FAQs

Similar to human healthcare, where your GP will refer you to a hospital consultant, your primary care vet may wish to refer your pet to a specialist veterinary hospital to see a specialist vet. (Within a particular service)

Alternatively, your vet may not have access to advanced diagnostic techniques such as computerised tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), which can be required to diagnose a number of conditions.

Some surgical and medical procedures often require specialist equipment, along with the expertise to perform them.

Yes, we will always try to accommodate your wishes if you are keen to see a particular veterinary surgeon. Obviously, this is dependent on availability and field of expertise, but we will do our best to cater for you.

We accept referrals in the following areas:

• Anaesthesia
• Cardiology
• Dermatology
• Diagnostic Imaging
• Internal Medicine
• Neurology
• Oncology
• Ophthalmology
• Orthopaedic Surgery
• Soft Tissue Surgery

Your vet will refer your pet to us and we will contact you directly to make an appointment.

Yes, we can claim direct from the insurer. To do this, we need certain information, such as up-to-date insurance details, and permission to speak to your insurers about your policy. You will need to contact your insurer to ensure this. We also ask for a full clinical history, which can either be faxed or emailed on the above contact details. Usually, we carry out these checks before the referral appointment and will explain procedures when we make the initial appointment.

An annual administration fee is chargeable for using our insurance service.

For urgent or emergency referrals there may not be sufficient time to perform and approve a direct claim.  We will keep you informed of the insurance process and costs, until a direct claim can be approved.  In some circumstance we may ask you for a deposit towards the cost of treatment.

We endeavour to see all cases as soon as possible.

We are more than happy to advise your vet how we will manage your case prior to it coming to Paragon. For reasons of professional liability, we are unable to advise pet-owners directly, unless we have already assessed your pet.

Your vet will be able to dispense most on-going medications for you. If you are unable to get your medications from your own practice then we may be able to dispense them for you. You can either pick them up from Paragon or we can send them out to you (postage charges applicable)

We need a minimum of 48 hours to process a repeat prescription, and if you have them posted this may add another 48 hours delay prior to you getting them.  Please keep this in mind when requesting medications.