Joseph Walsh
My usual vet closed recently and I had to find the closest one to my home. I chose Midsummer Oxley Park. I registered over the phone / email, it was all very pleasant and organised. I took my cats to their first appointment with Midsummer - OP for their yearly vaccinations / checkup. I arrived 10 minutes early, confirmed my appointment and the receptionist said that the vet will be delayed by 15 minutes from my appointment time as he is the only vet at the practice. He had been called away to Midsummer Stantonbury due to the RSPCA dropping off other cats that needed attention. That’s fine, but because of how serious it sounded I asked her if this meant he could be delayed longer (being mindful of time) and she said she didn’t know and asked if I wanted to reschedule. Why would I want to reschedule when I am already there and she said he would be 15 minutes? She then kept reiterating that the rescue cats take priority, but in a manner where she appeared to be defensive. My point is if there is going to be a delay it’s custom for the practice to contact their clients to make them aware of the delay to give them the option of rescheduling. If they are so busy with the demand then maybe have more than one vet available? The receptionist then began talking about herself the entire duration until the vet arrived 20 minutes later. I was with my friend and she agreed that the entire situation was unprofessional, so I know I’m not overreacting. At this point I had been there 30 minutes because I got there 10 minutes early and very mindful of how stressed and anxious my cats were as they don’t like unfamiliar places. The vet gave them both their vaccinations but did not give them the leukaemia vaccination (they had run out). I was concerned because I wanted them to have both vaccinations done at the same time to avoid the stress of bringing them back multiple times. Why didn’t they tell me this over the phone? The vet then checked their teeth and that was it. A one minute appointment. I then asked him “aren’t you going to weigh them and check their heart beats, and sign their forms”. In my 9 years of having my cats that’s what every vet would do. A proper checkup! He then said the nurse would do that. I went to the receptionist who is apparently the nurse, and she seemed caught off guard when I advised her that the vet said she would complete the checkup. We went into the room and my cats were so anxious they buried their heads into each other. She then said ‘I don’t want to disturb them’. All she had to do was pick the cats up, weigh them, check their heart beats and sign the form. It was so unprofessional. I ended up saying ‘it’s fine we can do this another time’ because by this point I had already made my mind up that I’m moving back to Willows Vet. I asked her to sign the vaccination cards. To which she was confused as to why the vet didn’t do this. I explained that he said she would do it. It’s such a small practice how is there such a big lack of communication? It’s concerning. I paid, checked the vaccination cards and realised they didn’t date it! I asked her to add the dates. Later that day I contacted Midsummer - OP and advised them that I am moving back to Willows Vet. The same receptionist confirmed that she would send over my cat’s histories over to Willows that same day. I contacted Willows the next day, and was not surprised when they said this had not been sent over to them. I contacted Midsummer - OP and it diverted to Midsummer Stantonbury. I spoke to a very professional / friendly receptionist and she sorted out my issue within minutes. Sent over the history to my email address and I sent it to Willows. I can’t believe it took just one visit for me to leave! I’m glad I’ve moved back to Willows, the only reason I moved from them in the first place is due to logistics. My cats are still very stressed from yesterday and are hissing at each other, which they NEVER do. I do not recommend Midsummer - OP. They clearly lack professionalism, efficiency and need additional training / support.
