Hamish Duncan
BVM&S CertSAM MRCVS, Certificate in Small Animal Medicine*, RCVS Advanced Practitioner in Small Animal Medicine*
387 Vets is owned and run by vet Hamish Duncan. Hamish qualified from Edinburgh University in 1997 and has worked in Halifax, Halesowen and most recently on the east coast of Fife in Scotland, before moving to Great Wyrley to set up his own independent practice. In 2004 he passed an additional specialist 4 year postgraduate qualification – a Certificate in Small Animal Medicine (CertSAM). In recognition of his knowledge, expertise and level of continued professional training and development in this field, in April 2015, Hamish became 1 of only 70 vets in the UK to be awarded the status of RCVS Advanced Practitioner in Small Animal Medicine. In 2019 he received confirmation of the extension of this status until 2025 in recognition of his ongoing commitment to learning and professional development in small animal veterinary medicine.
Hamish has a huge amount of experience from his years in practice and from working alongside other certificate holders and recognized specialists in orthopaedics and surgery. He has undergone intensive practical training to learn cutting-edge cruciate surgery techniques and performs the TTA Rapid technique and MMPs (Modified Maquet Procedures) on cruciate disease for faster recovery and minimal post-op pain.
Carlos Boix Boente
MRCVS GPCertSAS, Certificate in Small Animal Surgery*
Carlos graduated with a degree in Veterinary Science from Madrid in 2001 and since 2003, has been mostly based in the Midlands with a 4 year break to return to Spain to set up his own small animal practice with his wife Emma. Carlos’ UK-based small animal experience is extensive, working for corporate, independent and PDSA practices in a permanent and locum vet capacity. He is also holder of a Postgraduate Certificate in Small Animal Surgery, and in his last role, was responsible for carrying out orthopaedic and soft tissues surgeries referred from other practices within his veterinary group. Carlos’ experience and training enables him to carry out many procedures which would normally need to be referred to a specialist referral centre. In March 2020, Carlos attended a training course on cruciate ligament repair in the knee using the cranial closing wedge osteotomy technique (CCWO), expanding his surgical skills and the impressive portfolio of cruciate repair techniques available at 387 Vets.
Selenia Davolio
MRCVS PgcertDent, Certificate in Small Animal Dentistry*
After graduating in Veterinary Medicine in Italy in 2013, Selenia came across to the UK where she has worked solely in small animal practice. As well as bringing a wealth of knowledge and experience to her role at 387 Vets, Selenia has a special interest in veterinary dentistry. In her previous practice, her remit included being in charge of a dental referral service spanning five practices, where she was responsible for operating on complex and challenging dental surgical cases. She is highly invested in pursuing new learning around pet dental care and procedures and excitingly, is one of the very first graduates in a new Postgraduate Certificate in Professional Development in Small Animal Dentistry. Selenia has also recently attended a restorative dentistry course which means that, in many cases, we are now able to repair rather than have to extract teeth that might be chipped, fractured or have cavities. Given her qualifications and experience, as well as running in-house dental training, we’re very proud that Selenia has been asked to be a wet-lab demonstrator for various advanced dentistry courses. Her training means we can offer an even more comprehensive pet dentistry service at 387 Vets. Selenia is currently on maternity leave but we look forward to her return to practice in 2023.
Emma Goncalves
MRCVS GPCertFelP, Certificate in Feline Practice*
Emma graduated with a veterinary degree in 2001 from Madrid and has extensive experience working in the UK, almost exclusively in small animal practice. Since 2006, Emma’s veterinary role has included a strong bias towards cats: she was responsible for internal referrals of all feline cases at a local practice, and most recently, was clinical director and senior clinician in charge of Internal Medicine and the Feline Department in her own practice in Northern Spain. In 2013, after 3 years of intensive study, Emma was awarded a Certificate in Feline Practice from the European School of Postgraduate Veterinary Studies. She has been our veterinary Cat Friendly Clinic Advocate since 387 Vets joined the International Society of Feline Medicine’s Cat Friendly Clinic scheme in 2016, the same year Emma joined 387 Vets, and we’re delighted that she takes a significant role in looking after feline patients at The West Midlands Cat Clinic, our same-site cat-only vet facility.
Sam Layland
BVSc MRCVS
Sam graduated in Veterinary Medicine from Bristol University in 2019. Whilst his knowledge and practical experience includes a year’s work on a dairy farm and 6 seasons of lambing, Sam’s real passion lies in companion animal work as he feels small animal practice offers him the best opportunity to develop his medical and surgical interests and to make a significant difference to owners and their animals. Sam was no stranger to us when he joined us in August 2019. Living locally, Sam had been a regular student visitor over the years to our 387 Vets practice. We’re delighted that after a decade of work experience including degree-based observational and practical placements, Sam is now a fully fledged member of the veterinary team.
Monica Newton
BVMS (Hons) MRCVS
We are delighted to welcome Monica back to the 387 team. Monica first came to work at the practice in the summer of 2015, leaving at the end of 2016 to have a baby and to look after her young family, and rejoined us in December 2022. Monica graduated from Glasgow University in 2010 and has since worked solely in small animal practice. She has a particular interest in skin issues having had the amazing opportunity to work alongside and learn from an RCVS European Diploma holder in Veterinary Dermatology in a former job, and she is currently enrolled on a Postgraduate Certificate in Dermatology to pursue her passion. Monica particularly enjoys consulting and has built up a loyal client base in previous positions through her knowledge, compassion and conscientiousness to cases. She is a huge asset to our now 7-strong veterinary team.
Olga Urbanczyk
MRCVS
Olga joined us in April 2022 as an additional full time vet. She qualified in Veterinary Medicine at The University of Life Science in Lublin, Poland in 2016, and after a 4 month internship at a referral centre in Manchester, has worked at a West Midlands hospital practice for 5 years prior to coming here. Olga gained a wide portfolio of surgical and diagnostic experience given the busy, fast-paced hospital environment which also offered an out of hours service to neighbouring practices as well as being a surgical hub for its own branches. Olga particularly loves theatre work, and in 2021, commenced a Postgraduate Certificate in Small Animal Surgery to further her soft tissue surgery skills. She also enjoys the consulting side of practice, getting to know clients and their pets and being able to work up cases to resolution. She is excited about the opportunity to help your pets enjoy great health!
*What is a veterinary certificate and what is Advanced Practitioner Status?
Certificates are the only post graduate qualifications available to vets in general practice. They require a minimum of two years of study but usually take 3-4 years to complete, and must be completed whilst working in practice (as hand-on experience is a requirement), necessitating a huge amount of study and work in free time. They reflect an additional level of competence and knowledge, and an advanced skill set within a specific field.
Vets with certain certificates can apply to the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons for Advanced Practitioner Status, which not only demonstrates knowledge and experience in a particular area of veterinary practice beyond their initial primary veterinary degree, but also acknowledges that they continue to be up to date in their field over and above minimum requirements for continuing professional development (CPD).
Cody Hinton
RVN VNCertSAN
Cody joined the team in the Spring of 2022 and is our Lead Nurse at 387 Veterinary Centre & The West Midlands Cat Clinic. She qualified as a Registered Veterinary Nurse in 2017 and was subsequently promoted to Head Nurse status before moving to a busy veterinary hospital in Wolverhampton to hone her nursing skills. Main responsibilities included theatre work, radiography and in-patient nursing and Cody was one of only a few nurses qualified to administer rehabilitative laser therapy. In 2020, Cody was promoted to Senior Nurse at St George’s Bushbury practice in Wolverhampton, with great consulting opportunity and became the practice’s ‘nutrition champion’. She loves cats and has completed the International Society of Feline Medicine’s Cat Friendly Veterinary Professional Course to help cats feel calmer on visits to the vets. She has recently passed her Nurses Certificate in Small Animal Nutrition to implement learning around improving the nutritional status of clinical cases, as well as advising owners on maintaining nutritionally healthy pets.
Charlotte Brett
RVN
Charlotte joined us as a student veterinary nurse in September 2022, although within a month of being here, received the fantastic news that she had passed her final practical exams to qualify as a Registered Veterinary Nurse. Working in the animal care sector for the past 7 years, Charlotte has always been passionate about driving her career forwards. As well as studying for a Level 3 Veterinary Nursing Diploma to give her registered nursing status with the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons, she is holder of a Level 3 Extended Diploma in Animal Management and a Level 2 Animal Nursing Assistant Certificate. Charlotte’s nursing experience is diverse. Her previous position in a 24-hour veterinary hospital which covered other local practices’ out of hours enabled her to hone her nursing skills around inpatient care and medical and emergency nursing. Most recently, Charlotte has also been working in first opinion practice at branch surgery level where she has provided face to face support for owners and their pets via nurse consultations.
Sharon Carter
RVN
Sharon qualified as a Registered Veterinary Nurse (RVN) in 1999 but originally started veterinary nursing in 1989, making her a very experienced and knowledgeable nurse. Sharon’s greatest strength lies in running nurse clinics, and her particular interest is in pet nutrition and weight management. After the practice first gained Royal Canin Accredited Weight Management Centre status in 2015, Sharon became one of the practice’s two dedicated weight management clinic nurses. And in January 2016, following 9 months of study and assessment, Sharon was awarded a distinction in a Certificate in Canine and Feline Veterinary Health Nutrition.
Renée Hopwood
RVN
Renée joined our qualified nursing team in November 2019. She gained her RVN qualification in 2018 whist working in a busy small animal practice in the Midlands where she ran nursing clinics, carried out surgical and post-op nursing and trained as a clinical coach to mentor student veterinary nurses in practice. Since coming to 387 Vets, Renée has also taken on the responsibility of Radiation Protection Supervisor and is also a clinical coach. Before embarking on her nursing career, Renée came on work experience at 387 Vets. We are delighted she has returned to us as a fully qualified member of the clinical team. Renée is currently on maternity leave and we look forward to her return in early 2024.
Sophie Powell
RVN
Sophie joined our nursing team in 2016 and, following a nursing role centred around surgical and post-op nursing in her previous job, at 387 Vets she has also been able to develop her passion for running nursing clinics and meeting and getting to know clients and their pets. Sophie is particularly interested in animal behaviour and holds a Diploma in Canine Behaviour for which she was awarded a distinction in recognition of her assessment excellence. From a team perspective, Sophie loves helping to support vet nurse students on their road to qualification, and officially became a clinical coach in 2018. Most recently, she has been clinical coach to our student nurse Amy who started her diploma journey in 2021. Sophie is currently on maternity leave and we look forward to her return in early 2024.
Lauren Richards
RVN
Lauren joined the 387 team in January 2023, having previously worked as Head Nurse at a local small animal practice. In addition to carrying out a full portfolio of nursing responsibilities, Lauren’s role included running the nursing team, supporting team development and wellbeing initiatives, helping to create and implement effective practice protocols and acting as clinical coach to incoming vet nurse students. Lauren has always been passionate about professional development. Qualifying as a Registered Veterinary Nurse in 2019, she subsequently completed a Certificate in Emergency and Critical Care in 2021, undertaking extra locum shifts at an out of hours practice to gain corroborative experience. She is keen to further pursue her interest in orthopaedic rehabilitation and oncology management and we very much welcome her drive and enthusiasm on our excellent nursing team.
Rachael Turner
RVN VNCertECC AdvCertFB
Rachael joined the team in February 2022 and has a wealth of experience across all nursing disciplines having worked as a Registered Veterinary Nurse in small animal practice since 2004. As well as previous roles as Senior RVN and locum emergency RVN at a busy out of hours facility, Rachael come to us having been Feline Nurse Advocate in her last practice, where she was also responsible for setting up and running feline and canine behavioural first aid consultations. In 2021, she was delighted to pass the International Society of Feline Medicine’s Advanced Certificate in Feline Behaviour with distinction, having already achieved a Diploma in the foundations of Canine Behaviour Management, enhancing her learning in a area she particularly loves. Rachael is just as passionate about theatre and in-patient nursing as she is about her nurse consultations, and is holder of a Veterinary Nursing Certificate in Emergency and Critical Care.
Paige Yates
RVN
Paige has been a Registered Veterinary Nurse since 2017 and joined us at 387 Vets in October 2022. Paige previously worked in another local first opinion practice for 10 years and latterly undertook various managerial responsibilities in addition to her daily nursing duties. These included collating evidence for the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeon’s practice standards accreditation scheme, ensuring agreed clinical standards were maintained across-practice, acting as clinical coach to student nurses and organising nursing rotas and diary management. Paige particularly loves consulting and, given a special interest in post-orthopaedic rehabilitation and pet osteoarthritis and pain management, was responsible for setting up mobility and laser clinics in her previous post. We look forward to employing Paige’s skills to help further support post-op and arthritic pets at 387 Vets.
Sian Evans
Sian joined our student nursing team at the start of January 2023 and begins her Level 3 Veterinary Nursing Diploma this April with a view to qualifying as a Registered Veterinary Nurse in 2026. Sian passed her Level 2 Veterinary Care Assistant course with Merit in the summer of 2020, and has since been working for a local veterinary practice using her qualification skills. Past patient-care responsibilities have included kennel care, post-op patient checks, running in-house lab tests, cleaning and implementing infection control protocols and supporting the clinical team as directed. Sian has also worked on reception answering phones and greeting clients, so is brilliantly placed to take on our student role here, which involves an element of client-facing activity. We look forward to supporting Sian as she continues to develop her animal care and nursing skills.
Amy Mothershaw
Amy is part of our student nursing team and is now in the second year of her veterinary nursing diploma. She came to us with diverse experience in animal care and husbandry having worked on a farm and in kennels during her Level 3 Diploma in Animal Management, which she passed with distinction. And most recently, Amy was a Customer Assistant at Pets at Home where daily responsibilities included the care of small animals and aquatics on site. In her free time, Amy is a regular volunteer with The British Wildlife Rescue Centre at Weston, and also runs her own guinea pig rescue from home! We look forward to continuing to support Amy through her 2.5 year course.
Bethany Palmer
Bethany has been here since September 2018 and is now Senior Receptionist at 387 Vets. Prior to coming to here, Bethany worked in a very similar role in a busy GP practice, dealing with health queries, making appointments and interacting with clients and handling concerns. As well as having great reception experience, Bethany also loves animals, and has volunteered as an animal carer in many different environments. Placements include working at a cattery and a dog groomers, as well as being an animal carer at College. And she had the amazing opportunity to look after monkeys at a Cornish monkey sanctuary as part of her Animal Behaviour and Welfare Degree. In 2021, Beth completed a Level 3 Nutrition Course with The Animal Training College to be able to better support owners with queries around pet nutrition. She is currently working towards an SQP qualification to be able to give parasite treatment advice and help with streamlining prescription preparation.
Nicola Busby
Nicola is the newest member of our reception team and joins us on front of house to provide additional cover on weekday mornings and to offer dedicated receptionist support on our main 387 desk from 4.30pm to 6.30pm. Nicola is no stranger to healthcare, having worked in a customer-facing role with the NHS for the past 25 years. Her duties have included meeting and greeting patients, booking appointments, handling queries, arranging referrals, prescription ordering and supporting clinicians with diary management so there’s a big overlap with her responsibilities here. She is also a pet lover and is mum to a cockerpoo, a Labrador retriever and a cat, and living in Great Wyrley, has been a client here for many years. We’re delighted that Nicola is now one of the team.
Charlotte Rock
Charlotte joined our reception team in 2019 and as well as supporting the existing 387 customer care team, Charlotte takes on the exciting role of dedicated West Midlands Cat Clinic receptionist. Charlotte brings a wealth of experience with her, having worked in a range of busy customer service environments, including co-managing a busy textiles concession and leading a shipping team responsible for fulfilling industrial machinery orders. She also has a passion for animals and is holder a Level 3 National Diploma in Animal Management. In 2021, Charlotte completed the International Society of Feline’s Medicine’s Cat Friendly Receptionists Course, so she is well equipped to put you and your feline friends at ease on your visits to the vets.
Holly Smith
Joining us in March 2022, Holly brings a diversity of problem-solving and customer-facing experience to her receptionist role at 387 Vets. She completed an optional placement year whilst undertaking her Event Management course at university, where responsibilities included reception and administration work as well as cold calling, graduate support and cross-team liaison. Holly then went on to achieve a first class degree. Post graduation, she became an events manager, so is well practised at responding to change and challenge at short notice. Holly has also worked as shift leader at a pub in Brewood, has great people skills and loves getting to know people. And needless to say, loves pets too!
Rachel Duncan
Although behind the scenes from day one, Rachel officially joined the 387 team as Practice Manager in 2011. As well as undertaking the marketing of the centre, Rachel is particularly passionate about team wellbeing in practice. She was the driving force behind 387 Veterinary Centre becoming the first vets in the UK to achieve Investors in People Platinum accreditation, and the practice was delighted to be re-awarded platinum status in December 2019, which remains current until 2022. Rachel’s passion for sharing team values, compassionate support and proactive personal development led to the practice winning an inaugural SPVS/ Mind Matters Wellbeing Award in 2017 and being highly commended again in 2019. And she was delighted to be announced as winner of Practice Manager of the Year at the prestigious national Petplan Veterinary Awards in the same year.
Jo Civil
RAMA RVR
Jo has been at 387 Vets since 2012 and has always been passionate about continuing to improve client experience at the practice. She holds a Customer Service Level 3 Award with the College of Animal Welfare, being awarded best course student, has completed vet receptionist-specific training to become a Registered Veterinary Receptionist with the British Veterinary Receptionist Association (BVRA) and is former winner of a prestigious Petplan Support Staff of the Year Award in recognition of her dedication and compassion. In 2021, Jo became a Registered Animal Medicines Advisor (RAMA) to help streamline our reception team dispensing and parasite advice service as well as officially becoming our Lead Receptionist. And in September 2022, with continued practice growth, Jo’s role has also evolved. Now Operations Manager, Jo’s responsibilities include improving systems and facilitating the smooth running of day-to-day practice to help us all to continue to deliver great customer service.