New vet surgery needed to cope with growing demand
‘It is very hard to attract any vets to Arran,’ says Charlotte
Arran’s only veterinary practice is planning to double in size, with two new vets also on their way as Arran Vets expands to cope with the increasing demand for its services.
Island vet Charlotte Clough has applied for planning permission to create a new surgery by converting a private residence in Knowe Road, Brodick.
And she is being joined by husband and wife vet team Holly and Hugh Simon, who move from Devon later this month. Their arrival will mean extended opening hours at the practice and enhanced services, which is good news for the many animal owners on the island.
Charlotte, who took over the practice in April last year from long-serving island vet Malcolm Wheeler, has been single handedly running the surgery and on-call services for both domestic and farm animals.
There has been a vetinary practice in Brodick since 1975, which from start up, was operated out of three Portacabins. Over time a shell building was formed around these with a further extension added some six years ago. However, these buildings are no longer fit for purpose, which is why the new surgery is being planned.
If approved, the ground floor of the new surgery will have a reception and waiting room, a private consultation room, a prep-room, separate cat and dog wards, as recommended by the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons, and a purpose-built operating and x-ray room.
Externally the driveway will lead to a new car park and will provide six client and staff parking bays with vehicle turning and a large area for vehicles with trailers and an area to receive deliveries.
At the moment Charlotte works at the Lower Balmore practice with nursing assistant Gemma Ferguson, who is studying for a level 2 diploma in animal care and
veterinary procedure, and part-time receptionist Shona Hume.
The new vets will job share and live in the flat above the new Brodick practice. And with Charlotte planning to move to Shiskine, it will mean better cover across the island.
Charlotte said: ‘It will be good for the practice. Trying to run the surgery on my own and do all the on call as well would eventually have led to burn out. But by bringing this couple on board it means that not only can we extend the opening hours at the surgery, but we can also share the on-call workload which includes a lot of farm visits.’
The couple found out about the jobs on a chance meeting with Charlotte when they were on holiday on Arran. And Charlotte explained how hard it had been to find them: ‘No Scottish vets or Scottish graduates applied for the assistant job here and the situation was the same when Malcolm advertised the practice for sale. No Scottish vets or graduates were interested.
Interested
‘I was one of only two English vets who were interested and I was the only one prepared to make the investment, to raise the funds and make it happen.
‘It is very hard to attract any vets to Arran as most vets now use out of hours services or are in bigger practices where the out of hours work can be shared. Far fewer vets are interested in mixed practice nowadays as there is more specialisation – for example, just small animal, just equine, just farm.’
The extended hours from later this month will see an evening surgery from 4pm to 6pm every weekday.
Charlotte continued: ‘The growth in the small animal work, which is now 75 per cent of the practice work, has enabled me to take on another vet and we are trying to make more appointments available to people coming in after work.’ Charlotte, who has been a qualified vet for 31 years, is originally from Derbyshire but lived in Hampshire for 25 years before coming to Arran with her border collie Ted.
She said: ‘I am really enjoying being here. I feel very privileged to have become an accepted part of the community.
‘Though my work I have got to know so many people and the work of the practice is much more varied than I am used to.’