Staff

Welcome to The Animal Health Centre Staff Page.

STAFF

Here you can find out a bit more about our staff policy and see some of our recent and current staff members

The practice is headed up by the principal, Paul Spellman BVM&S, Cert VA, MRCVS, and he leads a team consisting of several veterinary surgeons, nurses, trainees and receptionists. Paul joined the Guisborough practice in 1988 and opening Coulby Newham in 1998 was the realisation of one of his major goals. Paul qualified from Edinburgh University in 1981 and completed further study in 1991 achieving the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons (RCVS) Certificate in Veterinary Anaesthesia. He is also interested in eye disease and is currently registered and studying towards the RCVS Certificate in Veterinary Ophthalmology.

The practice aims to improve services continuously so has a policy of on-going staff training and development in a number of areas. Equipment is regularly upgraded and all our vets regularly attend specialist courses to ensure that their clinical development remains up to date. Animal Health Centre Vets generally will spend 35 hours per year on continuing professional development of this sort. This is not compulsory but we feel that it is of vital importance.

Our veterinary staff is currently five in number and ranges from individuals with many years experience to recent graduates who will bring the latest ideas and treatments into the practice pool of knowledge. All the vets have specific areas of interest and expertise but all are focussed on the care of small animals. These specialties and interests include experience of emergency medicine and critical care, veterinary cardiology, anaesthesia, exotic pets and surgery of rabbits. Animal Health Centre Vets are members of various professional bodies including the British Small Animal Veterinary Association (BSAVA), The Association of Veterinary Anaesthetists (AVA), The British Association of Veterinary Ophthalmologists (BrAVO), the Association of Veterinary Cardiologoists (AVC) and the British Veterinary Association (BVA).

As with the Vets our Nurses also have a wide range of experience. We train and develop our own staff from 16 year old trainees through NVQs in Small Animal Care through pre-veterinary nursing courses and thence on to VN/NVQ courses to become qualified Veterinary Nurses. The nursing staff are all fully trained Nutrition Advisers and can offer good advice in this area and many other areas of pet care without the need for a veterinary consultation. The nurses have their own professional body and our nurses are members of the British Veterinary Nurse Association (BVNA).

Our reception staff are here to make you feel at ease when you bring your animals in and to help make your visit as pleasant and stress free as possible. They will try and arrange for you to see an appropriate member of our veterinary team and arrange times that are convenient for you. All of them have pets of their own and all of our reception staff have had a pet under treatment at one time or other. Thus, they have first hand experience and understand exactly what it feels like when your pet is in need of attention.

Whilst staff numbers and members may change from time to time we will maintain a team of committed individuals who are skilled and enthusiastic in their chosen profession and areas of expertise. At all times they will be focussed and dedicated to maintaining the health of your pets.

Paul Spellman, the Practice Principal qualified at Edinburgh in 1981. He joined the Guisborough practice in 1988. He has a certificate in anaesthesia achieved in 1991. In his own words he has 2 dogs, 2 cats and 2 children in that order of importance.

Carole is our regular part-timer at Coulby Newham and is on duty every Wednesday and Thursday. Carole has many years of experience with a number of practices in the area.

Karen joined the practice in June 2002. She graduated as a vet in 1999 in Perth, Western Australia. Following this, she worked as a small animal, equine and native animal vet in the tropics of Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia. After five months of travel with her partner through Southern India and the UK, Karen worked briefly as a locum before joining the Animal Health Centre. Karen has additional qualifications in Veterinary Acupuncture and, having also completed her Reiki Level I Initiations, she has a broad interest in natural therapies used as an adjunct to Western Veterinary Medicine.

Janet qualified as a vet in 2001 and spent a year working in mixed practice in North Wales. She joined the Animal Health Centre in October 2002 to specialise in small animals

Cheryl started at the practice on a Youth Training Scheme in 1994. She has since completed her NVQ Level 2 in Small Animal Care; her Pre-Veterinary Nursing; and her Veterinary Nursing Training to become a fully qualified Veterinary Nurse. Cheryl has also completed her assessor's course, which enables her to assess veterinary nurse trainees, and is just finishing her NVQ Level 3 in Management. She is also a Pet Insurance Advisor. Cheryl has a cat called 'Ed', who, when she moves into her own first home, will be moving with her.

Joleen came to work at the Animal Health Centre in Guisborough when she left school in 1998. She achieved her NVQ Level 2 at Guisborough and was transferred to the Coulby Newham practice after two years of training. Joleen is currently studying her Pre-Veterinary Nursing course.

Kathryn joined us in June 1998 and qualified as a veterinary nurse in 2001. She is currently working towards her assessor's award so she can assess veterinary nursing training. Kathryn has three dogs, 'Tilly' a Crossbreed, 'Emily' a Labrador and 'Bess' a Border Collie. 'Panface' and 'Daisy' are her two cats. Kathryn lives on a farm, which has cows, sheep, hens, and ducks; this ensures she is always kept busy.

Lindsay joined the practice in October 1996 and has since passed her NVQ Level 2 in Small animal Care and Pre-Veterinary Nursing course. She is currently training to become a Qualified Veterinary Nurse. Lindsay has two dogs, 'Polly' a Patterdale Cross Yorkie, and 'Rosie' a Yorkshire Terrier. Rosie was a stray rescue dog in need of some TLC. She also has a budgie called 'Freddie' that dances to Queen and gives her kisses!

Rebecca came to work at the Coulby Newham practice in the summer of 2000 after completing all or her GCSE's. She completed her NVQ Level 2 in Small Animal Care and now wishes to study to become a fully qualified Veterinary Nurse.

Sarah joined the Guisborough staff in 2001 as a full time nurse of eight years experience. Sarah is currently doing a Pre-Veterinary Nursing course. She lives on a small holding with a border Collie 'Bess' and four cats.

Lynne joined the Guisborough practice in September 2002 as a veterinary nurse. She has 8 years experience and has passed her Pre-Veterinary Nursing course. She has a cat called 'Puster' and a Lurcher called 'Alfie'. Lynne also keeps chickens.

Miss Danielle Bianchi
Danielle joined the Coulby Newham practice in January 2003 after studying Biology and English at Stokesley College. She is currently doing her NVQ2 in Small Animal Care and wishes to become a fully qualified Veterinary Nurse. Danielle has a pet sheep called Damn Thing, 2 cats called Salem and Sabrina, and a pet fish. For the last 3 years she has helped with lambing on a sheep farm.

Miss Rebecca Williams - no picture yet
Rebecca started working at the Coulby Newham practice in March 2003 and is currently finishing her A-Levels in English and Business studies at Redcar and Cleveland College. She has always wanted to work with animals, is about to enrol in NVQ Small Animal Care and would like to eventually qualify as a Veterinary Nurse. Rebecca has 2 horses (one with a baby on the way!), 2 dogs, 12 rabbits, 10 guinea pigs, 2 ferrets and lots of chickens.

Debbie, our morning Receptionist has been with the practice since 1995. She lives locally and having two children has her own selection of small animals, including 'Mog' the family cat. Her favourite part of the job is meeting the clients and their various pets

Jean, our afternoon receptionist joined the practice in March 1999. She also lives locally and has a yellow Labrador called 'Cleo'

Lynn is one of our part-time receptionists and joined the practice in June 1997. She is very fond of anything spotty - being the proud owner of 3 Dalmatians, 'Poppy', 'Muffin' and 'Mollie', 1 husband and 2 grown-up children (in that order).

Pam is one of our Coulby Newham receptionists and has been working at the practice for two and a half years, loving every minute of it. She has also been a client for more years that she can care to remember. Pam is married with three grown-up children and has two dogs, 'Gemma' and 'Jacob', and three cats, 'Pip', 'Zig' and 'Zag'. She would like more animals, but her husband has put his foot down and said no!

Jean is responsible for behind the scenes admin work. She has 2 rescue cats called 'Johnny' and 'Treacle'