Referring a patient to the AHT- Information for Owners
How to make an appointment at the AHT | In-Patients | Out-Patients | Communication/ Reports | Directions/Map | Insurance Information | Passports
How to make an appointment at the AHT
The Animal Health Trust is a second-referral clinic. This means that all the clinical cases we see come with a referral from, or with the knowledge of your own vet. This is necessary, as after your horse has been to the Equine Centre, and been diagnosed and maybe treated by us, it will return to the care of your own vet.
In most cases, your vet will have assessed your horse, and possibly carried out some diagnostic techniques of their own, before suggesting to you that a referral to the Equine Centre is necessary and appropriate for its particular problem. Your vet will contact us, and we will take some initial details about you and your horse, and its particular problem. Invariably we will be given telephone numbers to contact you on, and the Equine Centre secretaries will ring you and make a mutually convenient appointment for your horse to come to the Equine Centre. In some instances an appointment will be made with your vet, who will inform you of the date and time.
The Equine Centre is open Monday to Friday, from 8.30 a.m. to 5.30 p.m., and closed at weekends. We try to arrange appointments for in-patients, whose appointments might take three to four days, at the beginning of the week. Main appointment times are 9.00 a.m., 11.00 a.m. and 2.00 p.m., although alternative times can be arranged when necessary. It is also possible for horses to be admitted to the Equine Clinic at the weekend, if this facilitates your transport arrangements. If you are admitted at the weekend it will be the intern on duty, rather than the clinician in charge of your case, who will meet you and take a history from you.
Confirmation of an appointment is sent out by post, fax or e-mail, depending on how soon your horse is coming to us. Sometimes paperwork will be ready in reception, for you to complete on your arrival. The paperwork comprises confirmation of the date and time of your appointment, together with the name of the clinician in charge of your case. There are two copies of a Consent Form, which has to be signed before any investigations can commence. The Consent Form covers all possible investigations, and many of the points will not necessarily be relevant for your particular circumstances. The Client History form allows you to provide us with details about your horse, which will enable us to look after it in the same way you do, while they are at the Equine Centre. If you are unable to accompany your horse for its appointment, and it arrives via a transporter, please either ensure that your completed paperwork is sent to us before the appointment, or that it comes with your horse on the day of its appointment. Please provide a contact number, so that the clinician can telephone you to get additional details of the horse's history.
When making an appointment, advice can be provided as to whether your horse should be shod or not, whether you should continue to keep your horse in light work, and whether it should continue on any pain-killing medication up to the time of its appointment.
In-Patients
Many horses are referred to us for lameness or poor performance investigations, and these appointments generally take three to four days, sometimes longer, depending on the complexity of the problem. In these cases, your horse will be an in-patient, and will stay with 
us for the duration of the appointment. You will be advised at the time of making your appointment whether your horse will be an in-patient or not. For these types of cases we usually ask you to bring your tack with you, so that if we need to see the horse ridden, it is easier to do this with your own tack. Your horse will be stabled for the duration of their stay at the Equine Clinic, and you are welcome to bring any rugs you would like them to use while they are here. A note is made of any equipment you bring with your horse and leave with us, and we ensure that the horse leaves with everything it came with when it is discharged.
We provide all feed and bedding for your horse during its appointment, unless it is on any special, specific mix. Please let us know in advance of any special dietary requirements, and please bring any additives you wish the horse to receive during its appointment. Bedding is usually shavings, but paper bedding can be provided if necessary.
We usually ask clients to arrive about 20-30 minutes before the time of their appointment. This gives you time to unload your horse and settle them into a stable. You will be met on the yard by a member of our yard staff, who will help you unload the horse, and who will be involved with caring for your horse during its appointment.
Your horse will be under the primary care of a senior specialist clinician whilst at the Equine Centre. At the time of your admission, the clinician in charge of your case will sit down with you, and go through the history of your horse. While you are here, the clinician will also examine your horse, including watching your horse moving in hand, on the lunge and ridden if necessary. It may be necessary for you to ride your horse; however, if that is not possible, 
one of our skilled yard staff will be able to ride the horse at this stage or at any point during its investigations. If it is necessary to continue with investigations, your horse will be admitted as an in-patient for the clinician to continue with their investigations, which can include a bone scan, x-rays, ultrasonography, nerve blocks and sometimes magnetic resonance imaging. The clinician will keep you informed each day of their progress, and seek your permission for any diagnostic or treatment procedures that require your consideration and agreement. As the appointment progresses, the clinician will be able to give you some indication as to when all the investigations and treatment will be complete, and when it is likely that your horse will be ready to go home.
When your horse is discharged from the hospital, you will be given instructions about how to manage and treat your horse as a result of the diagnostic findings or treatment that has been carried out in the hospital.
In many cases, as part of our treatment protocol, corrective trimming and remedial shoeing may be appropriate, and we have a resident remedial farrier to carry this out prior to a horse being discharged.
Horses can be collected at your convenience, but owners are advised that hospitalisation charges are made from the day of admission to the day of discharge. Horses can be collected out of hours or at the weekend, but specific arrangements need to be made to ensure the duty intern and appropriate yard staff are available to help discharge and load your horse.
The Equine Centre has a large yard area, and it is possible to leave your horse box or trailer for the duration of your appointment. Vehicles are left at your own risk, but we do have 24 hour security patrolling AHT premises.
Out-Patients
Outpatient appointments are made for those horses that require a specific examination, for investigations such as x-rays or ultrasonography, or for a treatment such as shock wave treatment. Horses that return to the clinic for re-examination will usually be admitted as out patients. Depending on the type of examination or treatment, the visit may last approximately one to two hours. If your horse comes in as a day patient for particular imaging, such as MRI, then your horse will need to be here for a full day. If your horse is sedated for any examination or treatment, they will be stabled and monitored until the sedation has worn off and your horse is fit and able to travel home safely. Out-patient appointments can be made on most days of the week.
Communication/Reports
The clinician in charge of your horse will keep you informed about the progress of your horse through investigations and treatment. When your horse is admitted, you will be advised which are the best times to contact the clinician and you will be given a card that has all the contact numbers you require. You will be able to ring the Equine Centre during office hours (8.30 a.m. to 5.30 p.m.) for an update. The clinician in charge of your horse may not always be able to come to the phone immediately, but we will do our best to give you as much information as possible. If you have a general enquiry about the health, happiness and behaviour of your horse, you will be able to speak to a member of our yard or nursing staff. Owners are also welcome to visit their horse, and these visits should be arranged through the Equine Centre secretaries.
When your horse is ready for discharge from the hospital, the outcome of any diagnostic investigations, and treatment that has been taken will be discussed with you. When appropriate, written discharge instructions for your horse will also be given to you.
At the end of your horse’s visit, the clinician will prepare a final report describing the results of the examination, diagnostic findings, and treatment for your horse. In some instances an interim report is prepared, if a procedure such as surgery or magnetic resonance imaging is recommended, and these reports can be forwarded to your insurers if necessary. The final report is a technical report, in that it is not written in layman's terms. However the clinician will have discussed all their findings with you previously, and explained their diagnosis and prognosis and possible treatment options as applicable. Both you and your referring vet will receive a copy of the clinician's report. Your vet will also receive copy of bone scan or magnetic resonance imaging images as applicable.
We are always interested in progress of your horse following discharge from the hospital, so we welcome feedback on your horse’s progress.
Directions/Map
Please click here to view a map.
Insurance Information
It is your responsibility to notify your insurance company that you have a referral to the Animal Health Trust for further investigation and possible treatment of your horse. Requirements of insurance companies differ, and to avoid delays with additional procedures it is helpful to keep your insurance company up to date and comply with their requirements. We can provide them with interim reports during an appointment if required.
As part of the confirmation paperwork for your appointment, we will send you an Authorisation Form. If you complete this and leave it with us, we will be able to claim direct from your insurers at the end of your horse's appointment. We will send your insurers the original invoice, a copy of the clinician's report, and your completed authorisation form. Copies will be provided to you, so you are aware that these have been sent to your insurers. In most cases, your insurers will pay the Animal Health Trust those amounts that are covered under your policy, and will advise you of any balance that is due to be paid by yourself.
If you have a claim form that requires completion by our clinicians, please bring this with you, or forward it to us, and we will ensure it is completed and sent to your insurers.
If your horse is not insured, or if you would prefer to process your claim yourself, then you do not need to fill in the authorisation form. We will simply forward the final invoice to you, for you to submit to your insurers.
Passports
We advise owners to bring their horses passports with them while they are transporting their horse, but we usually ask owners to hold on to them, rather than leave them with us on the Yard while their horse is here. Where appropriate, we will take a photocopy of your horse's passport to keep on the case records.
We do not endorse passports of horses that have been to the Equine Centre. However Clause 9 of our Consent Form covers this eventuality, and it is important that you keep a copy of the Consent Form with your records.
