This week we welcome our new first year equine veterinary nursing students, for their first week of training.
http://www.vetpartnersnursingschool.co.uk/
Laboratory news & podcasts
Latest news from the lab
More news from the lab
A huge congratulations to Victoria South who has been elected for BEVA Council.
BEVA (British Equine Veterinary Association) Council members lead the association, influencing the direction it takes and working on projects that aim to advance the equine veterinary profession, while improving the health and welfare of horses.
Housevet Positions
Applications are invited for the next 3 housevet positions starting in December 2020, early Spring and mid-Summer 2021.
The Liphook Equine Hospital is an internationally renowned equine referral hospital with state-of-the-art facilities based in Hampshire in the South of England. The hospital has 10 RCVS and EBVS specialists who are supported by the housevets a diagnostic imaging clinician, medicine resident and approximately 70 nursing and support staff and a large on-site laboratory. The hospital team works closely with the large ambulatory team of 11 vets who provide first-opinion care to horses in Hampshire, Sussex, Surrey and beyond. More details of the practice are available on our website www.TheLEH.co.uk.
Currently, we employ a team of four Housevets who work for a fixed -term of 18 months. The housevets work as a team alongside the hospital clinicians and nurses. The housevets’ prime duties include anaesthesia, intensive care monitoring and the day to day management of the 50 hospitalised in-patients, including both diagnostic procedures and treatments. Orthopaedic investigations, including nerve blocks, are an important part of the role and, in addition, there will be ample exposure to other diagnostic techniques (such as radiography, scintigraphy, ultrasonography and MRI) as well as to colic and lameness work up. The housevets work under the direction of recognised Specialists in both Surgery and Medicine and are well supported by a large team of excellent nurses, who work shifts to provide full 24 hour care.
The position is challenging and the hours are long but there is a tremendous amount of experience to be gained by applicants with suitable enthusiasm and a desire to learn. Accommodation is provided in a house in a nearby village. As this house is shared with the other members of the housevet team it is, unfortunately, not suitable for couples. No pets are allowed in this accommodation. The out of hours rota is shared equally between all members of the housevet team and the duty housevet is required to stay on site, at nights and weekends, in a self-contained flat. The team of housevets work a shared rota for their part of the out of hours system whilst other veterinary surgeons in the practice are responsible for the ambulatory calls and for the surgical and medical rotas. Duty nurses take all phone calls outside office hours.
These positions are offered for a fixed term contract of 18 months. Following the term as a housevet it is not expected that any vacancies will occur in the practice for assistantships but we have found that, in past years, our housevets have had little difficulty finding suitable employment either in practice or in residency programmes. Indeed, there seems to be a widely held view in the profession that our housevets have received some of the best post-graduate training and clinical exposure currently available in the UK.
We are looking for enthusiastic team players to join our friendly but hardworking Hospital team, who are all dedicated to providing first class care to the horses, ponies and donkeys entrusted to our care. The majority of the hospitalised cases are referred patients but we also have a large first opinion clientele and there may also be a limited opportunity to become involved directly with first opinion outpatient cases during your stay. As you will be in frequent contact with owners and referring veterinary surgeons, a good, confident and sympathetic manner with both clients and professional colleagues is essential. For this reason, we look for those who have been qualified for at least a year, preferably more, and candidates who have not previously worked in practice in the UK for at least one year or who do not have English as their mother tongue may be at a disadvantage in the selection process, as fluent spoken and written English is essential.
In addition to an above average salary and rent-free free accommodation we also provide a car allowance, house and mobile phone, uniform, private health insurance and a free private accident/disability insurance scheme. More importantly perhaps, we also offer good working conditions and, we believe, a happy and supportive environment. There is ample scope for your professional development and continuing further education within the practice.
Applicants are requested to send in a covering letter and a CV to Barbara.Thornley@theLEH.co.uk. . Closing date for applications Monday 31st August 2021.
If all results of diagnostic tests were clearly either positive or negative then our lives would be simpler! Unfortunately that is not the case and we are all used to seeing borderline values. This is probably an inevitable result of progress and the fact that we now tend to get presented with early-stage disease cases of all types, rather than end-stage disease which rarely presents diagnostic difficulties. Many diseases are not simply either “present” or “not present”, and may exist along a spectrum of development. With many lab tests we have to use judgement as to when a mild increase merits further action versus further monitoring. For example, if GGT is normally <50 iu/L, should we be concerned when it increases to 55, or 75, or 150………?
We are now offering further guidance alongside our seasonally adjusted ACTH values and you will now see a “grey-zone” on the lab forms alongside your result. For example, this week we suggest an ACTH cutoff value of 49 pg/mL with a grey zone from 20-73 pg/mL. This indicates that a PPID case is very unlikely (P<0.05) to have an ACTH <20 pg/mL, and a normal horse is very unlikely (P<0.05) to have an ACTH >73 pg/mL.
The ACTH result should be interpreted in the context of the degree of clinical suspicion and we will always help you with this where you have time to enter clinical history on the submission form. If a test is being run in quite a speculative fashion with no strong clinical suspicion of PPID then the result ought to be above 73 pg/mL (this week) to be reasonably convincing for PPID. On the other hand if you are pretty convinced clinically that a horse has PPID then you should remain suspicious even with values as low as 20 pg/mL, and perhaps advise TRH stimulation testing as the next step (NB. TRH stimulation tests are hard to interpret at this time of year, although a negative result makes PPID unlikely).
Fri 6th Nov 2020 – Sat 7th Nov 2020
@ Liphook Equine Hospital
For more information and to book your place, please click here:
Due to expansion of our ambulatory team, we are looking to recruit a highly motivated and experienced equine ambulatory vet. A minimum of 5 years’ experience in equine practice is required. We have a diverse client base but with an increasing number of high level competition horses and stud clients. Experience in all aspects of equine ambulatory work is essential and specific expertise and knowledge of reproduction is of particular interest. Our ideal candidate will either have or aspire to achieve a post graduate qualification in their chosen field. Excellent client communications skills and ability to work as part of a team are vital.
We currently have a team of ten equine ambulatory vets (including 7 RCVS certificate holders) with the most up to date mobile equipment such as fully wireless DR radiography systems, digital ultrasonography, endoscopy, shockwave, power dental equipment etc. The ambulatory team has full back up of our tier 3 hospital which includes 9 RCVS specialists and full range of facilities such as Scintigraphy, CT and MRI.
This is a fantastic opportunity for the right candidate to further develop their skills and advance their career. The practice offers an excellent working environment with a highly competitive package.
If you are interested in applying for the position please submit an application to Carrie Goodbourn, Business Director, Liphook Equine Hospital, Forest Mere, Liphook, Hants, GU30 7JG or by email to carrie.goodbourn@theleh.co.uk including your CV and a covering letter. Applications should be received no later than Friday 14th August 2020. For an informal discussion please call Carrie on 07917851129.
Victoria graduated from the University of Glasgow in 2007 and subsequently served in the Royal Army Veterinary Corps for five years, treating military working animals in the UK and abroad. She then decided to pursue a career in equine surgery and completed an equine internship at the Royal Veterinary College, a short spell in equine ambulatory practice, and an equine surgery residency at the University of Bristol. She has obtained RCVS certificates in equine practice and large animal diagnostic imaging, and became a Diplomate of the European College of Veterinary Surgeons in 2020. After a period working as an Academic Clinician at the University of Glasgow, Victoria joined the Liphook Equine Hospital surgery team in March 2020.
Outside of work, Victoria enjoys exploring the local area with her labrador Elsie, and she continues her commitment to the Armed Forces as a reservist.
Just to reassure everyone with samples they wish to submit that we are still offering a full laboratory service. Our protocols have changed considerably in view of essential measures regarding coronavirus, but the only change you might notice is the telephone system will divert to various admin staff working from home now so please allow a few more rings than normal. We are all in close communication using remote means and will be able to deal with queries as well as samples as normal. I hope you are all managing at this difficult time.
Covid -19 & Liphook Equine Hospital
We appreciate that with the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic through the UK that this is a worrying time for everyone. As the prevalence of the virus increases in the UK, we want to reassure you that we are taking precautions to ensure that we can continue to be available to look after our equine patients.
So what are we doing?
Ambulatory Vets
- We are minimising contact between our ambulatory vets and other hospital staff so that if one of them falls ill, the risk of everyone else falling ill at the practice at the same time is minimised. Our ambulatory vets are working out of vehicles as normal but are basing themselves at home, with only essential trips into the hospital to restock their cars
- Biosecurity is not a new concept for us in the equine industry, as many of you are only too aware, and so we continue to ensure that our strict biosecurity policies are maintained
Hospital
- We will be asking office-based staff to work from home
- We are aiming to reduce the number of personnel visiting the hospital. We request that the number of people coming into the hospital with a horse is minimised and we will be doing more communications via telephone and email to avoid face-to-face contact
- Enforcing social-distancing between staff and staff and clients as much as possible
- Clients will be asked to wait in their cars or lorries rather than sit in the reception area
- Visits to inpatients will be via prior appointment only
- We have ensured that sufficient veterinary supplies are in stock and have a contingency plan to ensure that that continues
How can you help us?
- We will be asking all clients requesting a visit to and visitors to the hospital a few basic questions to ensure that we are not exposed to unnecessary risk e.g. questions about recent travels; whether you feel unwell; whether you have been in contact with anyone else who is unwell. We are still happy to attend your horse but may have to take some extra measures to safeguard all involved
- We would also be grateful if the number of personnel “horse side” is minimised where possible – it is difficult to screen unexpected “visitors” before we arrive thus potentially creating unnecessary risk for all
- Please make sure you use the hand sanitisers available when you visit the hospital. Frequent hand washing is one of the most effective measures we can all take to protect ourselves and each other
- If your health status changes AFTER a visit or appointment is arranged, please let us know
- If you need to come to the hospital for any reason (eg collect medication) please call ahead so the necessary precautions can be taken
- We would like to avoid cash payments wherever possible so please bring you bank card for payment
As the current situation is rapidly changing, we will keep you updated with any changes as they occur.
We are very pleased to announce that the final set of test results from the horses at Liphook Equine Hospital have all come back perfectly clear.
Although we took the cautious step of temporarily closing our hospital to ensure no risk to the wider equine community, we are now fully confident that there is no infectious threat from either the hospital or the horses that have been staying here. Consequently the Hospital is now open again for business as usual.
We thank all of our clients and our veterinary colleagues for their understanding, support and patience over the last couple of weeks and of course to the team at Liphook who have worked so hard to ensure this outcome.
We send our best wishes to everyone at other yards currently awaiting test results. Please continue to follow the advice of your own veterinary surgeon regarding your personal circumstances.
Join our lab Facebook group
Subscribe to our Podcasts
What our clients say
We have been a client of LEH for nearly 30 years. From minor wounds to major surgery LEH have provided us with highest quality care. From the receptionists, nurses through to the surgeons and road vets who run our monthly clinics we have always received a friendly, helpful and professional service.
— Caroline Ewen, Hewshott Farm, Hampshire
News