10/02/2025
OOH Response Post
We knew the changes to our night time out-of-hours would provoke a few comments.
We thank those of you who understand this long considered decision. For those of you that have expressed concerns and even disgust; did you actually read the post properly?
This decision is being made ENTIRELY for the reasons of RETENTION and RECRUITMENT of Vet staff.
Currently we are 1-2 Vets short on small animal. This is putting a long-term strain on those that deliver the out of hours service. This is before anyone takes holiday, goes ill or has a mental breakdown. Several of the existing staff do not see themselves continuing with a role that involves night work for too much longer. Additionally, we cannot recruit experienced or even inexperienced vets into a role that involves on call.
If we carry on as things are, unwilling to change course and ignore the impending iceberg, the on-call ship will sink. Instead, we are making plans, in advance, to try and keep the vets we have and make the job more attractive to recruit in to. To this end, we are paying (yes, this costs us money) a provider of out-of hours Veterinary care to do this on our behalf so the service continues uninterrupted.
These changes will help White Lodge to remain more of less the same as it is now into the future and clients will be able to benefit from the same care in a well maintained and exceptionally well-equipped clinic, for the small price of having to travel a little further on those very rare occasions when you have urgent concerns.
On that matter, there seems to be a general misunderstanding in the public sphere about what constitutes a GENUINE emergency.
Of the 60-80 calls we receive out-of-hours every month; without wishing to be dismissive of owner’s concerns, the vast majority (80%) are very minor ailments and could easily have waited until we are open. In many cases we will not actually see some of these pets and will just offer (usually) free advice. Most of the remainder either have a history of, or are showing signs that would concern us to leave them all for more than a few hours. For example, a dog with persistent vomiting or diarrhoea that is getting dehydrated. A good percentage of these cases will have been ill during the day and owners would have been hoping they would get better, only to become concerned at bedtime. This is where we have always and will continue to advise a big of foresight. If you are worried, get your pet seen whilst we are still open. Failing this, you will now have a potentially less convenient option.
There are probably about 6-8 patients a year that are a bit more time critical. In this we include dogs with twisted stomachs and animal that are seizing continually. If you live in Minehead, and are fortunate enough to get one of our on-call vets that lives here, you might be seen in 15 minutes. It is more likely you will have to wait 30 minutes. For people living in Williton and Watchet, they will have a 15–20-minute drive anyway. Bridgwater (at night) is 25-30 minutes from Williton and 40-45 minutes from Minehead. This is not a great deal longer than having to wait 30 minutes for a vet to come and meet you at the clinic. Things that people assume are blue light emergencies, such as dogs needing caesarians and RTA’s are often less time critical that one imagines. Of course, these need attention asap, but a little more time rarely leads to loss of life. Sadly, the pets that die from RTA’s usually die immediately or within a short space of time and no amount of timely first aid changes this.
Some other points to respond to
1- You do not need to register at Quantock. The emergency clinic is run as a separate business and they will see all of our clients regardless of whether their books are closed to new patients.
2- They will not have access to the clinical history. This is not as important as you would expect. The fact that a dog has been lame for 6 months or had bad skin all of its life really does not affect the decision-making process in a true emergency. Some more complicated cases with pets on medication that take a turn for the worse can usually be unpicked enough with a good client history and list of medications.
3- It is not acceptable to call our popular friend and colleague in Glenmore Road out of hours when you usually use us as your vets. He has every right to refuse to see you. If you wish to register there and use him all the time, that is fine with us if he will accept you.
Lastly. Try and be nice. It does not escape the attention of all the staff here and a vet practices’ far and wide that they are particularly ripe for ridicule, abuse and downright nastiness on social media.
Locally we have the ‘cauldron of bile’ that is Minehead Chit Chat, among others that have not yet attained such greatness.
When we get slated on social media, the staff; Vets, Nurses and Admin alike, many of whom work long and hard to make the practice what it is, take this personally. The business is not ‘faceless’ and as part of a fairly small community, we do notice when our clients post nice, and sometimes, less nice things about us online.
We are a small animal, equine and farm veterinary clinic based in the South West of England, within
