WESTWAY Veterinary Group has opened the doors of its new state-of-the-art facilities following major investment at its Newcastle hospital.
The practice has officially unveiled its improved facilities after converting a neighbouring newsagents and convenience store.
The expansion has seen the number of consult rooms increase from five to eight and there is also space to house some of the most up-to-date, high-tech equipment.
There has been significant investment in a new ultrasound machine that can detect tumours and foreign bodies and diagnose rare heart conditions, and an endoscope to remove foreign bodies swallowed by pets and help to diagnose conditions like colitis and inflammatory bowel disease.
The biggest consult room will enable newly graduated vets and experienced vets alike to further their skills by receiving mentoring from specialist vets.
It will increase the downstairs clinical area of their West Road veterinary hospital by 20% and lead to the recruitment of three extra vets, as well as enable the practice to run more veterinary nursing clinics, including weight management and general health checks.
The extra space will also pave the way for further investment in a CT scanner – to take three-dimensional, diagnostic images of animal anatomy – and additional x-ray machines to further advance the service the practice can offer.
Managing Director Jason Atherton said: “We deal with emergency cases from all over the North East and having extra space will be invaluable to the service we provide, as well as the training we offer to our vets and nurses.
“Extra diagnostic space will allow us to have a second x-ray room, as well as enable us to provide more nurse clinics, including our new Prime of Life clinics, which gives clients specific care and support for elderly cats and dogs.”
One of the new consult rooms will be large enough to be equipped with sound and video, enabling the practice to record consults for veterinary training and mentoring of young vets.
The £100,000 expansion to rent the neighbouring premises and renovate the building is the latest round of investment by Westway to improve its service to clients and their pets over the last three years.
They built a state-of-the-art cat unit, with operating theatre and facilities specially designed for cats in a separate wing of the hospital, along with a cat-only waiting room to make it less stressful for feline patients as they are segregated from dogs.
The main hospital on is a Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons (RCVS) accredited hospital and it is part of VetPartners, which has 89 small animal, equine, mixed and farm practices across the UK, with 3,500 employees working in 334 sites.
For media enquiries, please contact Amanda Little, VetPartners Head of PR and Communications, on 07970 198 492 or email amanda.little@vetpartners.co.uk