eg. Giant breeds >45kg, Sharpeis, English Bulldogs) cannot be accepted onto the scheme.
- Initial acceptance and continued membership of the Plan is entirely at the discretion of the Clinical Director.
Preventative healthcare
8. The Healthcare Plus plan will provide pets with comprehensive routine annual vaccination as recommended by the Practice
Dogs: Distemper, Hepatitis, Parvovirus, Leptospirosis 2 or Leptospirosis 4, Parainfluenza, and Kennel Cough.
Cats: Feline Herpes, Calicivirus, Panleucopaenia, and Feline Leukaemia virus.
9. The Plan will provide pets with year-round flea and worm control; the product best suited to a pet, and the timing of its administration, will be determined by our veterinary surgeons. Any variation to the flea and worm treatment protocol will be made only on clinical need as determined by our veterinary surgeons.
10. A discount of 20% will be allowed should clients need to purchase additional parasiticide treatment either for a journey abroad or to replace lost product.
Clinical work
11. The Healthcare Plus plan will provide in-house healthcare for the member pet subject to the conditions listed below.
12. Upon first presentation for a particular condition within any scheme year the client will be required to meet the cost of the Centre’s first consultation fee. Thereafter prescribed (prescription-only) medicines, in-house clinical investigations (e.g. bloods tests, x-rays, ultrasound scans, repeat examinations), sedatives, anaesthetics, surgical procedures, nursing time and hospitalisation will be covered without further charge.
13. Under Healthcare Plus, cover for conditions which arise within a particular scheme year but which continue into another (e.g. arthritis, heart complaints) will continue to be covered by the plan, though the first consultation or supply of medication for the condition in each succeeding scheme year will be subject to the clinic’s standard consultation fee.
14. For those animals joining the Healthcare Plus scheme with a pre-existing condition (eg.arthritis), while all examinations and on-going treatment for this condition will necessarily be charged for at the clinic’s standard rates, a discount of 20% will be given off the cost of prescription-only drugs used to control the condition.
15. The Healthcare Plus plan is an in-house scheme provided by a primary care practice; it cannot provide for attention received at another veterinary clinic (eg. whilst on holiday) or by a specialist centre (eg. referral).
16. Treatment of pets under the Healthcare Plus scheme will follow the protocols agreed by the veterinary surgeons at the Ashlea Veterinary Centre, protocols prepared in accordance with the Code of Professional Conduct produced by the RCVS.
17. The Healthcare Plus plan will cover all dental work required as a result of disease or injury within the mouth but will not provide cosmetic scaling and polishing or cover the cost of treatment of issues associated with tooth eruption.
18. The Healthcare Plus plan will not provide treatment for any conditions or complications resulting from a pet’s pregnancy (e.g. misalliance, whelping, caesareans, mastitis); neutering will only be performed when it is judged to be essential for the resolution of the condition under treatment. Retained testicles will be considered a pre-existing condition.
19. The Healthcare Plus plan will not provide medical treatment for behavioural problems (including false pregnancy). If sedation should be required for examination of an animal solely as a consequence of its temperament then this will not be covered by the scheme.
20. Certain pharmaceuticals cannot be provided under this scheme; the current list of drugs excluded is available on request.
21. From Jan 2019 A small additional monthly fee will be levied from those animals in receipt of longterm medical therapies.
22. The Healthcare Plus plan will not cover the cost of home visits or additional out-of-hours fees (including repeat examinations of pets carried out at the surgery on a Sunday) although discounts on the standard OOH fees will be made.
23. The Healthcare Plus plan cannot provide treatment for conditions contracted abroad.
24. The Healthcare Plus plan does not cover the cost of either rabies vaccination or the provision of an animal passport.
25. Should euthanasia be required for a pet on the Healthcare Plus plan then the cost of this service will be covered, but the owner will remain liable for any cost associated with cremation.
26. Owners will be expected to adhere to the practice’s usual rules regarding the regular re-examination of any pet on continuing medication.
27. It is important that owners are prepared to accept the advice offered by veterinary surgeons at the Centre. If owners refuse to carry through all the treatments advised by the veterinary surgeons for their pet (and for certain diseases this will include surgical or dietary advice) then the Centre retains the right to terminate their membership of the Healthcare Plus plan with four weeks notice.
Administration of 7+the Plan
28. Payment for membership of the Plan will be by 12 monthly payments taken by direct debit on the nearest banking day to the first day of each calendar month. Clients will be asked to pay the first monthly payment in cash (or by credit/debit card) so that the scheme can be activated immediately.
29. The Renewal date for an animal’s scheme will be determined at the time of application.
30. It is important that owners inform the practice in advance of any proposed change to their banking arrangements, for failure to pay the monthly direct debit will result in a pet’s health plan being put ‘on hold’; no treatment or preventative healthcare will be available until the outstanding amounts are settled. If the outstanding balance is not cleared by the time that the next direct debit payment becomes due the plan may be terminated by the Practice.
31. In the event that a plan is terminated by the Practice, the owner of the pet will remain liable for the cost of any preventative healthcare already received in advance of payment made.
32. Members of the scheme will receive a reminder of renewal in the month before the scheme anniversary; this reminder will include details of any proposed variation in both the scheme and it’s fees.
33. The Healthcare Plus plan is not transferable to another pet.
34. The Practice reserves the right to amend or to cancel the Plan at any time.
35. Clients must inform the Practice of any change of address in order that recall of their pet can be accurate. The Practice cannot be held responsible if reminders are sent to an old address, or are not delivered by the postal service.
36. The Practice cannot be held responsible if an owner fails to attend scheduled appointments, or fails to seek booster
vaccinations within the required intervals.
37. In the event of the death of a pet the subscribed plan will terminate. Owners will need to contact the Practice as soon as is convenient following the loss of their pet in order that no further direct debit payments are set up, and so that any reminders due can be cancelled.
Cancellation
38. If a client should seek to cancel their membership of the Healthcare Plus plan part-way through a scheme year they will remain liable for the amount by which the cost of parasiticides and booster vaccinations already provided exceeds the preventative healthcare element levied within the monthly payments already made.
39. Such a cancellation will be effected immediately unless the owner specifies a forward date. No refund of payments already received will be made upon cancellation, unless such cancellation is being made within 14 days of initially joining the Plan, in which case the refund will be subject to the deduction of the cost of any product already supplied under the plan. One months notice is required for cancellation.
Additional benefits
Membership of the Healthcare Plus plan confers the following additional discounts:
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- 20% off the cost of all Emergency call out fees (initial consultation and additional OOH fees)
- 20% off the cost of parasiticides provided in addition to those provided under the terms of the Plan, including environmental sprays
- 20% off the cost of nutraceutical supplements
- 10% off the cost of routine neutering operations.
- 10% off the cost of house visits by a veterinary surgeon (excluding the Visiting Vet scheme)
- 5% off the cost of all foods purchased at the Clinic (both life stage and prescription)
- 5% off the cost of pet-shop products.