Page 121 – Independent Small Animal Hospital

Hollybank’s Brave Pet of the Month!

Posted on 15th March, 2013 by Richard Hewitt18th September, 2015

Woody came to see us at Hollybank because he had hurt his right hind leg. He was very sore, holding his leg up, and very tense to examine which can be a sign of pain. There are lots of injuries a dog can do in a back leg. They can get strains and sprains but they can also problems within the joints themselves, whether with their bones or with the ligaments that hold everything in place. Therefore although lots of lame dogs can improve just with some pain relief and rest, in these cases we need to do more to solve the problem. Because Woody was painful we gave him some pain relieving anti-inflammatory drugs and planned to see him back the next day as we were concerned something more may be going on.

As Woody was still very lame the next day we sedated him and took some x-rays. Once he was relaxed from his sedation we could feel that his knee was unstable and would move forwards and backwards. This was because Woody had actually damaged and torn a ligament that held his knee together called the Cruciate ligament. Sometimes it will tear or rupture due to a traumatic injury but this alone is quite rare. Often there is underlying ongoing breakdown and degeneration in the ligament over a period of time, that makes it weaker. Most of the cases we then see are because the ligament has then given way. It also means that a dog that has a problem in one knee may well get a problem in the other knee at some point.

For Woody, this injury meant that he needed surgery. To stabilise his knee we put a suture around his knee to replace the action of the Cruciate ligament. He then had to go home on two weeks of cage rest to allow his knee to heal following the surgery. This took lots and patience and persistence, both from Woody and his owner. Thankfully Woody did really well, walking back in to Hollybank after just 5 days on all four legs.

After two weeks we then started to build up Woody’s exercise. Unfortunately he had a bit of a setback as he had to come back in to Hollybank to get over a bad case of vomiting and diarrhoea. However he is now back on track and making the most of his new found freedom again.

Happy 4th Birthday!

Posted on 2nd March, 2013 by Richard Hewitt27th February, 2013

Hollybank Vets is 4 today!

On March 2^nd 2009 Hollybank Veterinary Centre in Sandiway opened its doors for the very first time. From a cold start and with just four members of staff, it was an ambitious project. The aim of the practice was to provide the best possible care and service to both clients and patients. In short, Hollybank Vets wanted to be the practice that was ‘a cut above the rest’. Four years on, with a staff of 8 and a glowing reputation, Hollybank seems to be well on the way to fulfilling the high target they set themselves.

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Hollybank may have started out with a very small team but they certainly got involved in the community! In the first twelve months they entered Whitegate Charity Trust’s ‘It’s a Knockout’ and came fourth (with a team of staff, friends, family and newly found clients!), judged Blakemere’s Countryside Fair Dog Show (and have since become a regular yearly fixture there) and held their first ever Charity Open Day (which they have continued to hold annually, so far raising over £3000 for local children’s charity The Joshua Tree and The Neuromuscular Centre. But perhaps their greatest achievement was achieving Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons Hospital Status just nine months after opening. This is the greatest accolade a Veterinary Practice can achieve and was awarded after Hollybank met the highest possible standards in all areas of the practice including patient care, facilities, health and safety and cleanliness. Committed to continued development and improvement Hollybank has since become a Training Practice for student nurses, a Gold Standard Cat Friendly Practice ( one of only 17 in England!) and has been nominated for practice of the year at the annual Pet Plan awards.

One thing that has always set Hollybank Vets apart from others is their willingness to allow clients and other members of the public to go ‘beyond the consulting room door’. This has always been very important to the practice as they are very aware that clients generally never get to see ‘out the back’ or find out where their pet goes when it comes to stay – whether for just a day or for longer. Senior Vet Helen McCrorie says ‘We wanted our clients to be able to look around, see our facilities and make sure that they were happy with where their pet will be treated. We have always held the view that we have nothing to hide and welcome clients- and potential clients- into the practice at every opportunity.’

This has been upheld with regular visits from local schools, nurseries and scouting groups, as well as trips out by the staff to such places. Resident guinea pigs, Stacey and Nessa, always enjoy helping out these events including the local school fairs and the annual village Gala Day, where last year Hollybank’s Scarecrows won the business category of the Olympic Scarecrow Competetion! (an award that took almost as much effort to obtain as the Hospital Status did!). Village talks held and funded by the practice have always been popular too and have covered topics such as Firework Phobia and Arthritis.

Throughout all the fun, Hollybank has always kept one thing at its heart; its commitment to offering the absolute best standard of care to pets and their owners. Practice Principal Richard Hewitt believes that that is the key to their success so far. ‘Our reputation means everything to us and much of our growth is because we have been recommended to others by our existing clients. All the vets, nurses and receptionists at Hollybank strive to do the best possible job, every single time, for every single client and patient.’

Training Nurses

Posted on 27th February, 2013 by Richard Hewitt27th February, 2013

Hollybank Vets is a Training Practice for Nurses. This means that we have been assessed and our facilities deemed an appropriate environment in which to teach student veterinary nurses (SVN). Each practice needs to have a clinical coach. Ours is Registered Veterinary Nurse, Cat Burdett. She is responsible for students’ day to day work load and logging a record of their training on the Nursing Progress Log (NPL) which is a national record of standards expected for all students.

Student nurses can train in one of two ways – either ‘on the job’ training where they are employed by a Training Practice and spend one day a week on ‘day release’ to a training college, or by studying at University and spending time on ‘block placement’ (several weeks at a time) in a Training Practice.

Regardless of the route taken, qualified veterinary nurses are admitted to the Royal College register. They are then known as Registered Veterinary Nurses (or RVN’s) and are accountable to the Royal College in the same way that Veterinary Surgeons are.

Our RVN’s – Cat Burdett and Liz O’Neill – are responsible for monitoring anaesthetics, caring for both our day patients and inpatients, running nurse clinics (including weight clubs, puppy and kitten clubs, dental checks and other routine appointments such as nail trims) and keeping the vets in check!