Wilson Veterinary Group, Bishop Auckland

I would like to express my thanks for the wonderful caring service of the staff, when our elderly westie sadly had to be put to sleep. I can only give the greatest praise to all the staff, their kindness to Freddie and myself was greatly appreciated. The procedure was explained fully, and a lovely touch was the sympathy card with little extras sent to us....you made me cry again! Thank you.

My pet had been under the 'care' of Wilsons at Bishop Auckland for over a year and had been hospitalised at the establishment twice in that time. In March 22 after tests, their medical intervention and 2 nights in their 'hospital' I was told that he possibly had Triaditus, but that this was not a definite diagnosis.Between March 2022 and April 2023 the same symptoms occurred in him a few times when we attended their clinic again but he didn't have to be hospitalised.Then in April 2023 his symptoms became much more severe. He appeared in a lot of pain as he wasn't moving, was very lethargic, sick, and generally not himself. This time I got a diagnosis for him of Pancreatitus. He was put on a drip again and stayed with Wilsons vet, Bishop Auckland overnight. I took him home the next day, he was given 5 days worth of Painkillers. By this point I'd spent nearly £3000.After the 5 days of painkillers were finished his symptoms slowly returned. He was lethargic, sick, appeared in pain, wouldnt eat or drink and was unsteady on his feet. It was very upsetting and distressing for me to see him so unwell and awful for him to be in so much discomfort.On Sunday 23rd April I rang Wilsons vet, Bishop Auckland at 11.03 and explained the situation and asked for more painkillers. Reception told me that they were only open for emergencies on a weekend ( to me this was an emergency when my pet was suffering ) but she'd speak to the Vet and get her to ring me back. Nobody did, so at 14.50 hrs I rang them again.Reception apologised and said they'd been very busy with emergencies and as soon as she got a chance to speak to one of the vets she'd get one of them to ring me. At 16.16 reception rang back to apologise and say that there was still no one available as they'd been very busy, and as the vets who are in don't know my pets case, would it be alright if the vet who dealt with him rang me the next day. ( I.e. Monday ) By now it was over 5 hours since I had first rang for help and had still not received any. I was extremely upset and at my wits end to see my pet in distress and not be able to get help for him.This was an ongoing case but my pet had no continuity of care from Wilsons. I had a simple request for Painkillers. I obviously can't rely on a Vet practice if I can't contact them and get the necessary care required for my pet especially when they advertise being open for 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.Finally at 17.15 hours a Vet rang me back but by this time I had sourced some of the same painkillers elsewhere.One of the reasons I was attracted to Wilsons Vet, Bishop Auckland is because  they advertise on their website that they are open 7 days a week and this gave me a feeling of security to know that if I needed anything on a weekend they would be there. The opening hours that are advertised on their website are very misleading. I think this needs to be changed to give a truer picture to potential clients of the services they actually offer during those hours.My pet was in unnecessary pain and distress because the practice did not attend to him when requested. They were too busy with 'emergencies' and obviously didn't have another Vet on call for situations such as this.•••••••••••••••••••I wrote to the practice and expressed my dissatisfaction at their service and suggested some changes to their working practices.I received an applogy including the below statements :On that day the Vets had had an unusually high level of emergencies to deal with and had not had time to look in to my pets care.They have discussed in depth with the team what happened that day and how they can improve their service in the future so this doesn’t happen again.They have taken on my points and reviewed their protocols appropriately.••••••••••••••••••I do hope they have put into place some new practices to ensure that this never happens again with anyone elses pet.

My dog was badly injured by another dog 5 months ago. Vet Jeremy and all his nurses brought him back from the brink! I can't praise them highly enough. They are all so caring and friendly and all the receptionists are included in this.

Lovely vets always friendly would recommend them to anyoneThe vet I got yesterday was so interested in my 1 cat which made the visit so nice .

Brilliant vetinary practice, they really do put the pet first and go the extra mile to help.We had a brand new puppy and had some concerns, from contacting them on Saturday afternoon, we were seen and had a check up on Sunday morning. Everything explained clearly, quick in and out, did everything needed for the pup.Our pup did have a reaction to either the inoculation or the snacks we'd given him after (possibly both) and we rushed him back with a swollen tummy the same afternoon with 15 mins notice, really worried that it was serious.Within a few minutes of being there, the nurse checked him over and then within 10 mins, the same vet we'd seen earlier checked him out and gave us some advice as to what we can do.When you're scared for your pet and the service is efficient and thoughtful, it means the world.Highly recommend and won't be looking elsewhere for a vet in future.Thank you.

I couldn't recommend Wilson Veterinary enough. We had an emergency situation with our dog Molly that meant she had to be kept in for a few days - Hugh, the other vets and nurses were outstanding in the level of care they gave Molly and the communication with me as an owner. Unfortunately we had to make the difficult decision to say goodbye to Molly, which was heartbreaking, but the personal touch of receiving a sympathy card from the team at Wilson was a very kind gesture

My dog got lost and someone, very kindly, handed her in.

Had a number of poor experiences over the past couple of years. The first being an emergency situation in my dog, the receptionist did not seem to comprehend the seriousness of the situation, I had to call back 3 times to demand an appointment.The second instance with Wilson’s was when my dog had an eye ulcer, a young Chinese vet looked down on me throughout the appointment and upon being referred to an external specialist, it turns out the medication he prescribed could have caused my dogs condition to deteriorate and lose an eye. The specialist called me the same day of the Wilson’s appointment and explicitly stated to not use that medication.The third instance recently, my dog could not get out of bed on a morning, it was incredibly concerning and distressing. The young vet who we saw had zero compassion or empathy at all, didn’t bother to introduce himself, looked as though he had just rolled into work from the night before. This vet’s assessment basically stated “oh well he’s definitely not paralysed”… great. Absolutely horrendous.The only positive experience with Wilson’s for as long as I can remember was an older female vet at a different branch who was lovely with my dog.The best thing to come out of Wilson’s for us was the referral to the specialist, we now go direct and book in for any similar issues and skip Wilson’s all together due to severe lack of confidence in their care and abilities.I feel the generic copy paste response from Wilson’s on all reviews less than 5* indicates their level of care and concern over their quality.