Small Animal Veterinary Surgeon

Are you passionate about developing your veterinary skills? So are we!

We are looking for an additional small animal vet to join our 14-vet team at MacArthur Barstow & Gibbs. Our independent GP practice goes a little further; we have the facilities and skills to undertake complex surgical and medical cases in-house, providing great job satisfaction for our team and opportunities for continual learning and development. We also have an excellent 4-day rota with no OOHs, and we’re a really nice bunch of people!

“MBG has been a great place to start my veterinary career. The support, the team and the opportunities are just a few of the things that have made this job so enjoyable!” Jonnie MRCVS

“It is refreshing to work in a practice where you truly have clinical freedom, no financial targets and an understanding of the restrictions of childcare. Add an awesome team and high clinical standards, and MBG is a great place to work!” Helen MRCVS

We are a large mixed practice that has been very much part of the local community for over 60 years. In the past, all our services were under one roof, but in 2020, the large animal and equine side moved into separate buildings just down the road. The small animal practice has our largest surgery in the heart of the historic spa town of Droitwich, with another two clinics: one on the outskirts of Worcester and one in Wychbold.

Five of our vet team are certificate holders, three of whom achieved them here with us. One of our lovely directors, Steve, has certificates in small animal surgery and orthopaedics and takes local referrals from surrounding practices. Kelly is a PgCert holder in small animal surgery and really enjoys challenging soft tissue procedures, including BOAS. Alice is our small animal medicine certificate holder, and alongside her is Sarah with a dermatology certificate, and Vlad has a certificate in exotics. We are supported by seven other fantastic vets, a team of 9 RVNs and 2 SVNs, and a cracking support crew.

We are also very lucky to have some fantastic peripatetic vets. Mark Patterson, RCVS Specialist in Cardiology (aka the heart god!), visits us every two weeks to see and scan our cardiac patients and is happy for you to spend time with him picking up tips. Jeremy Wills is an ophthalmologist who sees all our eye cases (sorry, I couldn’t resist!). We have a surgical microscope in our theatre for his operating days, and we hope to offer cataract surgery soon, too. Our brilliant, chartered physiotherapist, Rhiannon Bradford, treats our post-op orthopaedic patients. We also benefit from the experience of Ryan Davis and Rob Hamilton of MSM Vets, who provide hands-on mentoring while undertaking more complex surgeries like liver lobectomies. They are always happy for our vets to get stuck in and learn and have recently trained one of our vets to perform rhinoscopy.

We are looking for a vet with some experience and if you are itching to develop your skills, we will do all we can to support you. We continually invest in our team and their studies. Jonnie joined us after graduating in 2020 and wanted to study endoscopy as part of a certificate. We couldn’t very well let him start his medicine certificate without the right equipment, so we bought an endoscope. No request is off-limits with us. We are not afraid to buy what is needed if it will benefit you and the practice.

Kit-wise, we have all the usual toys plus dental x-ray, gastroscopy, two laparoscopic kits, an all-singing, all-dancing microscope complete with camera, and we recently purchased our second ultrasound machine. We’re now in the process of kitting out our new dedicated orthopaedic and soft tissue theatre suite, and Steve is busy researching the best equipment for PRP injections, our next investment. Our surgical caseload is constantly growing, so if orthopaedics is your thing and theatre is your happy place, we could easily support a surgical bias.

Our full-time vets work a 4-day week (8:30 am – 6:30 pm), with a fixed day off. We don’t have a culture of staying late to write up notes; we have enough admin time built into the day, so you’ll generally be away by 6:30 p.m. Vets Now take all our OOHs, so there is no on-call once the practice is closed. There is just one 7 p.m. finish every two weeks (you are paid for this!) where you are available in case any emergency calls come in before Vets Now opens, and this is usually to triage over the phone. On the rare occasion there is a stable inpatient in practice overnight, an RVN would come and check on them and can discuss medication administration with you over the phone if necessary. Our nurses live very locally, so you would rarely be asked to come in as those needing extra care will always be transferred to Vets Now. The weekends are shared on a 16-week rota; within that, you would do two Saturdays (8:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m.) and two Saturday/Sunday weekends (Saturday 8:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. and Sunday 10 a.m. – 2 p.m.).

“I love working for MBG because the family-friendly, supportive atmosphere makes it enjoyable to come to work. They are a forward-thinking practice with a vision and are constantly looking to improve services and standards.” Hayley, Senior Theatre RVN

“Working at MBG for the past nine years has been a great experience. I have been supported through all of my training and have been given lots of opportunities to expand my knowledge and gain lots of experience. The team here is very supportive and has a breadth of knowledge." Emilie, Senior RVN

We are actively involved in supporting our community. We run regular dog shows and sponsor the annual agricultural show. We are also a really sociable bunch and will take any excuse to get together outside of work. The young’uns are often seen heading for a good night out in Worcester, while some of us prefer a relaxed catch-up at the local pub. There’s a great spot in Droitwich where we like to have fun days out in the summer and try our hand at boating and kayaking.

The stunning Malvern Hills are on our doorstep, and JRR Tolkien even based The Shire in Lord of the Rings on this beautiful landscape! We are really well connected for travel links and are only two miles from the M5 and only 20 minutes by train from the centre of Birmingham. The beautiful cathedral town of Worcester is only a 15-minute drive away, and thanks to the new high-speed rail links, you can be in Central London within two hours.

So, if you’ve survived the terrible puns, here’s what else we can tell you! 

• Salary starting from £40,000 up to £75,000 for an experienced certificate holder. However, this is always up for discussion as we strongly believe that your experience and what you can bring to the table are invaluable, so give us a call!
• Enhanced salary is negotiable for an Advanced Practitioner.
• Five week’s annual leave, plus bank holidays
• Flexible CPD allowance as needed – certificates are supported and funded, and everything is open for discussion
• Professional fees paid for RCVS, VDS, BVA and one other
• Staggered consulting and operating times, allowing plenty of time for admin and phone calls

Check out our website to learn more about us, call for an informal chat or apply now!