Paragonreferrals Opiniones 

Incompetent, expensive and extremely stressful – MRI Ref 283958

My dog Thor was referred to Paragon for serious hind-leg and spinal symptoms. I have spent over £6,500, including around £1,500 for an ultrasound, yet the communication and organisation have been appalling.

We attended what we were told was a consultation to review his MRI, medication and possible surgery, only for the vet to ask where Thor was. Nobody had told us he needed to attend.

I was also reassured his prostate was fine, but the ultrasound and later specialist report confirmed an enlarged cystic prostate and benign prostatic hyperplasia. I was also charged £85 under “lumbosacral disease” before the MRI had even confirmed the diagnosis, with no clear explanation.

Management has already apologised and reduced fees for previous mistakes, but the problems continued. I have now withdrawn Thor’s care and requested referral elsewhere.

Based on my experience, Paragon has been expensive, disorganised and extremely stressful. I would strongly recommend considering another specialist hospital.

First of all I have to say that the two main points of contact, Chris the heart specialist and Jennie were both very professional, informative and courteous, with Jennie calling twice a day as promised at the times promised. The main issue is when our beautiful girl took a turn for the worst and we had to make that awful decision. We had arranged to collect her personally to take her to the Pet Crematorium and I went in to pay the final bill. I paid a £750 deposit as the approximate total was going to £1500. This amount increased the following day between £1700 and £2500. The final bill was just over £3300 plus the £750 deposit. I paid the bill straight away and exactly one week later had a call from Paragon chasing another £420 for items they forgot to add to the bill, allegedly. When you have just obtained closure over such an upsetting time, to then be told they made a mistake on the amount is not only for me, unprofessional and very remiss of them, putting all sorts of doubts in your mind. As bad as it sounds I now believe they have made up this extra amount to get more money. I may be wrong in my thinking, but it definitely crosses my mind. We registered a complaint only to receive a copy statement and no real outcome to our complaint, and now I have had three demands for payment over two days.

I appreciate that if you are looking at these reviews its probably because you have a dog that is in need of urgent attention.

PLEASE take note of the other reviews on here that follow a very similar theme, money first care second. We have recently had a dreadful experience where our 5 year old Fox Red Lab needed urgent attention.

Communication was the first issue, our regular vets referred us to Paragon and said they (Paragon) would call us within an hour to arrange an appointment. They didn't call. I called our regular vets back to ask what was going on they said they would chase Paragon up and ask them to call us. 2 Hours went by and no call. I called Paragon directly and it was almost as though they knew nothing about Alfie and his issues.

I explained that we had been told he needed an MRI scan and the receptionist immediately said as it was an urgent referral she wanted to take 50% of the anticipated costs up front before she would even arrange an appointment (£2,750). Ironically Alfie never actually had an MRI scan.

I collected Alfie from his regular vet and took him to Paragon and arrived at the reception desk with his paperwork. No eye contact, no hello.

Do you have an appointment?

What's the name?

Can you fill this questionnaire in and hand it back in.

I made it quite clear on the questionnaire that Alfie was on a special diet and asked if they needed me to bring some of his food in.

No we have a good menu so we will have some on site.

We discovered he was never offered this food and the nurses in ICU knew nothing about it.

My view was that Alfie had been poisoned with something, Paragon view was it was neurological. We then had 5 days with Alfie in ICU being told he needed this procedure and that test etc, etc. I asked the vets on three separate occasions if Alfie could recover fully from whatever was wrong with him and they assured me he could and that we should press on with treatments and tests all of which provided no diagnosis of a neurological issue.

Bizarrely we discovered that bloods that were take off Alfie on the first day to identify what the issue was had to be sent to the USA and take 2 weeks to get results! This for a dog that was deteriorating fast, there was no way he had 2 weeks left.

On receiving this news we were told there was another procedure they could perform called a needle test which takes 3 hours but would give us a an on the spot diagnosis, at a cost of another £1000. We agreed to go ahead with this test. It did not provide a definitive diagnosis.

Honestly we just felt that Alfie turned into an experiment and incredibly 4 days into being in ICU at Paragon the vet called and asked if there was any way Alfie could have come into contact with blue green algae or pesticides. So finally the initial suggestion that it may have been a toxin was being considered.

All too late sadly and despite all this anxiety and all the tests we put our wonderful dog through we had to put him to sleep age just 5!

Throughout all of this taking place I have received multiple automated messages from Paragon wanting a £45 administration fee. So insensitive and lacking in any kind of empathy to be sending endless automated messages at such a time. £45 Admin fee that is some admin task!

Over a week since we have had to let Alfie go and no phone call from any of the Vets that were treating him nothing just an e-mail with a link to dog cremation sites.

We have had several automated messages about the £45 admin fee though!

THINK LONG AND HARD BEFORE YOU CHOOSE TO TAKE YOUR DOG TO PARAGON.

We were referred to Paragon Vets on Wednesday 29th April. We were contacted by them on the 30th and given an appointment for Tuesday 5th May.
We met our vet, John, who befriended our dog instantly. We discussed all the pros and cons of the operation and were advised what was required.
We said goodbye to our dog, leaving her with John. By teatime he had rung us to inform us that the tests were good and surgery would take place in the morning.
First thing in the morning he rang to update us that Bitzi had had a good night and was doing well.
He then rang at 11am to say surgery had gone well and Bitzi was fine. We were told we could go for her at 4.30pm to collect her.
We met John at that time and he confirmed that everything had gone well. He had some tablets ready for us to take home so there was no messing about.
I could not recommend their services enough, everything was brilliant from start to finish.

Thank you for everything. You did for jasper excellent

If I could give this zero stars I would be happier. Paragon Vet Referrals is owned by Linnaeus Group & so is Calder Vets. My dog was referred from Calder Vets to Paragon in an emergency situation with my dog. I paid £1743.55 for them to remove a piece of a treat that had stuck in his throat. I willingly paid my bill with the intention of claiming from my insurance & now is where I am disgusted. Calder Vets (remember same group as Paragon) gave my insurance company the information that was needed & my insurance company paid with 24 hrs however Paragon had not. I spoke to my insurance company who advised that they had sent a request to Paragon but had not heard back. I called Paragon who told me there had been no request made, however they would double check ‘the portal’ aha, here’s the request said the lady on the phone. Were you told that you have to pay a £45 administrator fee in order for us to send the information to your insurer? I advised that no one had mentioned anything about a £45 administrator fee. The lady said - well until that’s paid we cannot give the information to the insurer. Flabbergasted? Absolutely!!!! Disgusted? You betcha!!! Talk about money for old rope! These people should at least wear a mask & carry bags with ‘SWAG’ on so that we know what they’re really about straight away! £45 is absolutely extortionate & I am utterly shocked & furious that this company is taking such massive advantage of people at what is sometimes very e of the most stressful times of their lives! Shame on you Paragon!!! Avoid like the plague that this company is!!!

We were referred to Paragon from our vets as they had drawn a blank. i feel i need to tell you all about my gorgeous daughter Roxy who was a border collie from start to finish to give a very balanced and fair review. To not do just wouldnt be fair
We were referred on a Tuesday, we paid the deposit to see them - understandable. We saw them on the Thursday, she had a full MRI and diagnosis to two possible outcomes Lymphoma or a lung disease. We found out on Friday it was Lymphoma - the blood tests came back that quickly
We started chemo on the following Monday - so all less than a week.
Throughout Paragon have been excellent answering any question we had, not rushing us at all.
Sadly Roxy lost her fight on the 13th Jan - nearly a year to the day she was first referred.
thank you to all staff but especially the brilliant Danni and Patricia who cared for her during each chemo visit and truly loved her which was very much mutual.
It was never going to be the outcome as pet parents we would like but the level of care, compassion that they gave was second to none.
we were given time with her when the end came and only left when we felt we were able - not that you ever are really.
We were able to leave by the back door and we wont have to pay the final bill until we pick up her ashes. Something in our state we were very grateful for - so thank you for this last act of kindness.
We will be forever grateful for the extra 12 months you enabled us to have with her. This was time we truly treasured.
Thank you for all you have done from the bottom of our hearts.

Paragon is a specialist vetinerary opthalmologist. You have to be referred to them by your own vet and they contact you to make the appointment. Their website promises nice touches like pheromone soaked bandanas to help calm nervous dogs.

We recently discovered our beloved dog, Chalky, has a genetic eye disorder. When they called to arrange the appointment (£330 for 1hr!!), the first thing they want is a deposit and to know if you have insurance. When we got there, there were no nice touches, they didn't even engage with Chalky who was shaking like a leaf. They confirmed the deposit had been paid and asked if we wanted to pay a further £45 for them to handle all claims directly with our insurer. I declined as I have always submitted claims myself.

The appointment was OK, but just 50mins long, in which we were told Chalky's vision and even eyes are under threat and that he will eventually go blind. 3 drops were prescribed and provided at an additional cost of £73, including prescription fee.

It all seemed very money first and didn't feel right so we went to get a 2nd opinion at the independent Animal Eye Care in Warrington. As we walked in, the greeted us and made a fuss over Chalky. Our appointment cost £230, we spoke with the surgeon for 2hrs, going through all the options and eventually deciding on a course of action. He prescribed 2 eyedrops (2 we already had, the 3rd he said was pointless) but suggested we get them online as it would be much cheaper (£12.19 as opposed to £43.62 at Paragon). The prescription charge was £15 and is valid for 5 repeats.

At the end of this whirlwind of a few days, after which we were reeling and upset with Chalky's diagnosis, I submitted my claims. The Animal Eye Care one was paid within a week, but the Paragon one remains unpaid. The insurer tells me they have chased Paragon 3 times and not had a response. So I chased them myself and was told, in spite of the conversation I had with them on the day of the appointment, that it would be £45 for them to respond (literally a 10min max job). I explained this was not a direct claim and that they had already been paid handsomely, but was referred to their Ts&Cs. What Ts&Cs, I said. I had never been shown these, let alone agreed to them, and had specifically declined their direct claim option. (A direct claim is when they take the policy number and manage the whole claim process themselves. But for every claim they have to confirm their diagnosis -ie copy and paste their notes - and invoice anyway).

My dispute with them is ongoing. It is not the money as such, far more the principle involved. We went to them to get their help with a highly distressing and traumatic situation and were mugged. Investigation shows Paragon Referrals are part of the Mars family portfolio and the wider takeover of UK vets by large American Corporations. The result is a money first, care later approach that is so apparent at Paragon. Of course, we should spare a thought for the poor Mars family, who will be finding things tough in the cost of living crisis, with only £130 billion or so to share between ALL of them.

UPDATE TO THE ABOVE
Having eventually got through to Debbie, the practice manager, who was very helpful, Paragon have now agreed to send my insurers the information requested so that my claim can be paid. Of course, it is a real shame that it should ever have come to that (and in truth probably doesn't reflect the motivations of the individual staff involved) but it is the world of corporate greed we live in. It is not sufficient to pay lip service to customer care. Customers always notice when they're been fleeced