Sky’s the limit for Rainbow Equine Hospital following £1m investment

Sky’s the limit for Rainbow Equine Hospital following £1m investment

A MALTON equine hospital has unveiled its new operating theatres following a £1million investment to expand facilities.

Rainbow Equine Hospital has been boosted by a new purpose-built surgical and intensive care facility to house two new operating theatres at its site at Rainbow Lane in Malton, North Yorkshire.

The new development has increased the hospital’s surgical capacity and, as the building is adjacent to their recently refurbished and extended CT suite, it enables pre and intra-operative CT scanning to be utilised more effectively.

One theatre will be used for orthopaedic and soft tissue surgery, while the other is for orthopaedic work like fracture repair and keyhole surgery.

Rainbow Equine Hospital offers the most advanced diagnostic and surgical techniques in the UK, and is staffed by specialists in equine soft-tissue and orthopaedic surgery, internal medicine, equine anaesthesia and diagnostic imaging. It has stabling capacity for more than 50 equine inpatients.

The expansion has been in the pipeline for two years and has been made possible by investment from VetPartners, a veterinary group that includes some of the UK’s most respected and trusted small animal, equine, farm and mixed practices.

They will start the next phase of re-development work in 2020 to create a new reception building and offices for vets and their admin team.

Rainbow Equine Hospital Clinical Director Moses Brennan said: “The expansion of our facilities is making a huge difference and we are one of only a handful of facilities in the UK that can offer intra-operative CT scanning. Because of the proximity of the theatre to the CT scanner, patients can be scanned before and during operations, which is a huge benefit.

“Investment like this is one of the benefits of being part of a larger veterinary group like VetPartners. The level of support, both financially and with the design and build process, has been a huge advantage and the team here have been closely involved to get it exactly how we want it, and it looks amazing.

“With the additional theatres, we can double the number of surgeries we can do each day, ensuring no waiting time for our great referring vets and their clients.  It is enabling us to see an increase in the number of cases and, as well as having great capacity, it has made work flow much easier.”

Rainbow’s previous theatre is set to be converted into a dedicated ‘standing’ surgery suite, where horses can have procedures done under sedation while they are still standing, including kissing spine surgery, selected fracture repairs, laparoscopy and keyhole abdominal surgery.

Rainbow Equine Hospital, a Tier 3 Equine Referral Hospital, boasts some of the UK’s leading horse specialists. As well as three surgical specialists, it also has specialists in diagnostic imaging, internal medicine and anaesthesia.

The expansion in services has led to the appointment of Alastair Kay, a Diplomat of the American College of Veterinary Surgeons and an RCVS Specialist in Equine Surgery, with a particular interest in thoroughbred work.

For media enquiries, please contact Amanda Little, VetPartners Senior PR and Communications Manager, on 07970 198 492 or email amanda.little@vetpartners.co.uk