Small Animal Referral Hospital Telemedicine

Yes. Patients are referred because they have complex problems – this may be that they do not yet have a diagnosis, have a diagnosis but not responding to treatment as expected, are anticipated to have complicated or intensive treatments, or they have multiple different problems – all of which would benefit from specialist input. Therefore, it is crucial that we obtain all the pertinent information about your pet’s problem, your concerns and your opinions regarding extent of investigation and treatment, in discussion with you, before making a recommendation about which diagnostic tests and treatments would best suit your pet.

As with all referral appointments, we need a referral request from your local clinic – your vet will need to fill out our referral form.

Our Front of House team will contact you to arrange an appointment within 2 working days of your vet submitting the request. If you have not heard from us, please get in touch.

After your appointment has been made, you will receive a telemedicine welcome pack – this includes all the information you need ahead of your appointment, including relating to insurance and making an insurance claim.

On the day of your appointment, you will receive an email with a video link for your teleconsult – often these are sent out immediately prior to your appointment – if you have not received this by the time of your appointment, please check your junk mailbox and if it is not there, please phone our hospital reception.

No. We use Microsoft Teams – so if you have this app on your device, you can join on your app. Otherwise, the video link will open in your internet browser. When you first enter the video call you will be in a ‘virtual waiting room’ – the clinician will know you are waiting – please wait here until you are transferred to the teleconsult.

Our clinician will meet you in the video call. We require at least one owner to be present for the consultation; multiple owners or family members are very welcome to be present, either on the same device, or on separate devices if you are attending from different locations. We are a teaching hospital and provide clinical teaching to University of Bristol final year veterinary students. Often at least one student will be present in the teleconsult. Our clinicians will have discussed your pet’s referral with the student beforehand and the student will often be involved in asking the initial questions during the consultation – overseen by our clinicians, who are present for the whole teleconsultation process.

No – we only use teleconsults for cases that do not require urgent referral. The teleconsult is an information gathering process – your pet will be examined at their in-person appointment.

Whilst the service is set up to offer video tele consults, we can telephone you at the time of the appointment instead. You will need to arrange this with reception, when they book your appointment.

Of course. We provide remote (phone, email) support for the same condition, for 6 months following investigation and treatment in-clinic. This covers any guidance (management changes or medication adjustment) that can be provided remotely, for the same problem, based on the original diagnosis and is included as part of your original referral. If your pet requires ongoing support beyond 6 months, or develops an unrelated problem, we would usually need a new referral from your vet, for a further teleconsultation. 

The intention of the telemedicine service is that this is the first stage of a referral process prior to admission to the hospital for investigation. Occasionally a definitive diagnosis is able to be made from the diagnostic results provided by your referring clinic, without further investigation necessary. In this instance you may still choose to attend a hospital appointment for assessment, or we can provide a recommendation for a treatment plan based on the working diagnosis. In this instance, we would provide a written teleconsult report outlining our suggestions for your local clinic and your pet’s ongoing care would be transferred back to them. 

No. Where patients are subsequently admitted to the hospital for investigation and treatment, the cost of your teleconsultation is deducted from the cost of your pet’s in-person appointment, so long as this appointment is within 3 months’ of the teleconsult. 

• A review of your pet’s clinical history and available diagnostic results (we do this ahead of the consultation)
• A consultation with you to understand your current concerns and discuss options for investigation and/or treatment moving forwards
• A written report, summarising your pet’s presenting complaint and our recommendations for investigation and/or treatment
• This report is sent to you, and your local clinic – within 3 working days of your appointment
• This means that if you choose not to proceed with referral, we can outline investigation and/or treatment options for you to pursue with your local clinic
• Up to 3 months’ remote support – to review follow up diagnostic testing and responses to management adjustments, as needed

• Your pet’s local vet will make a referral
• Our receptionists will contact you to book a telemedicine appointment
• Our reception team will take payment for the consult over the phone or start the insurance process at this stage
• You will receive an email from us confirming the date and time of your teleconsult and our telemedicine welcome pack, which will include information on how to join the video call and insurance claims
• On the day of your appointment you will receive an email with a link to the video call
• Log on to the video call at the given date and time – you will be met by our clinician who will discuss your concerns for your pet, their diagnostic results, and an ongoing proposed plan
• If you choose to proceed with an in person appointment, our clinician will often arrange this with you, at the end of the teleconsult
• You will then receive a hospital welcome pack via email – with directions and information about attending an in person appointment
• Within 3 days following the teleconsult, you will receive a written report, which is also sent to your local vet, outlining your pet’s history, an assessment of the problem and ongoing recommendations
• If any medications or follow up appointments with your local vet are recommended – please contact your local clinic to arrange collection of these or to book an appointment