News 31st May 2013 - Sandgate School learns about animals
Children at Sandgate Primary School had some unusual visitors this week - two tortoises and a rabbit - as part of a week of learning about different creatures. Burnham House Vet Nina Adeyeye visited the school to introduce different species and teach pupils about careful handling and caring for different animals.
Nina said, "The children seemed to be really enjoying themselves. They had done a lot of research and had some really good questions. Not all youngsters have pets at home, so it's nice to give everyone the opportunity to interact with animals."
School staff said that the visit was a great success and hope it will become a regular event.
If you would like a visit for your school (with or without some of our pets!), please contact the surgery on 01304 206989.
26th April 2013 - Rabbit Awareness Week is coming to Walmer
From 4th to 10th May our Walmer branch, The Goodwins Veterinary Surgery, will be participating in Rabbit Awareness Week. We'll be offering free spring health checks for all bunnies and discounted products as well as some yummy free samples! To make an appointment for your rabbit, call the Goodwins on 01304 360005. There's more info on other bunny-related activities happening all throughout the week on the
Rabbit Awareness Week website.
15th April 2013
- Basset Bruce is Patient of the Year 2012-13!
This year the staff have unanimously voted seven-year-old Basset Hound Bruce Farrow as our Patient of the Year. Bruce has had an unlucky year - major abdominal surgery for a splenic torsion (where the spleen becomes twisted and must be removed) and just a few months later, a severe case of pancreatitis. Bruce's happy personality and permanently wagging tail made him a favourite with the staff and he thoroughly deserves the title.
Read Bruce's Story here.
12th April 2013 - Cleo the goldfish has eye operation at Burnham House
Surgery on fish poses unique challenges. Cleo Melluish came to us with a condition known as "pop-eye" - where an infection causes a large, painful swelling. Two of our vets and nurses performed the operation under special conditions at Burnham House and Cleo made a full recovery.
Read Cleo's Story here.
18th March 2013 - The Burnham House Barnyard Bake-Off for Comic Relief
The Bake-Off was a fantastic success with over £130 raised through the sale of some amazing animal-themed cupcakes. As promised, the icing on the cake is the matching of all donations by Burnham House, bringing the grand total to just over £260! Each day two or three staff bakers pitted their cupcakes against each other. There was a little bit of friendly in-house competition and we ended up with some innovative creations - from marshmallow sheep to biscuit menageries! The winners were: First place, Fay Millar; Second, Kim Pressnell; Third, Nina Adeyeye. We would like to thank everyone who supported us by buying our baked goods and helped us to support Comic Relief, there were some very generous donations.
5th February 2013 - New A-level students arrive
Our hugely popular hands-on course, Biology:Applied, starts this week with a new crop of A-level Biology students from local schools and sixth forms. Each week a different member of staff leads a two-hour session on an aspect of applied science that students may not encounter in class. Previous sessions have included investigations into the mechanics of bird flight, the ethics of conservation, and exercise physiology. Students are usually aiming for careers in medicine and allied subjects and we hope these sessions will help bring their A-level studies to life! If you are studying A-level Biology and would like to apply for next year's course, please contact Fay Millar at the Dover surgery.
17th December 2012 - Staff Awards
Every year the practice makes awards to members of staff who have gone 'above and beyond' the already amazing work they do. This year, the Award went to veterinary nurse Fay, for her particular enthusiasm in organising community and educational events. Jeremy also awarded a special prize - the Pigeon Award - to Kim for her work with our avian patients over the year.
19th October 2012 - Congratulations to the newly-qualified Martina Hood RVN!
We'd like to wish a huge BH congratulations to our newly-qualified Veterinary Nurse Martina, who received her final exam results today.
Martina came to us with a degree in Animal Science to work as an Animal Nursing Assistant and started her nurse training in 2010; and has spent two years learning nursing theory on day release at Hadlow College alongside practical training at BH in everything from anaesthesia to laboratory analysis, with support from our Clinical Coach Kim Pressnell.
Martina has had both written and practical exams this year and can now swap her stripy uniform for a green one with the St Francis badge - the patron saint of animals, awarded to all Veterinary Nurses on qualification. She's worked really hard and we're really proud of her - well done!
10th October 2012 - An Inspector Calls
It's been a stressful few weeks at HQ recently as we've had a visit from the RCVS - the governing body of UK vets. We are members of their
Practice Standards scheme and as such are inspected regularly to make sure we're working at the highest possible level.
On 28th September An Inspector Called, and spent the day overseeing every aspect of what we do - from communicating with clients to disinfecting theatre, from staff training to ways of keeping rabbits' teeth healthy. At the end of the day, our inspector's comment was "you've got a really nice practice here" - which we thought summed us up pretty well! We'll have to wait a few weeks for the official report but it's good news.
So, our main surgery in Castle Street remains RCVS Accredited at Tier 2 - the highest available to a general practice. It's also good news for our branch surgeries - Havelock in Folkestone and Bewsbury Cross in Whitfield were both inspected and re-accredited as branch surgeries; and The Goodwins in Walmer was also inspected for the first time since it opened in 2010, and can now put up the "accredited branch" plaque.
A huge thank you to all the staff - not for putting in extra effort just for the inspection (we work to that standard anyway!) - but for being brilliant all year round.
9th July 2012 - Summer Events
We've got a busy summer of events coming up when many of the staff will be out and about - and occasionally some of our patients too! See our
events page for details including Deal Bandstand Family Fun Day, Rhodes Minnis Cat Sanctuary Open Day, Hougham Craft Fair & Dog Show, and the East Kent Ploughing Match. We hope to see you there - come and say hello!
23rd April 2012 - New ANA joins Burnham House
This week we are welcoming Animal Nursing Assistant Megan Loffler to the Burnham House family. Megan has previously been here for Work Experience and, following a successful trial period working with our nurses, joins us part-time while she completes her Certificate for Animal Nursing Assistants at Hadlow College. To find out about training in Animal Care and Veterinary Nursing, click
here.
20th April 2012 - Exam success for trainee Laura
We'd like to say a huge congratulations to our student nurse Laura Wilson, who has just passed her second set of exams (Theory Paper 2, Anatomy and Physiology) on her way to qualifying as a Veterinary Nurse. Laura is studying Veterinary Nursing at Canterbury College with support from our Clinical Coach Kim Pressnell. She spends one day a week at college learning nursing theory, and four days with us learning practical skills alongside our qualified staff; and is on track to be fully qualified in 2013.
4th April 2012 - Jeremy nominated for welfare award 
Burnham House vet Jeremy Stattersfield has reached the final four in the national awards for animal welfare run by Ceva Animal Health UK. The Chris Laurence Vet of the Year Award is given in recognition of a vet who consistently demonstrates their commitment to the continued improvement of companion animal welfare. "We were really impressed with the high standard of entries for the awards. Our judges found it very difficult to decide who to shortlist," comments Ginette Bryant at Ceva. "The finalists chosen are all inspirational individuals who are passionate about companion animal welfare and we look forward to honouring their achievements and dedication."
Veterinary Nurse Fay Millar said, “One of the best things about working at Burnham House that we’re not “just” a veterinary practice treating your dogs and cats. Often you can walk into the ward at a weekend and find not a single “paying guest” among the wildlife keeping us busy.
Bill Butler, Practice Manager, adds, “Jeremy has always had a strong commitment to education and he and the staff invest a lot of time in teaching animal welfare - from biology courses for sixth-formers to training wildlife keepers. This is really exciting news to share with all the surgery staff and we’re really looking forward to the awards ceremony.”
All the finalists have been invited to the Ceva Awards for Animal Welfare ceremony that will take place on Thursday 12 April 2012 during the national Veterinary Congress in Birmingham.