Veterinary clinic: what to do with emergency calls when no one can pick up

Article R242-48 of France’s Rural and Maritime Fishing Code (Code rural et de la pêche maritime) provides that vets ensure continuity of care for the animals entrusted to them, where appropriate under an agreement between vets in private practice (vétérinaires libéraux) filed with the regional council of the Order of Veterinarians, and that they inform the public of the options for having this follow-up provided by a colleague. The Order’s commentary specifies that this continuity means the client is able to reach the attending vet, their partners or employees, or can be certain of reaching a vet able to step in in an emergency.

The same article deals with a sick or injured animal in danger: where it is a species for which they have the necessary competence, equipment and insurance, vets endeavour, within the limits of their means, to relieve its suffering; if they cannot meet the request, they inform the person asking of the other options for care by another vet.

Article R242-61 adds a collective obligation: vets must take part in out-of-hours cover (permanence des soins), make known to the public the conditions under which they provide it, and respond to any request, either directly within their field of competence or by referring the client to a colleague.

Article R242-73 sets out what the practice’s nameplate must show: the vet’s name, consultation days and hours, telephone details, and the arrangements for continuity of care and out-of-hours cover, with, where applicable, the address and phone number of the facility providing that service. The Order also provides vets with an extranet on which to declare their continuity of care and out-of-hours cover arrangements, species by species.

The right reflex is to align every channel on the same information: the nameplate, the website, the greeting message and what the person or tool answering the phone says. A worried owner should not be given two different on-call numbers depending on whether they read the door or pick up the phone.

The code asks vets to define precisely the duties of the staff under their authority and to train them in good-practice rules (Article R242-33). Medical advice, for its part, is the vet’s responsibility: it is the vet who makes recommendations and gives the relevant explanations about diagnosis and treatment.

In practice, reception suggests no product, no dose and nothing to do at home, and never says “it can wait until tomorrow”. Nor does it judge the seriousness of a case on its own: as soon as a caller mentions an emergency or is worried about their animal, it applies the planned instruction, without debate.

The instructions fit on one page, written and approved by the vet or vets: the number and address of the on-call service for each species treated, the hours when the clinic can see an emergency, what reception says when the owner asks for an opinion, and the number to transfer a call to during opening hours.

They also specify the information to collect so the team can call back: the owner’s name and phone number, the animal’s species and name, whether it is already a patient at the clinic, and a description of the situation in the owner’s own words. These details also help the on-call colleague, whom Article R242-61 invites to gather information about previous interventions.

During the day, the real problem is often the call that comes in during a consultation or surgery. Decide once and for all which line an urgent call is transferred to, and who takes it. Everything else can wait for a callback, provided it is noted down properly and reviewed during the day.

Good phone reception at a vet clinic replaces neither the vet nor the on-call service: it makes sure the owner knows, within a few seconds, where to call and what to do, then it leaves a usable record of the call.

Alyas answers 24 hours a day based on the information the clinic gives it, for example the on-call details you have provided; if it does not know the answer, it says so and offers to pass the request on, and it transfers the call to a single number when the caller asks. It does not detect emergencies on its own and relies only on what you have given it: include no medical advice, as these rules remain yours. The trial is free for 10 days, with no credit card required.