I’m really (really!) hoping this will be my last blog on the GDPR for a while… Once we hit 25th May, although of course the ongoing burden of monitoring and maintaining compliance and implementing Privacy Impact Assessments will remain, I intend to take a nice long break from the subject! However, there is one absolutely vital facet we need to remember. For those of us who have spent however long up to our eyeballs in this stuff, it’s easy to forget that for most of our colleagues, it’s just a set of initials. Unfortunately, in the eyes of the law, this is not sufficient!

Hopefully everyone’s well on the way to being compliant with the new GDPR – remember, it kicks in on 25th May, so not much time now! However, there are two important areas we haven’t covered yet. The first is how we deal with the huge pile of paperwork that is required to prove that we are “accountable” and “compliant” – that’s what we’re going to look at here. The second we’ll look at in a week or so, and that’s Staff Training.

There are three vital sets of documents that you’ll need if you are going to be compliant with the new law. These are:

We’re getting a lot of queries about emailing clients, and how this will change under the GDPR. So, in this blog, we’re going to look at the legal aspects of marketing emails, as they apply to veterinary practices (although this is general advice that would apply to many other sectors).

Sending an email is defined as a data processing activity, but it is also important to remember that segmenting email lists (e.g. into dog and cat clients to send them different marketing materials or information) is also a form of processing, and one that you might have to justify.

We’ve been helping a couple of our practices deal with some negative reviews recently. In fact, a recent article in the Vet Times suggested that 72% of vets are worried about the impact of negative reviews – as a profession, we seem to have decided that negative reviews are A Bad Thing.

While that’s true to an extent – and obviously, if every review you’re getting is poor that is a cause for concern – negative reviews and feedback can actually be really valuable for a practice. In this blog, we’re going to look at why people leave negative reviews, why they can be valuable to a practice, and finally how best to respond to them.

Another month, and another GDPR blog… sorry! However, we’re getting increasing numbers of calls from practices asking us about Privacy Notices on their websites. This is a REALLY important part of the new Data Protection landscape, and it’s an easy one for you as a practice to be pulled up on – anyone can tell whether or not you’re compliant after a few minutes browsing your website! Fortunately, though, it’s also an easy one to fix… So in this blog, we’re going to take a quick look at Privacy Notices and give you some pointers on how to get these vital but irritating documents ready.

The General Data Protection Regulation comes into force on 25th May. Are you ready yet? If not, hopefully, this will help – but you’ve only got four months to make sure your practice is fully compliant!

In this blog, we’ll walk you through 10 steps to help you get on top of this new legislation.

Yes, it’s that time of year again… We’ve got just one month to go before the Best UK Vet 2018 is announced! And as usual at this time of year, the competition is tight, with several practices neck and neck…

So we’re suggesting a big drive on client reviews in the next three to four weeks – remember, the award goes to the practice with the most positive client reviews on VetHelpDirect or Any-UK-Vet over the previous 12 months.

It’s New Year again… and almost every practice in the country is pushing weight control, obesity awareness, and preventative health. Which is of course a sensible and solid strategy – good marketing typically comes from riding an existing wave in awareness. Of course, all the media have “New Year Resolutions” and “Get healthier in 2018” features running at the moment, so extending that to pets is a logical extension. It also links nicely into the One Health movement, but we’ll look at that in a future blog!

However, is this focus actually helping your practice? And how can you ride that wave to maximise the benefit?

What digital media do you use as a practice? Facebook, Twitter? What about Snapchat? Instagram or Pinterest? Is Youtube seen as a social media channel by pet owners? Is a website important to client footfall? What do prospective clients see as the most important factors when choosing a practice?

It can be really hard to persuade a client that “a spot of bother weeing” is an emergency for a neutered tomcat, or equally that “five drops of blood!” from a Great Dane isn’t. While it is often sensible to “play it safe” and get every “emergency” in to be seen, there may be situations where it isn’t appropriate – or even possible. For example, if you’ve got sole charge on a weekend, you’re going to have to triage the cases or your staff will be overloaded – full stop.