Lead Veterinary Surgeon

Job Description

Introduction
Our Client’s hospital in Bury St Edmunds is a large, purpose-built veterinary facility providing an exceptional range of first opinion, emergency, inpatient and referral services. The hospital benefits from state-of-the-art facilities, a dedicated night service supporting approximately 25 local practices and certificate-level referral services in internal medicine, diagnostic imaging and orthopaedic surgery.

This newly created General Practice Lead position offers an exciting opportunity to shape the future direction of the first opinion service while working within a progressive leadership team focused on clinical excellence, client care and continued practice growth.

Working Hours / Rota
The role is predominantly clinical with a strong consulting focus alongside some theatre responsibilities.

Dedicated time is provided for leadership, governance, operational and non-clinical responsibilities.

Participation in the out-of-hours rota is required.

Role Description
This position combines clinical work with leadership responsibilities, making it an excellent opportunity for either an experienced Veterinary Surgeon seeking their first leadership role or an established clinical leader looking for a new challenge.

The successful candidate will lead the first opinion service, ensuring evidence-based clinical standards while promoting a practical and contextualised approach to patient care. Responsibilities include clinical governance, audits, quality improvement initiatives, client experience development, complaint management and supporting communication strategies across telephone, digital and social media platforms.

Working closely with the Clinical Director, Head Nurse, Practice Manager and other service leads, you will help define and deliver strategic objectives for the hospital. The role also includes supporting recently graduated Veterinary Surgeons, student nurses and the development of the RVN consulting service.

As a newly created position, there is significant opportunity to influence and develop the role over time.

Team Size
The hospital benefits from a large multidisciplinary team including the Clinical Director, Head Nurse, Practice Manager, service leads, Veterinary Surgeons, RVNs, student nurses and dedicated support staff. The practice also operates a full night service supporting approximately 25 local veterinary practices.

Practice Details
This purpose-built hospital provides a broad range of first opinion, emergency, inpatient and referral services. The site offers certificate-level referral services in internal medicine, imaging and orthopaedic surgery alongside a high inpatient caseload and comprehensive emergency service.

The hospital is part of a progressive veterinary group committed to clinical excellence, teamwork and professional development across a network of 24 practices throughout the South and East of England.

Ideal Candidate
The ideal candidate will be an RCVS-registered Veterinary Surgeon with strong small animal general practice experience and confidence in consultations, diagnostics and routine surgical procedures.

Applicants should possess excellent communication and team-building skills, a passion for clinical excellence and an enthusiasm for supporting colleague development. Previous leadership experience, mentoring experience and VetGDP Adviser experience would be advantageous, although candidates seeking to progress into leadership will also be considered.

The practice is seeking someone capable of driving clinical standards, supporting team development and delivering an outstanding client experience while helping shape the future direction of the first opinion service.

This is just some of the information about the job and company, but there will be more questions. Tempus Veterinary Recruitment is happy to get those questions answered for you during the recruiting process. Tempus Veterinary Recruitment is here to make the recruiting process simple and stress free.

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