23 Mar 2022
The aim of the restructure at the Linnaeus-owned small animal hospital is to deliver an even higher quality of care and treatment to pets and referring vets.
Rachael Buzzel
Job Title
From left: Anouska Rogers-Smith, Elisa Robinson and Justyne Hughes.
A group of three experienced vet nurses at a small animal hospital in the north-east have been appointed to senior roles as part of an innovative restructure of its 60-plus nursing team.
The aim of the restructure at Linnaeus-owned Wear Referrals in Bradbury, County Durham is to enhance the quality of care and treatment to pets and referring vets.
Elisa Robinson, who has been at Wear since 2005, has joined its senior management team as head of nursing services, and will be supported by RVNs Anouska Rogers-Smith and Justyne Hughes, with Miss Rogers-Smith responsible for quality and compliance, and Mrs Hughes for workflow and process.
The restructure aims to ensure the highest standard of care is offered to all patients, as well as being able to support and nurture the whole nursing team, including RVNs, SVNs and patient care assistants, plus imaging specialists and the rehabilitation team.
Darren Stubbs, hospital director at Wear, said the nursing team restructure would help the hospital further enhance its reputation as the north-east’s leading veterinary referral centre.
He said: “We’re over the moon to be launching the new nursing structure here at Wear. It really places an emphasis on providing great leadership to our team and a really clear careers pathway for all of our nursing team.”
Wear’s nursing team structure follows a clear emphasis being placed on the nursing community by Linnaeus, which, in chief nursing officer Andrea Jeffery has had a nursing presence on its executive board since 2019.
Dr Jeffery has spearheaded the creation of a unique central support veterinary nursing team at Linnaeus to help its nursing population develop a clear career framework to facilitate skill set development of RVNs throughout their careers.
She said: “We’re really excited to see the implementation of this nursing structure at Wear, which, as part of Linnaeus, is very much leading the industry with this approach to supporting its nursing team.
“We place a real emphasis on the importance our nurses play in helping us provide a better world for pets, and this move really highlights the opportunities, support and work-life balance on offer at Wear.”
