Out-Of-Hours News
Important announcement regarding our companion animal out- of-hours service
What’s changing?
From 15th February 2025 the companion animal emergency service is changing.
Night cover will be provided by Somerset Veterinary Emergency Clinic (SVEC) at Quantock Veterinary Hospital in Bridgwater. They will take phone calls and see your pet if needed between 7pm and 8am every day of the year.
Outside of these hours, i.e. 8am until 7pm, every day of the year, we will either be open for business or taking emergency calls. We are extending our weekday consulting hours and will be able to offer routine and emergency appointments up until 6.30pm.
What this means for you and your pets?
If your pet is staying in with us as an in-patient; nothing is changing. We will continue to hospitalise unwell animals 24/7 if they have come in during the hours we are open or providing emergency cover.
We will continue to provide weekend and bank holiday day-time emergency cover and be open Saturday am.
If you have a genuine emergency after 7pm, any day of the year, your phone call will be handled by SVEC. If your pet needs seeing, you will have to go to Bridgwater.
The emergency contacts remain as the usual clinic numbers for Minehead and Williton; these being 01643 703649 and 01984 634013, respectively. Both will connect you equally fast.
Your call will either take you to our usual call handling service, or direct to SVEC after a short message and single option.
If you would rather be seen by us, in Minehead, and you have concerns about your pet during the hours we are open or provide cover, we strongly suggest you call us at the earliest opportunity, rather that wait and see what happens, only to become more worried late at night – as is often the case.
Why are we making these changes?
The reasons are many; but it has become increasingly apparent that providing a 24-hour emergency service, in-house, with the staff we have is unsustainable. Recruitment of new staff that are willing to work nights on-call is proving impossible currently. The existing vets that are on the rota cannot see themselves remaining in the current role much longer under the existing arrangements. Changing societal attitudes and expectations are partly responsible; consequently, we receive far more calls during the night hours than was once the case. Often rest periods are disturbed with little opportunity to be rota’d off the next day as we simply cannot recruit enough staff.
We have considered properly staffing a night team. Recruitment issues aside; this is not financially viable in Minehead with our client base and geographical situation.
Whilst some might see the sub-contracting of our night service as a ‘dereliction of duty’; these changes will ensure White Lodge is more likely to retain its current Veterinary team and remain under independent ownership.
Pets and Clients that do attend SVEC should expect to receive a more complete night service from dedicated team that is there waiting for you, rather than the current situation where the vet will usually be on their rest after a day at work.
Please note. None of the above is applicable to our farm and equine emergency service.
Many Thanks
