Downloaded from http://veterinaryrecord.bmj.com/ on November 17, 2015 - Published by group.bmj.com
News & Reports
Emergency care
Out-of-hours provider launches telephone triage centre VETS Now, which provides out-of-hours services from 53 clinics across the UK, has launched a telephone triage centre dedicated to handling emergency calls. In February last year, the company launched a triage service to provide pet owners with advice when they phoned one of its clinics. This service was initially trialled within a select number of clinics, but the company says that, following a strong reception from clients and veterinary partners, it is now being rolled out across the wider clinic network. The new call handling centre, which is located within the company’s Dunfermline support centre, currently employs 53 staff, including specialised call handlers and registered veterinary nurses. Vets Now reports that its triage service is now handling more than 400,000 calls a year, most of which are from pet owners who need reassurance at the weekend or in the middle of the night when their vet’s practice is closed. The triage centre connects 58 | Veterinary Record | July 18, 2015
Richard Dixon, founder of Vets Now, outside the company’s support centre in Dunfermline
with the company’s clinic network through a centralised booking system, providing its
clinics with details of the emergency cases allocated to them. Richard Dixon, founder of Vets Now, said that the expansion of the free triage service had allowed the company to offer an improved service to pet owners and practices. ‘With the call triage service no longer being solely based in our emergency clinics, our staff can be dedicated to answering calls more quickly and spend longer on the phone offering reassurance,’ he said. ‘Centralising our booking and escalation process has also freed up our vets and nurses in the emergency clinics to focus on the pets in their care, rather than juggling with answering the phones too. ‘The service has been very well received and the new centre provides us with a dedicated facility to manage calls and focus on customer service as we make the service available across our clinic network.’ doi: 10.1136/vr.h3851
Downloaded from http://veterinaryrecord.bmj.com/ on November 17, 2015 - Published by group.bmj.com
Out-of-hours provider launches telephone triage centre Veterinary Record 2015 177: 58
doi: 10.1136/vr.h3851 Updated information and services can be found at: http://veterinaryrecord.bmj.com/content/177/3/58.2
These include:
Email alerting service
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Notes
To request permissions go to: http://group.bmj.com/group/rights-licensing/permissions To order reprints go to: http://journals.bmj.com/cgi/reprintform To subscribe to BMJ go to: http://group.bmj.com/subscribe/
News & Reports
Emergency care
Out-of-hours provider launches telephone triage centre VETS Now, which provides out-of-hours services from 53 clinics across the UK, has launched a telephone triage centre dedicated to handling emergency calls. In February last year, the company launched a triage service to provide pet owners with advice when they phoned one of its clinics. This service was initially trialled within a select number of clinics, but the company says that, following a strong reception from clients and veterinary partners, it is now being rolled out across the wider clinic network. The new call handling centre, which is located within the company’s Dunfermline support centre, currently employs 53 staff, including specialised call handlers and registered veterinary nurses. Vets Now reports that its triage service is now handling more than 400,000 calls a year, most of which are from pet owners who need reassurance at the weekend or in the middle of the night when their vet’s practice is closed. The triage centre connects 58 | Veterinary Record | July 18, 2015
Richard Dixon, founder of Vets Now, outside the company’s support centre in Dunfermline
with the company’s clinic network through a centralised booking system, providing its
clinics with details of the emergency cases allocated to them. Richard Dixon, founder of Vets Now, said that the expansion of the free triage service had allowed the company to offer an improved service to pet owners and practices. ‘With the call triage service no longer being solely based in our emergency clinics, our staff can be dedicated to answering calls more quickly and spend longer on the phone offering reassurance,’ he said. ‘Centralising our booking and escalation process has also freed up our vets and nurses in the emergency clinics to focus on the pets in their care, rather than juggling with answering the phones too. ‘The service has been very well received and the new centre provides us with a dedicated facility to manage calls and focus on customer service as we make the service available across our clinic network.’ doi: 10.1136/vr.h3851
Downloaded from http://veterinaryrecord.bmj.com/ on November 17, 2015 - Published by group.bmj.com
Out-of-hours provider launches telephone triage centre Veterinary Record 2015 177: 58
doi: 10.1136/vr.h3851 Updated information and services can be found at: http://veterinaryrecord.bmj.com/content/177/3/58.2
These include:
Email alerting service
Receive free email alerts when new articles cite this article. Sign up in the box at the top right corner of the online article.
Notes
To request permissions go to: http://group.bmj.com/group/rights-licensing/permissions To order reprints go to: http://journals.bmj.com/cgi/reprintform To subscribe to BMJ go to: http://group.bmj.com/subscribe/
