Why join us? Why are we here? Why do we do what we do? ‘What two words’?! … to care.
So come and help us care. We care for our clients and patients; our wards and reception are staffed 24/7, our patients are never alone. We care for our vets… our nursing and admin team provide round the clock support; we share our out of hours cover with two other local practices so the balance between time off and the satisfaction of emergency work is a nice one at only 1 in 8. We care for each other; we care for the environment; and we care for our industry partners.
The veterinary community we enjoy is entirely independent – locally with our rota buddies and nationally with the wonderful club that is XLVets. We are committed to staying independent - that leaves us in complete control of exactly how we care.
The workload is a mix of rural working dogs, of which we have many, and the pets from the local towns. We hold the local RSPCA contract and we seem to be the local depository for wildlife in need! The week is a mix of consulting, surgery and medicine. Vets can work on their own cases or share the load with colleagues as preferred. Typically only one evening surgery per week is necessary. One Bank Holiday a year is worked, the rest being additional to 6 weeks holiday. An additional 5-7 days off in the Festive Fortnight is also ensured. We encourage CPD and we also have our own training company, CPDActif, providing active learning, personal development, and leadership and management training in the French Alps.
We offer all the usual services of a 24 hour clinic but when needs exceed us we have referral centres near Newcastle only half an hour away.
If you haven’t lost your fascination for all things equine then you can always wander through to our Equine Unit to have a look, but don’t worry, you don’t have to! They are a completely separate department!
And why Hexham? Voted by Rightmove as the ‘Happiest Place to Live in Great Britain’ in 2019 and top 10 every year since, attributed to its historic centre, the nearby Roman Wall and its perfect location nestled between the North Pennines and the Northumberland National Park. The famous beaches and castles of the coast are just an hour’s drive and the rest of the world via Newcastle International is just 25 minutes away.
Our offering is a flexible one – contact Anne, the Practice Manager on annegrieve@smvc.co.uk or Roger (one of the Directors) on rogerscott@smvc.co.uk. If you prefer to chat to us then ring 01434 608999.
