Mixed Veterinary Surgeon

At Caerwys Veterinary Surgery, we are a truly mixed, 6-vet independent practice based in beautiful rural North Wales. Our caseload is approximately 70% small animal, 20% cattle and sheep (we look after 4 local dairy farms), 10% equine, and several small holdings, including alpacas and goats. We also have a lambing room at the practice.

We have a brilliant team of vets here and new graduate support is in abundance. Zoe has completed the Vet GDP course, and as we are a smaller team, we are always getting together throughout the day, which gives us plenty of opportunities to discuss cases and allows us time for knowledge sharing. We never want you to feel like we are pushing you to do things you aren’t ready for – we are big believers in sticking to our capabilities and will not let you fly solo until you are ready. Rest assured that when you are, we are constantly around for you should you need us for 1:1 support and advice. When it comes to consults, we promise we won’t just stick you in a corner to carry out booster clinics – past new grads are often able to carry out solo rabbit spays after as little as 6 months with us! We have great practice mentors who really do enjoy teaching, so you will be in excellent hands. 

There has been a vet in Caerwys for the past 150 years, and there is a friendly, village atmosphere here where everyone knows who the vets are! Every year, we have a stand at the local agricultural show, which is a great way to mingle with our clients and continue to show a strong presence within our wonderful community. We are really proud of our exceptionally low staff turnover and two of our new graduates have stayed with us, bought houses in the area and are still with us 5 and 11 years later!

“I joined Caerwys as a new graduate in 2013. The practice has always been very supportive, both whilst finding my feet as a new grad and now helping me find a balance between work and family life.

We are a close-knit team, and I have made some of my closest friends by working in the practice.

The village itself is a lovely place to live and work. There is a great sense of community, which I have always felt welcomed into, both as a new graduate far from home and now while raising a young family.

I feel the practice provides a good balance between supporting new graduates and giving them the confidence and clinical freedom to follow through with their own cases and pursue their own interests. Having received this support myself at Caerwys, I am keen to help provide this for the next generation of vets and try to make myself available to support them whenever I can.” Chloe MRCVS

Our wonderful vet, Jade, is returning to her hometown across the globe to begin an exciting new adventure and will be greatly missed. Here's what she had to say about her time with us:

“I came to Caerwys Vets after graduating from Nottingham University two years ago and couldn't recommend this practice more. The balance of support is great because I have always had help when I needed it, but equally, I was trusted to tackle more challenging cases. The clinical freedom and variety of cases are enormous, which means days are never boring; you could be looking at an alpaca in the morning, operating on a guinea pig at noon and doing a cow caesarean in the evening.

This place wouldn't be anything without its amazingly unique team members; receptionists, nurses, and vets are always here to support and always here for a laugh. The kettle is always on, and everyone looks after one another. That is why I'm not leaving with any bitterness or resentment but with a heavy heart, invaluable experience and lifelong memories.” Jade MRCVS

The cost of living here is much more reasonable than in most areas, and finding a rental property is quite easy compared to the bigger cities. A car really is a necessity in these woods, but please don’t panic if you don’t have your own – we have one for you! We have work vans here for callouts to the farms, but an option would be for you to have one for your own use.

Our full-time vets work a 4-day week with 1 in 5 weekends and one night per week on call. We have an out-of-hours service that looks after our small animals, so the on-call is purely for the large animals and is generally very quiet, sometimes only 1 or 2 call-outs in a month. The weekend on-call includes your Saturday consult slot, so you’ll have four completely free weekends to enjoy between your on-call. We always have a backup system in place, so if you need an extra pair of hands or some advice, someone is always available and willing to help.

Outside of work, we make sure we all get together where we can. Past events include a boat trip with a 70s-themed disco, and we took everyone for a day out at Chester Races last year. We had such a great time, as usual – our nights out are pretty legendary! We also hold our vets’ meetings at the local pub so we can enjoy a pint and a meal as we chat through things. We really do all get on so well and genuinely enjoy coming to work together because we know we are always supported.

There is so much to explore here on your time off – walking, water sports, camping, and hiking are all on the doorstep, but if you fancy a bit more of a city experience, Liverpool, Chester, and Manchester are all within an hour from us. If you prefer sports, there are also many clubs to join, such as hockey, rugby, netball, and football. The mums in our practice also do plenty of things together with their children, so there really is something for everyone here.

• Salary of £32,000 to £50,000, with salary review after six months
• Five weeks’ holiday, plus bank holidays
• Professional fees for RCVS, Veterinary Defence Society, and BVA are paid for
• Our CPD budget is very flexible, and certificates are very much supported
• Vehicle available if needed

We would love for you to become the next branch of our working family tree. Please get in touch for an informal chat or apply now!