After decades of balancing being full time veterinary surgeons while running a business, our directors are now approaching the stage in life where they need to step back from the demands of owning a busy veterinary practice, to allow them to focus on what attracted them to the profession in the first instance – providing excellent clinical care to pets and guidance to pet owners.
Therefore, we are excited to be joining the Kin Vet Community, a small group of practices that share our values: high-quality, tailored veterinary care that centres around working together with pet owners, the same way we always have.
The aspects you value most about entrusting the care of your pets to us won’t be changing – Ian, Gerald and Philip will remain at Heathfield Vets as clinical directors and key decision-makers. So, you can book appointments with them as you usually would, and they will continue to be supported by the same team so you’ll still recognise our friendly faces when your pets need us. The care, compassion and consideration you have come to expect are the heart of the practice, so for our clients, everything should continue to feel exactly the same.
Who are Kin Vet?
Kin Vet are a small corporate veterinary group backed by a private equity firm called Perwyn, whose focus is on doing corporate veterinary differently. They are a small group of which we are the 25th practice. Kin Vet focus solely on first opinion practices, unlike larger corporate groups; they do not also own online pharmacies, referral centres, laboratories, or crematoria.
Why did we choose Kin Vet?
Our directors need to plan for the future of our practice and looked for a buyer that shares the Heathfield Vets values. Ian, Philip and Gerald have built this practice over several decades and they care very much about continuing that legacy. This means that they looked for a buyer that allowed:
- Clinical decisions to be kept at the local level so they can recommend any treatment or medication that would benefit your pet without limits on what products they can use.
- Freedom to choose any referral centre in collaboration with pet owners to take into account finances, quality of care, distance from the practice, and level of urgency to best meet the needs of the patient.
- Continued use of our preferred external laboratory and crematorium, that meet the standards we have always valued.
- Prices are not set centrally but at the local practice level, taking into account the individual practice running costs. Prices are usually reviewed annually when our suppliers provide us with their updated price lists, and we will continue to use a live pricing system for our medications as we always have
- Our services remain in house, for example if you need to claim on your pet’s insurance this will still be handled by our team.
- No sales targets are imposed by Kin Vet.
- Potential for investment into the continued growth of our practice and the services we offer.
- No staff changes; Ian, Philip and Gerald will still be the vets you see and you and your pets will still be cared for by the familiar faces on our reception and nursing team.
With all the recent press about corporate owned veterinary practices, we understand our clients may have lots of questions about how this could affect them. We hope that the above provides some clarity and reassurance. We have been a part of the Heathfield Community for over 70 years and this decision has been taken in order to secure our ongoing commitment to the clients and their pets who have trusted us with their care over that time. We look forward to continuing to provide our high standards of pet care to the community.
Call us on 01435 864422 if you have any questions about the Kin Vet Community or our practice.
