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FOA anyone who uses William Lewis (vet)
- Thread starter louise and Gus
- Start date
I think we have just been really lucky to have William at the Wylie's, but circumstances change, who knows it may work out really well at the Orchid and the bunnies will be in safe hands with William. On a lighter note I'm glad I will be able to avoid the M25 and can see the Wylie's losing a lot of clients with rabbits!
louise and Gus
Wise Old Thumper
And other exotics too...the receptionist I spoke to was rushed off her feet, she said she had a lot of animals records to get transferred from Wylie's!
louise and Gus
Wise Old Thumper
Well I know William had wanted to get an exotics centre established at Wylie...maybe he sees this as a better way to do it...
bunnylover177
Alpha Buck
And she hasn't even met us yet :lol:
louise and Gus
Wise Old Thumper
Ha ha ha...hope she knows what to expect :shock:
rosey supposey
New Kit
Hello, complete newbie so apologies for popping up!
Just wanted to say a huge thank you for this thread!
I was booked in with William Lewis at Wylies the day he left. (Reception rang me to say he now wasn't coming in and could I postpone. They rang back 2 hours later to say he was "never coming in again".)
I've been desperately trying to find whether William was going to set up elsewhere, and finding this thread as the second option on Google was amazing! Thank you!
Just wanted to say a huge thank you for this thread!
I was booked in with William Lewis at Wylies the day he left. (Reception rang me to say he now wasn't coming in and could I postpone. They rang back 2 hours later to say he was "never coming in again".)
I've been desperately trying to find whether William was going to set up elsewhere, and finding this thread as the second option on Google was amazing! Thank you!
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louise and Gus
Wise Old Thumper
No worries, glad it's coming up on google as I'm sure there will be lots of bunny owners trying to find him. Seeing him tomorrow so will report back on the new surgery. I do feel sorry for Matt...
William Lewis
New Kit
Orchid Vet Surgery
Dear All
Just seen all the threads on the forum. many are very flattering so thank you for that. I will try and put the facts straight.
I am at Orchid( the name is apparently historical and came from a previous owner) It is indeed part of the Best Friends Veterinary Group so has access to all sorts of equipment and specialists. Emergencies are dealt with by Night Vets Ltd which is based at Wylies in Upminster. The service is used by Wylies clients as well as most of the local practices.
I did leave Wylies at very short notice. The reasons are personal and I will not discuss them and would appreciate some privacy in this matter. Wylies is a fantastic Practice with a long history and tradition and I am very grateful to have worked there for 9 1/2 years. The staff and facilities are excellent. I would also pay tribute to Mr Butcher who has worked there for over 35 years but has currently had to retire due to ill health. he has been instrumental in growing the practice.
There are advantages and disadvantages to my new job and I will be honest with you. It is effectively a small one vet Practice. I will be here every week day ( no longer have a day off each week) and will be working 2 weekends in 6.This will help to spread my work load as well as meaning that I am avaialble every day bar some weekends and the odd holidays .The practice is obviously smaller than Wylies and is not purpose built but the staff are wonderful and very good at their jobs- they all have lots of experience with rabbits and other small mammals. They will gain experience in reptiles and birds as we see more cases. At the end of the day all cases are under my control. It is less busy than Wylies so I will be able to pay more individual attention to patients. They have x rays/ kenneling ( usually very quiet), ultrasound and in house blood test machines so facilities are more than adequate. cases that do require overnight critical care will be referred to Night Vets. The same agreement is in place for the 16 or so practices that use Night Vets for Night work. There are no other practices in the area that have staff on duty on the premises through the night. Young vets now refuse to work a day, a whole night and then the following day. Working hour directives also do not allow this and it is not good for the vets to work such ridiculous hours.
We will purchase new equipment and drugs as we progress and all nurses continually learn and improve their skills BFG has a very active CPD program.
I originally met Matt when I lectured to him at the Royal Vet College. I was very impressed at his knowledge and enthusiasm for the job- he worked elsewhere for a year or so and when Kathryn, our other Exotics vet left to go back to Australia I offered him a job. He is a lovely guy and a remarkably competent vet for such a young graduate. Obviously he does not have years of experience but I have told him that he can contact me anytime for advice. I feel bad that I am no longer there to mentor him but that unfortunately is the way things have worked out. I will continue to remain friends with him and will offer him advice wherever he needs
To summarise, I would thank everyone for their support. I would love to see as many familiar faces as possible but am not in the business of trying to poach clients away from Wylies. I would like to continue to offer the same or hopefully better level of service and will be training the nurses in new techniques etc. They are all very competent, friendly and very passionate about nursing so I have no doubt they will flourish.
Word spreads very quickly so I would ask you all to respect my privacy in terms of me leaving Wylies and hopefully not to spread any rumours or gossip. No one benefits from that.
Sorry this has been such a long message but I felt it was important to try and get all my points across
Regards
William
Dear All
Just seen all the threads on the forum. many are very flattering so thank you for that. I will try and put the facts straight.
I am at Orchid( the name is apparently historical and came from a previous owner) It is indeed part of the Best Friends Veterinary Group so has access to all sorts of equipment and specialists. Emergencies are dealt with by Night Vets Ltd which is based at Wylies in Upminster. The service is used by Wylies clients as well as most of the local practices.
I did leave Wylies at very short notice. The reasons are personal and I will not discuss them and would appreciate some privacy in this matter. Wylies is a fantastic Practice with a long history and tradition and I am very grateful to have worked there for 9 1/2 years. The staff and facilities are excellent. I would also pay tribute to Mr Butcher who has worked there for over 35 years but has currently had to retire due to ill health. he has been instrumental in growing the practice.
There are advantages and disadvantages to my new job and I will be honest with you. It is effectively a small one vet Practice. I will be here every week day ( no longer have a day off each week) and will be working 2 weekends in 6.This will help to spread my work load as well as meaning that I am avaialble every day bar some weekends and the odd holidays .The practice is obviously smaller than Wylies and is not purpose built but the staff are wonderful and very good at their jobs- they all have lots of experience with rabbits and other small mammals. They will gain experience in reptiles and birds as we see more cases. At the end of the day all cases are under my control. It is less busy than Wylies so I will be able to pay more individual attention to patients. They have x rays/ kenneling ( usually very quiet), ultrasound and in house blood test machines so facilities are more than adequate. cases that do require overnight critical care will be referred to Night Vets. The same agreement is in place for the 16 or so practices that use Night Vets for Night work. There are no other practices in the area that have staff on duty on the premises through the night. Young vets now refuse to work a day, a whole night and then the following day. Working hour directives also do not allow this and it is not good for the vets to work such ridiculous hours.
We will purchase new equipment and drugs as we progress and all nurses continually learn and improve their skills BFG has a very active CPD program.
I originally met Matt when I lectured to him at the Royal Vet College. I was very impressed at his knowledge and enthusiasm for the job- he worked elsewhere for a year or so and when Kathryn, our other Exotics vet left to go back to Australia I offered him a job. He is a lovely guy and a remarkably competent vet for such a young graduate. Obviously he does not have years of experience but I have told him that he can contact me anytime for advice. I feel bad that I am no longer there to mentor him but that unfortunately is the way things have worked out. I will continue to remain friends with him and will offer him advice wherever he needs
To summarise, I would thank everyone for their support. I would love to see as many familiar faces as possible but am not in the business of trying to poach clients away from Wylies. I would like to continue to offer the same or hopefully better level of service and will be training the nurses in new techniques etc. They are all very competent, friendly and very passionate about nursing so I have no doubt they will flourish.
Word spreads very quickly so I would ask you all to respect my privacy in terms of me leaving Wylies and hopefully not to spread any rumours or gossip. No one benefits from that.
Sorry this has been such a long message but I felt it was important to try and get all my points across
Regards
William
Santa
Wise Old Thumper
Aah bless you for clarifying, William. I'm sure we all appreciate that people change jobs for a variety of reasons all the time - it's just that some of them are more 'public facing' than others and hence inevitably cause more than a little stir when it happens! I guess it shows how much you are respected and trusted locally and no doubt you will continue to see many familiar faces as you settle into the new practice.
I'm really saddened to hear that Ray has had to retire through ill health, Ray lived just round the corner from us when I was a kid and was in charge when I did my work experience there back in 1989 and I always found him incredibly kind (and I remember him taking on exotic cases - including fish - back then!) I really wish him a restful retirement.
Hope everything works out well there for you, it sounds as if there is a good foundation already. Are you going to be able to continue advising other vets in the future? I know my vet would be keen to maintain contact - she mentioned you the other day when discussing one of my monsters and a potential heart problem.
Anyway, all the best and hope you are happy at your new practice
I'm really saddened to hear that Ray has had to retire through ill health, Ray lived just round the corner from us when I was a kid and was in charge when I did my work experience there back in 1989 and I always found him incredibly kind (and I remember him taking on exotic cases - including fish - back then!) I really wish him a restful retirement.
Hope everything works out well there for you, it sounds as if there is a good foundation already. Are you going to be able to continue advising other vets in the future? I know my vet would be keen to maintain contact - she mentioned you the other day when discussing one of my monsters and a potential heart problem.
Anyway, all the best and hope you are happy at your new practice
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louise and Gus
Wise Old Thumper
I went to see William at the new practice on Friday, first of all it was lovely to sit in the waiting room and not be surrounded by barking dogs, nice and quite. The nurses that I met seemed very nice and it didn't actually take me much longer to get there than Wylie's. I was really happy with the set up, plus they sell SS there rather than Excel, so I can stock up on food at the same time. Poppy wasn't as happy as she has sore hocks and has to have metacam and go on a diet :shock::shock: I think while Dinky was ill and eating junior food she may have pinched a few bits :roll:
Orchid
Yes the Head nurse is fully qualified, I have every confidence in her and her team. I'm sure William Lewis will be an asset to them.
Yes the Head nurse is fully qualified, I have every confidence in her and her team. I'm sure William Lewis will be an asset to them.
Their head nurse has only been qualified for 2 years :shock:
Looking at the smallprint it looks as if they are part of the 'Best Friends' group, so maybe even if they don't have lots of whizzy stuff on site they have access to facilities at a range of other local surgeries if they don't have everything exactly on hand. To be honest though, there's probably not an awful lot of specialist equipment that would be needed without advance planning, as long as they have half-decent ops, kenneling and diagnostic facilities - which I'm sure they either will already if William is joining them or will have very soon if they don't!
Be interested to hear how you find things when you go to see him
Santa
Wise Old Thumper
Funny how quickly word gets round isn't it! He's now at Vets4Pets Maldon and Vets4Pets Braintree, splitting his time between the two. I've been using the Braintree practice since it opened last year, Sam is also an excellent vet; I would definitely recommend either practice (I would have done anyway, but more so now!) although I guess depending on where you are based, it may be too far.
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Santa
Wise Old Thumper
Those two vets4Pets are open 7 days a week as routine though, so although it may be tricky during the week, you can get all routine appointments done at the weekend for no additional cost. I also work full time and it's virtually impossible for me to get to any vet during the week without being late/leaving early, so having the 7 day opening makes it really easy. Obviously the vets have a rota for who is working weekends but it's usually pretty easy to find out who is on to book with whoever you want.
