Larkmead Vets, South Oxfordshire
Saving time while remaining a part of the community
Location: South Oxfordshire
Practice Size: Five Sites
Specialty: Small Animal First Opinion and Referrals
Key Features of Digital Practice Used: Product ordering, asynchronous messaging, forms, payments
Time savings: 261 hours admin time, 29 hours nurse time, 20 hours vet time
Larkmead Vets has transformed the way they handle everyday requests by using WhatsApp through Digital Practice. One in three client messages is now about product orders – and handling those messages digitally saves over 14 days a month. Across the board, they’re saving 43 days every month.
Clients just WhatsApp us when Fluffy needs more food – they don’t even have to say what food. We check the history, confirm it, and send a message when it’s ready to collect.
- Kim, Practice Co-ordinator
Product orders: fast, simple, off the phones
Larkmead Vets quietly launched their WhatsApp service by adding the number and link to their website. No campaign, no fanfare – just faster, easier client comms.
“If you've got a job where you can't just suddenly make a phone call, if you're in an office - then WhatsApp is ideal because you can just send a quick message to us.” — Julia, Practice Coordinator
Clients now use WhatsApp for everything from repeat food and meds to advice, payments and updates. Because the Digital Practice inbox pulls in client and patient data and syncs it with the Product Management System (PMS), the team can quickly match the message and respond without chasing details.
Easy payments, less chasing
Larkmead also use WhatsApp to send secure payment links – including for emotional or complex consults where clients might need time before paying.
"For me, it's the ability to send a payment link to clients, because if they've forgotten their purse or they've had quite an emotional consult, they might not want to pay at the time." - Julia, Practice Co-ordinator
They also use WhatsApp links for:
New health plan sign-ups
Chasing failed direct debits
Debt recovery – with a better response rate than phone calls
“We've also integrated it into our debt chasing process now. So our accounts team are also using it, because they find sometimes the clients don't answer the phone, but if we send a WhatsApp with the link, then they are more likely to respond because they don't have that embarrassment of having to discuss something that they haven't yet [paid].” — Kim, Practice Co-ordinator
43 days saved every month
Using Digital Practice has given the Larkmead team real, measurable time back:
261 hours of admin time
20 hours of vet time
29 hours of vet nurse time
On busy days like Mondays, being able to prioritise messages also helps them handle urgent queries first – something they can’t do with ringing phones.
“So for us, you come in on a Monday morning and there'll be potentially 100 WhatsApps waiting for us. So you can have a quick look at them and prioritise the more urgent WhatsApps over food orders, for example, which is something you can't do with a phone call. You have to answer every phone call, and you might be taking a food order one whereas someone else is holding on the line to desperately speak to a vet." — Julia, Practice Co-ordinator