The Warm Hug at the Heart of Roundwood Vets: Celebrating Our Client Care Team
By Nicola Roberts Practice Director
There are some people in a veterinary practice who you may not see examining your pet, giving a vaccination or performing an operation, but without them, quite simply, the practice couldn't function.
They are often the first voice you hear when you're worried.
The friendly face that greets you when you walk through our door.
The person trying to find an appointment when the diary already looks impossibly full.
The one who remembers that your dog needs a little extra space, that your cat gets nervous in the waiting room, or that you've been anxiously waiting for an update.
At Roundwood Vets, we call our veterinary receptionists our Client Care team.
And I think that name is important, because their role is about so much more than reception.
With Veterinary Receptionist Appreciation Day on 1st October, I wanted to take the opportunity to celebrate this very special part of our Roundwood family, explain a little more about what they actually do, and most importantly, say a very heartfelt thank you.
Because our Client Care team really is the warm hug at the heart of Roundwood Vets.
Contents
What does our Client Care team actually do?
If I asked you to picture a veterinary receptionist, you might imagine someone answering the telephone, booking appointments and welcoming clients at the desk.
They certainly do all of those things.
But that barely scratches the surface.
From the moment our doors open, our Client Care team helps hold the day together.
They're answering telephone calls and emails, organising appointments, helping with medication requests, taking payments, updating records, dealing with enquiries and passing important information between our clients, vets and nurses, as well as keeping our front of house clean and welcoming!
And while all of that is happening, veterinary practice has a habit of throwing the unexpected at you!
An emergency arrives.
A consultation takes longer than expected because a family needs more time.
A vet is suddenly needed elsewhere.
A worried owner phones.
Another client arrives.
The telephone rings again.
Our Client Care team is often right in the middle of all of this, adapting and reorganising while still trying to make the person standing in front of them feel listened to.
It takes an incredible amount of organisation, patience and skill.
The warm hug at the heart of Roundwood
There's a reason we use the words Client Care.
Yes, our team looks after reception.
But really, they look after people.
Sometimes that's something practical, like finding an appointment or getting a message to a vet.
Sometimes it's remembering you and your pet when you walk through the door.
And sometimes it is something much more emotional.
They may share your excitement when you bring in your new puppy for the very first time.
They'll watch that puppy grow.
They'll get to know you both over the years.
And one day, they may be one of the familiar faces quietly supporting you when that same companion reaches the end of their life.
That's a privilege, but it can also be incredibly emotional.
A wonderful Client Care person develops an instinct for what each situation needs.
Sometimes it's a cheerful welcome and a chat.
Sometimes it's reassurance.
Sometimes it's finding somewhere quieter to sit.
And sometimes kindness means simply being there without saying very much at all.
That's why I think of our Client Care team as our warm hug.
They help make Roundwood feel like Roundwood.
Client Care isn't a role for everyone
I say this with enormous affection and respect for our team:
This job isn't for everyone.
It can be busy. It can be unpredictable. And at times, it can be very emotional.
You need patience and empathy alongside organisation and attention to detail.
You might answer one telephone call from someone excited about their new kitten and the next from someone frightened because their elderly dog has suddenly collapsed.
You might have several things that all need doing at once, telephone lines ringing, clients arriving and a clinical team asking for your help.
And the person speaking to you understandably feels that their pet is the most important thing in the world.
You need to make them feel heard.
That takes a particular kind of person.
And it is one of the reasons we appreciate our Client Care team so much.
The emotional side of Client Care
When you work in veterinary practice, you become part of people's lives with their pets.
There are wonderful days.
New puppies. Tiny kittens. Pets recovering from illness. Good news after worrying test results. The dog who was terrified of coming through the door six months ago but now trots in looking for treats.
Those moments are lovely.
But there are heartbreaking ones too.
Our Client Care team may have known a pet and their family for many years.
When the time comes to say goodbye, they feel it too.
Something clients don't necessarily see is that a member of our Client Care team might have just helped a grieving family leave the practice, taken a moment to gather themselves, and then answered a ringing telephone with the same warmth and professionalism as always.
That takes emotional resilience.
It also takes a genuinely caring person.
We see that side of their job.
And we appreciate it enormously.
When worry and frustration spill over
There is another part of Client Care that I think is important to talk about.
Because our Client Care team is at the front of the practice, they can sometimes take the brunt of people's frustration.
We understand that when your pet is unwell, emotions can run very high.
They're family.
You may be frightened, worried or desperate for an answer.
Perhaps the appointment time you wanted isn't available. Perhaps you're waiting for a call back. Perhaps the vet you hoped to speak to is dealing with an emergency.
Our Client Care team will always do their very best to help.
But sometimes they have to explain that something isn't possible immediately.
Please remember that the person giving you that message hasn't created the situation.
If they tell you that a vet can't come to the telephone at that moment, that vet may be giving another family's pet the same attention that you would want them to give yours.
Sadly, there are occasions when understandable frustration turns into raised voices, unkind comments or disrespectful behaviour.
Please be kind to our Client Care team.
Being worried is understandable.
Being upset is understandable.
Being frustrated is understandable.
But kindness and respect still matter.
A calm conversation also makes it much easier for our team to understand what's happening, gather the information they need and work with you to find the best next step.
Ultimately, we're all on the same side.
We want to help you and your pet.
Why does Client Care ask me so many questions?
If you've ever telephoned us about an unwell pet, you may have noticed that our Client Care team asks quite a few questions.
There's a very good reason.
They aren't diagnosing your pet. That is the role of our veterinary surgeons.
They are gathering information so that potentially urgent situations can be recognised and brought to the attention of the clinical team.
They might ask whether your pet is breathing normally, whether they can stand, whether they're bleeding, whether they might have eaten something toxic or how quickly their symptoms have developed.
So, when our Client Care team asks questions, please give them as much information as you can.
Those questions are there to help us help your pet.
And then there's everything you don't see...
Sometimes you may look at reception and think it seems unusually quiet.
That doesn't necessarily mean Client Care is quiet!
Behind the scenes there may be messages being passed to vets, medication requests being organised, records being updated, emails being answered, insurance queries being dealt with and appointments being rearranged.
There are also all the little problems that somehow get solved before most of us even realise there was a problem in the first place.
Client Care is the link between so many different parts of a veterinary practice.
They are very much part of the veterinary team.
There isn't one route into Client Care
Something else I'd love people to understand is that you don't necessarily need to have worked in veterinary practice before to become brilliant at Client Care.
Our own team is a perfect example.
Sonia came to us after working in a pharmacy.
She brought with her experience of dealing with people, often at times when they might be worried or vulnerable, as well as an appreciation of accuracy, communication and confidentiality.
Leah came to us after volunteering at the Royal Free Hospital as a ward helper.
Again, not veterinary experience, but incredibly valuable experience of being around people who may be frightened or having a difficult day. Kindness, empathy and knowing how to communicate with people matter enormously in both environments.
Kayleigh is our remote Client Care team member who helps us on Monday mornings.
She came to us with a background in pet insurance and has also worked remotely as a care coordinator for a pet end-of-life service.
That experience brings a valuable understanding of the pet world, but also something that matters hugely to us: the ability to communicate with people sensitively when emotions are high.
And we're delighted that Hannah will be joining our Client Care team in October, bringing a completely different background again.
Hannah comes to us from dog grooming.
She already has experience of working with dogs and their humans, including understanding that every dog is an individual and that some need a little more patience and reassurance than others.
Four people.
Four very different journeys.
And that's exactly the point.
We hire people, not just CVs
When we're recruiting for Client Care at Roundwood, we're not simply looking for somebody who already understands every veterinary abbreviation or knows how to use veterinary practice software.
Those things can be taught.
We hire for people skills, attitude and fit with our team and our values.
We want to know what kind of person you are.
Will you listen?
Are you kind?
Will you notice when someone needs a little extra help?
Will you support the person sitting beside you when they're having a difficult day?
Are you willing to learn?
Can you admit when you don't know something and ask for help?
Can you take responsibility when you make a mistake?
And, importantly, can you laugh with us too?
Because technical knowledge can grow.
Systems can be learned.
Veterinary terminology becomes familiar.
But that natural instinct to care about people is incredibly important to us.
The values behind our Roundwood team
Our values aren't something we want written on a wall and forgotten about.
They are how we want to behave towards our patients, our clients and each other.
Kindness means treating people and animals with compassion and understanding.
Teamwork means recognising that none of us can do this alone and being willing to help when somebody else is struggling.
Growth means remaining curious, continuing to learn and being open to doing things better.
Fun matters too! Veterinary practice can be emotionally demanding, so laughter, friendship and enjoying working together are important.
Honesty means communicating openly, admitting when we don't know something, owning our mistakes and being people our colleagues and clients can trust.
And conscientiousness means caring about the details and wanting to do things properly, even on the busiest days.
When we recruit someone, we're looking for a person who naturally connects with those values.
That's far more important to us than having the "perfect" CV.
Your previous career isn't wasted
I think this is particularly important if you're reading this and thinking, I'd love to work in a veterinary practice, but I don't have veterinary experience.
Please don't automatically rule yourself out.
Changing career doesn't mean starting again from zero.
You bring your experience with you.
Someone from pharmacy may bring accuracy, confidentiality and experience communicating with people who are worried.
Someone who has volunteered in a hospital may bring compassion, teamwork and an understanding of how differently people respond when they're vulnerable.
Someone from insurance may understand the worries pet owners experience around treatment and costs and know how to explain complicated information clearly.
Someone who has supported families through pet end-of-life care may have exceptional listening skills and a deep understanding of grief and the human-animal bond.
And someone from dog grooming may already understand canine body language, nervous dogs and, just as importantly, how to build relationships with their owners.
Those skills don't disappear when you change careers.
You bring them with you.
Then the veterinary knowledge can grow around them.
Veterinary Client Care is a career
I'm particularly pleased to see veterinary reception increasingly being recognised as a skilled career in its own right.
The British Veterinary Receptionist Association, or BVRA, offers veterinary-specific education and professional development, including a Foundation Course designed as a stepping stone to further learning.
There is a lot to learn in this profession.
Communication and customer service are obviously important, but veterinary Client Care can also involve learning about animal welfare and preventative healthcare, practice administration, diary management, bereavement support and recognising situations that may require urgent veterinary attention.
It deserves professional recognition.
Can veterinary receptionists gain recognised qualifications?
Yes, and this is something many people outside veterinary practice may not realise.
For those wishing to progress their learning, there is now the GA Level 3 Certificate in Veterinary Reception Skills.
It is an Ofqual-regulated qualification developed specifically for veterinary receptionists and comprises six mandatory units. The curriculum includes communication, customer service and teamwork, administration and practice operations, preventative health and welfare, bereavement and grief support, and assessing the urgency of veterinary emergencies.
Successful completion of the Level 3 Certificate also leads to one year of Associate Veterinary Receptionist (AVR)status through the BVRA.
I think this professional development is wonderful.
Because the more you understand about what veterinary Client Care actually involves, the clearer it becomes that this is a skilled profession with opportunities to learn and grow.
Could veterinary Client Care be the career for you?
Perhaps you're reading this thinking, Actually, I could do that.
If you're kind, organised and conscientious, enjoy working with people, like being part of a team and are willing to keep learning, it could certainly be a career worth exploring.
But I would also encourage anyone considering it to understand the whole job.
It's not spending your day cuddling puppies and kittens!
There will be wonderful moments, funny moments and incredibly rewarding ones.
There will also be difficult conversations, busy days, worried clients and heartbreaking goodbyes.
You need resilience alongside compassion.
And one of the biggest misconceptions about working in veterinary practice is that you simply need to love animals.
Of course you need to care about animals.
But Client Care is also very much about caring for people.
For someone with those qualities, it can be an incredibly rewarding career.
You can explore training and career development through the British Veterinary Receptionist Association, including its Level 3 Certificate in Veterinary Reception Skills.
And looking at Sonia, Leah, Kayleigh and now Hannah, our own team is lovely proof that sometimes the right person for veterinary practice hasn't worked in veterinary practice yet.
A very big thank you from all of us at Roundwood
Veterinary Receptionist Appreciation Day gives us an opportunity to stop for a moment and recognise the people who spend so much of their working lives looking after everyone else.
So, to Sonia, Leah and Kayleigh, and to Hannah as she prepares to join our Roundwood family, I want to say a huge thank you.
Thank you for answering the phone when it feels as though it hasn't stopped ringing all morning.
Thank you for trying to find appointments when there don't appear to be any appointments left to find.
Thank you for staying calm when the day suddenly changes.
Thank you for listening to worried owners.
Thank you for celebrating the happy moments with our clients.
Thank you for quietly supporting people through the heartbreaking ones.
Thank you for your patience.
Thank you for your resilience.
Thank you for supporting our vets and nurses and, importantly, for supporting one another.
Thank you for continuing to offer kindness, including on the days when kindness isn't always returned to you.
Thank you for all those little things you do that nobody outside the practice ever sees.
We see them.
We see you.
And we appreciate you enormously!
Roundwood simply wouldn't be Roundwood without the people who make it what it is.
So, next time you speak to one of our Client Care team, perhaps give them an extra smile or a little thank you.
Behind that friendly voice on the telephone or welcoming face at reception is somebody juggling far more than you might realise.
And to our Client Care team, thank you for being the warm hug at the heart of Roundwood Vets.
We are incredibly lucky to have you.
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