About Us

Caring for the pets of Barrow-in-Furness

There has been a veterinary practice in Rawlinson Street, Barrow-in-Furness since 1954. Howard Bradley opened the first practice in a single shop unit in September of that year. It was expanded by his successor, and since 2005, has undergone significant redevelopment which has effectively more than doubled the size of the building. This now houses a new operating theatre, dedicated diagnostic imaging suite, hydrotherapy unit and four spacious consulting rooms. The practice is a comprehensive facility giving a high quality service to pets and their owners.

We have been a training centre for Veterinary Nurses since 1997 and have recently affirmed our commitment to our feline patients by attaining a Silver Award in the Cat Friendly Practice scheme.

The practice has remained committed to a programme of improvement. In 1996 the practice was functioning with just one veterinary surgeon and two nursing staff. Significant growth and dedication to in-house and external training of staff has allowed us to develop into the team that we are today.

Our Veterinary Centre

  • Reception Area
  • Examination Rooms
  • Hydrotherapy
  • Preparation Room
  • X-Ray
  • Laboratory
  • Animal Accommodation
  • Theatre

Reception Area

This is a large and spacious area with plenty of room to accommodate those waiting for appointments.

Our nursing staff are trained in reception duties and will do their best to look after your requests. We have noticeboards which have regularly changing displays of relevant information as well as some space for small advertisements. Our television displays a rolling programme of information about pets and their needs and this is updated on regular basis.

Examination Rooms

We have four examination rooms, all spacious enough to handle the largest of patients. They each have a weigh scale and relevant equipment necessary to attend to the needs of patient assessment. One of the rooms has a more homely feel for those consultations which require a more relaxed approach.

Hydrotherapy

We have an underwater treadmill machine which allows us to rehabilitate patients recovering from orthopedic surgery and also to help with the management of those dogs suffering from osteoarthritis or those needing help with weight management.

Preparation Room

This area is where patients are prepared for sterile surgery and is also where we peform procedures that do not require to be done in the operating theatre. These include dentistry and wound care.

Our dentistry equipment allows us to perform all necessary procedures to maintain the health of your pet's teeth.

X-Ray

We have a dedicated room for our X-Ray unit. This makes sure that we can isolate those staff taking the radiographs from the patients being exposed to X-Rays. The room is lined so X-Rays cannot escape and the doors are lead lined for the same reason and even the glass in the doors is impregnated with lead. This was one of the many benefits of the redevelopment and expansion undertaken in 2003/2004.

In 2013 we changed to digital x-ray processing which is faster at producing the image and removes the need for harmful chemicals.

Laboratory

In our laboratory we are able to carry out a range of bloodtests quickly and accurately. Our blood analysers can often give results in under 20 minutes allowing a rapid response in emergency cases. We also carry out analysis and microscopy on urine and skin samples in-house.

Animal Accommodation

We have several areas to house patients, including a separate area for cats and another for small mammals and birds and plenty of dog kennels to cope with busy load. We have 2 large "walk-in" kennels for larger dogs and this ensures they are not cramped during their stay with us.

If any patient needs to be kept overnight, a nurse will stay with them to monitor their progress. If a patient requires intravenous fluids to correct dehydration, then we use specialised pumps to deliver accurate flow of fluids to the patient.

Theatre

This room is used whenever we have a need to perform sterile surgery on patients. This inevitably means it is used nearly every day the practice is open. It is kept as clean as possible and there are strict rules on the clothing required before anyone can enter.

We have dedicated monitoring equipment to ensure the best posssible anaesthetic safety we can achieve.

Meet the Team

Cali Turner - Clinical Director

Cali Turner

Cali Turner BVMS MRCVS Clinical Director
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Chloe Mackintosh - Veterinary Surgeon

Chloe Mackintosh

Chloe Mackintosh BVMS MRCVS Veterinary Surgeon
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Gemma Vilanova Gorgas - Veterinary Surgeon

Gemma Vilanova Gorgas

Gemma Vilanova Gorgas MRCVS Veterinary Surgeon
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