Veterinary Surgeon

Job Description

Introduction

Our Client is an independently owned small animal hospital based near Downham Market that is looking for a new Veterinary Surgeon to join their team.

Working Hours / Rota

The standard working week is four days, with shifts rotated across the hospital and branch practice in Kings Lynn.

Typical shifts are 7am–4pm, 8:30am–5:30pm and 10am–7pm, with rotas provided in advance. Weekends are shared on a 1:5 rota. Saturday runs from 8:30am–12:30pm before moving into emergency cover through to 8:30am on Monday.

The practice provides its own out-of-hours service for registered clients. Night duties consist of a seven-night block of 7pm–7am waking shifts approximately once every ten weeks, followed by seven days of recovery before returning to work. Overnight vets are supported by an RVN throughout the night alongside senior veterinary backup.

Role Description

The Veterinary Surgeon will provide high-quality first opinion care across a varied caseload, including consultations, investigations, inpatient management and surgical procedures. The practice already has a strong surgical team, so there is particular interest in vets who enjoy medicine, consulting, dentistry or exotic cases, with an ambition to further develop the exotic caseload.

Routine consultations are generally 20 minutes, with 40 minutes available for more involved cases. Consulting days include protected time for phone calls, while theatre days are dedicated to operating rather than being combined with consultations. There is also protected study time and strong encouragement to develop clinical interests through CPD and certificate study.

The role includes working closely with the wider clinical team, maintaining high standards of patient and client communication, supporting clinical audits and continuous improvement, and potentially mentoring graduates or acting as a VetGDP supervisor as experience develops.

Team Size

The practice has a multidisciplinary team of nearly 60 across its two locations, including experienced Veterinary Surgeons, certificate holders, Veterinary Nurses, students, administrative colleagues and a senior management team. The veterinary team includes clinicians with interests and qualifications across surgery, dermatology, anaesthesia and analgesia, alongside vets currently studying towards further certificates and graduates progressing through VetGDP.

Practice Details & Equipment

The main site holds RCVS Small Animal Hospital accreditation, while the branch clinic holds RCVS General Practice accreditation.

The hospital includes six large consultation rooms, two sterile theatres, a dedicated dental theatre, large preparation area, separate dog and cat wards, isolation facilities and secure patient exercise areas.

The branch site provides four consultation rooms, two sterile theatres, a dental theatre, preparation and isolation areas and separate inpatient wards.

Clinical equipment includes CT, Karl Storz endoscopy, extensive IDEXX laboratory equipment, DR and CR digital radiography, dental radiography at both locations, GE ultrasound including a Vivid system, PACS throughout the practice, TPLO and intra-articular surgical kits, a Kyon total hip replacement system, advanced anaesthetic circuits and monitoring, infusion pumps, mobile blood pressure monitoring and tonometry. The practice also provides referral work in areas including dermatology and regenerative medicine.

Ideal Candidate

The practice is particularly interested in Veterinary Surgeons around four to six years qualified, although suitably skilled more recent graduates or more experienced clinicians will also be considered. Candidates should have a strong broad first opinion skill set and at least a few years of UK practice experience.

A genuine interest in medicine, consultations, dentistry or exotic cases would be particularly welcomed. The successful candidate will be confident communicating with clients, comfortable working in a busy clinical environment and able to balance a diagnostic-led approach with practical decision-making based on individual patients and clients. They should be collaborative, resilient, calm under pressure and motivated to continue developing clinically.

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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