When Is A Referral Needed?

The traditional image of a veterinary surgeon is personified by James Herriot, the country vet who is expected to be an expert in everything from kidney disease in kittens to colic in carthorses. However, faced with an ever-increasing fund of veterinary knowledge, it has become impossible for any individual vet to remain up to date and expert at everything. The UK Veterinary profession has therefore evolved a system of "veterinary referral" whereby your vet can refer more complicated cases for diagnostic tests or treatments that are not available at your local practice. This enables efficient use of expensive complex equipment and allows the patient to be seen by a veterinary surgeon with a particular interest, experience and expertise in that area. This is a well known procedure in human medicine where family GPs regularly refer heart cases to a cardiologist, skin problems to a dermatologist, and eye problems to an ophthalmologist.