Practitioners' views on the delivery of specialist veterinary services

A questionnaire to determine veterinarians' views on the delivery of specialist services was posted to 350 Victorian veterinary practices. Responses From 37% of practices were returned. "Skills in their discipline", "ability to communicate with clients" and "quality/prompt feedback to referring practitioner" were rated most important characteristics of excellent veterinary specialists while "state of the art technology", "knowledgeable staff" and "excellent facilities" were considered key features of an excellent specialist practice. The "lack of experience with the species or discipline" and "the need for specialist equipment" were the most important reasons for recommending referral while "own practice could handle the case" was the key reason for not doing so. Respondent veterinarians ranked "recommendation from own veterinarian" and "desire to give a loved animal optimal care" as the most important reasons for clients using specialist services while "specialists too expensive", "too far away" or "low economic or emotional value of the animal" were key reasons for clients not using referral services. "Developing a referral manual for practices, involvement in continuing education programs and working in conjunction with non-specialists to promote veterinary services to the public were ways in which respondents considered specialist services could best be promoted.