A Yorkshire veterinary practice has become the first in the Vets4Pets Group to achieve Hospital status in the UK.
Vets4Pets Barnsley, which treats over 50,000 patients a year and has grown by over 1,700 per cent in just 13 years, is now able to provide 24 hour on-site out of hours (OOH) emergency availability of the vet team, the use of the latest technology and equipment and carry out advanced surgical procedures including keyhole surgery and diagnostics. The practice has a hydrotherapy pool to help rehabilitate injured patients.
The practice will now provide specialist care for pets with heart problems through a regular appointment day with one of the country’s most respected specialist pet cardiologists, Rachel James MA VetMB CertSAM DVC MRCVS.
Rachel will hold regular consultations every four weeks, offering patient’s specialist referral cardiology for any clinical cardiac case, reducing the need for lengthy travel to practices that offer this service but are in a different county.
“We’re obviously delighted to be recognised with the highest level of endorsement from the industry body, RCVS” said Caroline, who set up the practice with her husband Peter in 2002.
“It means we can offer an even wider range of services to people and their pets throughout Barnsley and South Yorkshire.
“It’s fantastic that Rachel is able to hold regular sessions at our practice. The type of cases Rachel will be able to see include any heart murmur cases, especially in cats, those picked up in puppies at vaccination and older dogs developing heart murmurs (CKCS).
“In addition to being awarded our hospital status, the Emergency Services Clinic was extremely hard to achieve and poses us with a welcome, but huge responsibility to the practices we cover OOHs for.
“Our plans are to continue growing the practice and the team, providing jobs for people in the local area and caring for every pet that is brought in to see us, but all the time keeping customer service at the heart of what we do.”
Investment has helped Vets4Pets Barnsley’s remarkable growth and to achieve ‘hospital’ status, with over £100,000 spent on equipment including a digital X-ray machine and keyhole surgery equipment, in the last two years. But investment isn’t confined to equipment, as ten of the 12 veterinary nurses have been fully trained though apprenticeship schemes.
“Since opening in 2002, we have continually reinvested any profits to help build the practice, investing in jobs, training and technology to provide the best facilities to care for the region’s pets,” added Caroline.
“We are a family orientated business and want to provide both our colleagues and the pets we treat, with the best support possible.
“One of our current goals is to help all of our colleagues achieve expert status in their chosen fields, be that surgical nurse, orthopaedic vet surgeon or rehabilitation nurse.
“Since 2002 we have supported ten of our nurses through their personal training programmes, which include the two or three years spent in an apprenticeship scheme. An apprenticeship programme costs approximately £22,000 a year of investment.
“But we could only be in the position we are now because of the original investment and support from Vets4Pets. In 2002 Peter and I were unable to obtain the significant (about £250,000) funding to support our plans to open the surgery that would provide an extensive range of services to pets across Barnsley and South Yorkshire
“Fortunately Vets4Pets were able to arrange the bank finance for our new practice and after paying it back, we now personally own all of the assets and goodwill of the practice”
Every three years the practice will undergo an assessment to maintain ‘Hospital’ status.
Vets4Pets Barnsley is split into three teams – operation, in patient care and rehabilitation. This however, is not set in stone and members of each team often amalgamate roles, particularly when providing comfort and support for a pet through their time in the practice.
And when not helping patients in the practice, the team at Vets4Pets Barnsley raise money for animal charities, in 2014 raising £5,000 for a number of beneficiaries including the Cats Protection League and Dogs Trust.
Caroline added: “In 2015 our nominated charity is Hounds for Heroes and we’ve already agreed to have a cake sale and some of the team are planning to run in 10k events and half marathons.
“It all ties into our ethos of being a business that provides the highest level of care to patients and a place that has career development and charities at its heart.”
No Comment