23/02/2026
In light of the recent social media post by Simon de Jager and the Hilton community’s support of this, Hilton Veterinary Hospital and Specialist Referral Centre (HVH) will no longer see after-hour emergencies for patients of clients, that are not already regular clients of HVH or have not actively been referred to HVH after consulting their own vet first for the current problem. This decision is made with immediate effect.
In these posts, we have been framed as greedy/overcharging/unethical to name but a few, when in fact HVH prides itself in being extremely transparent with all clients (including the author of that post) with regards to fees and estimates.
HVH has invested extensively in both equipment and expertise. We are one of the best equipped private veterinary hospitals in South Africa and we treat approximately 1200 patients a month with a high success rate, most of these are referrals from outside of Hilton and even outside of KZN. The after-hours service offered was done to aid the Hilton community and local Hilton vets alike. This service was a great cost to HVH both financially and from a personnel point of view.
Going forward local vets will need to be available to see their own after-hours patients, to either treat them or then refer to HVH, should the case require specialist treatment and/or our facilities.
No exceptions will be made, please ensure that the veterinarians that you support offer after-hours and 24-hour care facilities.
