Bute & Cowal Vets, UK

Organisational background

Glasgow 1974 graduate Duncan MacIntyre joined the well-established practice on the Isle of Bute as assistant to the late T H Duncan MRCVS in 1979. After qualifying from Bristol Vet School in 2001, his daughter Catriona moved back to the island to join her father in the family practice.

Following the retirement of Tony Black and Roger Canning of TM & JA Black in Dunoon, the two practices merged in 2008, forming a family-run, forward-thinking, mixed practice serving the Isle of Bute and the Cowal Peninsula in Argyllshire, Scotland.

With the continued growth of a practice dedicated to serving the local community, we now employ a team of 18, including four full-time vets, three part-time vets, one RVN, two SVNs (hopefully soon-to-be RVNs!), two VCAs, our cleaner, and a team of five reception and administration staff.

Organisation aims & mission

To provide quality, affordable veterinary care to the entirety of Cowal and Bute, from Garrochhead at the south end of Bute, to Arrochar in the north.

We cover a large area with a diverse client base and recognise the vital part a veterinary practice can play in a small community.

• Despite expansion over the last 20 years, we remain a family-run practice that takes pride in the achievements of our small team and the individuals within it.
• We are community orientated and are privileged to enjoy the loyalty of valued clients, who were instrumental in our award for Petplan Veterinary Practice of the Year in 2015. We value the provision of a good standard of veterinary care in a local setting, but also recognise our limitations and aim to offer a referral, where appropriate, in a timely manner.
• The local area is getting busier and our client base is continuing to expand. However we recognise the importance of the welfare of our team, and clients understand they MAY have to wait a little while for appointments or routine surgery bookings, rather than trying to squeeze more and more into the day.
• We value the development of our team, with CPD and training funded for ALL team members. We are an RCVS Approved Training Practice and currently have two Second Year SVNs. We are also an RCVS Approved Graduate Development Practice, with two recent graduate vets nearing the end of their first year in practice. We work hard to create an environment where learning and development are prioritised, whilst allowing for clinical autonomy.

• We are a busy practice, but we do try hard to create a balance!
  Our working day is shorter than many practices, starting at 8.30 am and finishing at 5 pm. Admin time is routinely scheduled for the vets to allow time for catching up, and our consultations are 15-20 minutes long, depending on the vet. We don't consult on Saturdays or Sundays.
• We get a good variety of day-to-day work here. The Dunoon branch is mainly small animal, but there are farm and equine visits as well. The Bute Branch has more farm visits as there are more sizeable farms on the island, including seven dairy farms. One of our vets, Hugh, works between the two practices and enjoys a great variety. Some of our part-time vets do small animal only. In addition to traditional mixed practice, Catriona also does some game bird work, and a little aquaculture work with a local halibut, wrasse and lumpfish hatchery, and a mussel farm.
• We are expanding the roles of our RVN and RVNs-to-be, developing the nursing clinics and ways that we can increase opportunities for our VNs to use their knowledge and skills to their full potential, including triage, minor surgery etc.
• We work to try and accommodate our vets' needs around their lives.
  We recognise the need to balance work with family obligations and life outside of veterinary practice. We are working to move away from the conventional full-time/part-time roles to accommodate these needs because we recognise the worth of our employees.

• We are looking for someone to throw themselves into our cracking wee team. We are a friendly bunch and work closely together. We have full-time positions to fill but are open to alternative flexible options for the right people.
• Experience is a real bonus, but we do recognise the value and potential of new graduates and will ensure support. All our experienced vets are involved to some extent with new graduate support, and our VetGDP Advisor is an associate vet, rather than the "boss", which we feel helps create open communication.
• The ideal candidate would be keen on a mixed practice job, but again, alternatives can be explored for the right candidate.