Who are we looking for?
We are seeking a dedicated individual to join our clinical support team at our busy small animal veterinary practice. This Animal Care Assistant role reports to the Head Veterinary Nurse.
Main Responsibilities:
1. Patient care & cleanliness of the practice.
2. Maintain hospitalisation areas, operating theatres, x-ray department, prep area, etc.
3. Ensure consultation rooms are clean and restocked after clinical sessions.
4. Cleaning surgical equipment, packing surgical kits, and using the autoclave machine.
5. Preparing surgical sundries such as drapes, swabs, etc.
6. Maintaining high standards of cleanliness in clinical areas.
7. Assisting nurses & vets with their duties.
8. Assisting reception when needed.
9. Stocking kennel consumables.
10. Adhering to all SOPs.
11. Communicating effectively with clients and maintaining a high standard of customer service and care.
12. Fostering good working relationships with all practice members.
13. Fulfilling rota obligations, including sick cover, on-call, and bank holiday shifts.
14. Carrying out reasonable requests from the management team.
Duties:
1. Patient/inpatient care, including vital sign monitoring.
2. Assisting nurses with animal handling for procedures or investigations.
3. Walking dogs for toileting.
4. Cleaning kennels/cages and ensuring inpatients are comfortable with appropriate food/water.
5. Handling and restraining animals for procedures.
6. Keeping accurate records and updating hospital forms and computer systems.
7. Laundry duties, including maintaining washing supplies and folding clothes.
General Roles:
1. Ensuring ambulance cleanliness and readiness.
2. Performing routine cleaning in hospital, kennels, cattery, laundry, and outdoor areas, recorded in the cleaning folder.
3. Maintaining tidiness outside the practice.
4. Supporting vets and nurses as needed.
5. Being aware of health & safety issues and reading all provided information.
6. Participating in appraisals and reviews.
7. Assisting with stock orders and biannual stock takes.
Our Practice, Our Team, and Our Interests
The Bilton Veterinary Centre is Rugby's oldest practice, established over 75 years ago. We transitioned from a mixed practice to a small animal focus about 10 years ago. We are now part of the Independent Vet Care family, benefiting from their support and resources.
Our team includes nine veterinary nurses and eight vets with interests in various specialties. Our nursing team is developing interests in physiotherapy, anaesthetics, dentistry, behavior, and pain management. Our practice is ISFM Cat Friendly Accredited.
Our Facilities
We operate from a single site with multiple consultation rooms, dedicated kennels, an isolation suite, sterile theatres, and dental stations. Our days include outpatient consultations, surgeries, tests, and emergencies, requiring adaptability from our team.
We have a large prep area for instrument sterilization and laundry.
Training
Full training is provided, with support available from colleagues whenever needed.
Your rota
We offer a 35-hour workweek with flexible shifts to promote work-life balance in this demanding profession.
Additional benefits include a competitive salary, 6.6 weeks of annual leave plus birthday leave, family-friendly policies, cycle scheme, wellbeing initiatives, learning opportunities, employee discounts, pension, and staff pet care discounts.
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