Sadly vet Olivia decided she missed the farm work and has returned to working outdoors. She was a great asset to the Dacre House team and will be missed greatly. Perhaps the draw of a centrally-heated building will bring her back to us in the future but we wish her every success in her new role.

It has been a year since the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons introduced its new guidance on the prescribing of veterinary medicines. We are aware the stricter policies we had to introduce to meet the new guidance have had an impact for some of our pet owners, both financially and practically. We have tried to mitigate this impact as much as we can and thank you all for your patience and understanding.

Finally, congratulations to Abi who has been accepted on to the Veterinary Nurse Diploma programme. This is a 3-year apprenticeship in collaboration with Plumpton College. We wish you every success in your studies Abi!

In practice news we bade a very sad farewell to vet Sarah in August. Having been at Dacre House since her graduation eight years ago she is now exchanging Tunbridge Wells for the beautiful surroundings of the Welsh countryside. Sarah is an exceptional vet and will be greatly missed - we wish her and her family every happiness and success for the future.

On the brighter side, we have welcomed Maisie as an animal nursing assistant, growing our nursing team to ten members! Maisie joins after many years visiting us with her family pets. In her spare time she enjoys horse riding and baking. Finally, Pembury building work update. The new unit behind the main building is taking shape - the walls are up, the roof is on. Once complete, we intend to move out of the main building into the new unit to allow the main building to be overhauled - a new roof and some other structural changes. Once complete, we should have provision in Pembury for two consulting rooms and a surgical suite with two operating theatres, x-ray and ultrasound imaging facilities.

In staff news, congratulations to vet Matt who is now a proud dad to a gorgeous baby daughter. Matt is now to be seen spending his spare time looking at baby paraphernalia and discussing the varying sleep regression stages.

We are also delighted to welcome a familiar face to our vet team – Stephanie has seen practice with us over the years and is very familiar with all things Dacre House. Having now graduated from Nottingham University she is excited to start her career with us. Stephanie’s particular interests are small animal medicine and veterinary public health. In her spare time, she helps with the audiovisual team at a local church, and is involved with the Veterinary Christian Fellowship. She also enjoys watching films, swimming & eating ice cream!

Furthering the expertise of our veterinary surgeon team, Gabriella has now started a Postgraduate certificate in feline practice. We are looking forward to Gabriella’s insights and expertise in all things cat-related as her studies progress.

On the staff news front, nurse Lydia put us all to shame by running a half marathon at Battersea Park recently, making a respectable finish within 2 hours 53 minutes – well done Lydia! We may be putting your gained skills to use on the endless road closure days as a runner between Southborough and Pembury…

We are also pleased to welcome a not-so-new face, Alice, to the nursing team. Alice has been training with us and we are delighted to have her officially employed as part of the Dacre House team. Alice comes to us with lots of expertise and a wonderfully calm demeanour. She loves all aspects of veterinary nursing, though says her favourite shift is always ‘kennels’. Alice is owner of elderly (yet sprightly!) jack russell, Bella, but is also a huge cat enthusiast at work.

It is our ethos to continually support training and development. Ellie and Abi have now enrolled with the College for Animal Welfare and are undertaking their Diploma course for Veterinary Care Assistants. We look forward to supporting and encouraging them in their studies alongside their work.