Practice reduces footfall with new app

A Scottish practice has today (23 March) launched a veterinary text advice and video consult app for clients to reduce the need for human-to-human contact in the face of the coronavirus pandemic.

The Pets’n’Vets Family PetsApp is a bespoke version of PetsApp – a veterinary-specific client communications platform designed to help clients gain easier access to their vets.

Collection service

A messaging system allows text chats – including appointment bookings and text consultations. The app also allows video consults, while contactless payments can also be handled.

The Glasgow-based Pets’n’Vets Family has also announced it will deploy its fleet of veterinary ambulances to offer a pet collection service should a pet’s health issue require further investigation at the Roundhouse Veterinary Hospital in Glasgow’s southside.

Rules relaxed

By reducing footfall to its practice, the app also enables some team members to work from home.

The practice said: “The introduction of the app has been brought forward in response to recent guidance from the RCVS that, due to the coronavirus pandemic, rules have been relaxed on what vets can and cannot do with regards to tele/remote consulting in order to allow for this sort of interaction.”