The Barn Animal Hospital

On the 27th September 2023 while under the care of the Barn Vets our two year old dog Rum needlessly died from an untreated chest infection, despite visiting the Barn on the 7th, 15th, 21st and 23rd September the team failed to identify or treat the condition leading to Rums unnecessary death. Despite being sent home on the 21st we brought Rum back in on the 23rd as we were still concerned for his health. Despite this being his second visit in two days and his condition rapidly destabilising it took the team at the Barn 5 hours to refer us and make the necessary arrangements to get him booked in with the expert team at the Ralph in Marlow. On the 21st September I asked for blood tests which were taken (the vet should have suggested this), the results of which ultimately showed the signs of an infection, the results would have been available to the team at the Barn on the same day and at the latest on the 22nd, however no one bothered to contact us with the results and more importantly to inform us of the urgent treatment Rum so desperately needed. The idea that on the 23rd September Rum, who at this point was in critical condition was not the highest priority patient at the Barn is absolutely disgusting, his referral and stabilisation should have been paramount instead non urgent patients were prioritised over him, how could any reasonable person not have made him the priority, instead he waited for other pets having general checkups and routine procedures - When we finally collected Rum for the last time, transported him to the Ralph and were speaking with the team there they made it clear he was in critical condition and that every minute counted - Rum was forced to spend some of his final hours alive not with a team of experts moving heaven and earth to keep him alive or with his family but instead alone in a cage at the Barn while they wasted his precious time. I am still trying to comprehend how the Barn utterly failed to treat Rum which ultimately led to his death. How our two year old dog who the Barn had treated since we rescued him in 2022 had failed to run even basic diagnosis (other than the blood test I asked for) or start any form of treatment. How they could look at this clearly very poorly dog and just send us on our way. I truly believe there was a degree of negligence on the part of the Barn, despite multiple opportunities (even right up until the end) avoidable mistakes were made. I do believe incompetence was a factor also, Rum had previously (it was in his medical history at the Barn) suffered from an infection but he had responded quickly and well to the medication provided. Lastly I believe there was a level of arrogance, complacency and ignorance in the attitudes and an obvious lack of action, the vet who saw us on the 21st, who hadn't bothered to follow up on the blood tests was there on the 23rd, the first words out of her mouth were not "We will do everything we can for him" but instead were "he wasn't like that when I last saw him!". During Rum`s care (or lack thereof) throughout September and what ultimately led to his unnecessary death was a lack of accountability, responsibility, basic process and ownership from the Barn - No one from his original infection diagnosis back in August thought to follow up and to put in place a structured plan to care for him or did anyone think to read his medical history to better inform their decision making in September. The Barn are fully accountable for this needless loss and the death of our beloved dog Rum and were given ample opportunity to alter this horrific outcome - He deserved better and they should have done more. I truly believe that The Barn is not a place to take sick or injured pets, and that their current ways of working will lead to more unnecessary suffering and death.

I have used this vet for c8 years now but it has changed and not for the better. My cat has been quite poorly this year and has been on treatment since early august and we have seen 5 vet changes in that time as the turnover of vets is very high. This isn't good for the customers or their pets and it would be nice to have the same contact throughout an illness which was always possible with previous vet clinics

I used to love this vets and have been a loyal customer for 8+ Years. I previously left them a glowing review but my opinion has changed. Staff are nice but they are overworked as the surgery is so busy all the time as they clearly have more pets on the records than they can actually service! Getting appointments takes weeks for routine vaccines and every time I go in I see long queues at reception and people walking out without being seen. My cats have been going here since they were kittens and I have stayed despite knowing people that have left due to poor service but I think I will be joining them after my most recent visit. One of our cats was hit by a car at the weekend and there was no out of hours support meaning we had to take her c25 minutes drive away for life saving treatment. The emergency vet put our cat on oxygen due to lung damage and then transferred her to the barn the following morning for further care and X-rays for suspected fractures. The emergency vet called ahead to warn the barn that we were coming with her but when we arrived we were not treated as a priority and we had a long wait in reception (genuinely about an hour!) We were then told they were very busy and that they would fit her in when they could around other patients!? We left feeling like she was a total inconvenience for the barn despite her being extremely unwell (we had to put her to sleep later that day!) To top it off the barn won’t arrange direct insurance payments in an emergency situation and they suggested we put the £1k fees on a credit card! Most people get insurance to cover emergency treatment so this is extremely disappointing as it’s gives customers no piece of mind! The practise is clearly more money focused than animal focused! I will be moving my other animals to an alternative vet practise and I will be sending a formal complaint.

We sadly had to let our 22 year old cat go last week. Once again this Vets, and ALL the staff we came across were AMAZING, UNDERSTANDING and hugely compassionate to us. Having used a vets in our village with our other cat years ago and the dreadful experience we had & the fact that all they cared about was how much money we had to pay them, we left them and changed vets due to reports from others about how wonderful The Barn is. We have not been disappointed at all. The compassion of these people are FIRST CLASS. We even got a condolence card in the post. We highly recommend this firm. Thank you so much for ur care, you made a horrible situation much better for us. RIP Tommy.