POLDEN HILLS Veterinary Centre |
Tel: 01278 722088 |
Emergency - 01278 722088 (24 hr) |
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ABOUT US |
FROM THE BEGINNING
A brief history of the practice. |
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On January 1st, 1976 the practice started, using Richard’s garage in Broderip, as our main site, and my conservatory in Chilton Polden. At that time our main income was from farm work
Small animal work increased gradually until it was obvious that we had to acquire more suitable premises. We also were doing an increasing amount of horse work.
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We explored the possibility of buying land or property in one of the local villages - property was too expensive and we could find no suitable land, until George Gardner offered to sell us the existing site. Having acquired this, we initially sited a Portakabin on the far east of the site – what is now again part of his property – and sought planning permission for a surgery building. We received this, I think, in 77 or 78. |
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The building was completed by a local builder from Cannington, and we moved into sparkling new premises, which were initially fully adequate for our needs, and were, at the time, superior to any other veterinary surgeries in the area At that time we had one employee only, apart from our wives who took an active part in the running of the practice.
From 76 to 84 we increased the practice client base very rapidly, especially the small animal side, and by 84 we were unable to cope on our own, and employed an assistant veterinary surgeon to ease the work load. Sadly that coincided with the introduction of milk quotas for dairy farmers, of whom we had one hundred. Click on the pik for a closer look |
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The effect of milk quotas was dramatic and we lost 40% of our farm turnover, almost overnight, and regrettably had to revert to just two veterinary surgeons after just one year. Happily the small animal side continued to increase and we had largely recovered our stability by the end of 1986.
Farm work however never recovered and continued to decline to the point that by 2008 we had just five dairy farm clients, the rest ( about 50 ) being beef or sheep, but many of whom were small farmers. In 1976 our turnover was 95% farm orientated, whereas by 2008 this figure had shrunk to 15% - small animal having increased to about 70%. Being a mixed practice meant that we had to split our resources – time, money etc – and we were always unable to develop as we would have liked. Of course the trend in recent years has been away from mixed practice, thus allowing concentration on just one aspect of work
We did employ other veterinary surgeons on a part time basis in the following years, but mainly newly qualified vets. who had seen practice with us. This was usually just for the summer holidays to give us a break. We also did employ a veterinary surgeon from Taunton , for just two days a week, for a few years. Around the turn of the century we again decided to employ a full time assistant, but she left after about two years to pursue an interest in horses. Jo replaced her, and has, as you know been here ever since.
With three vets. and by now 3-4 lay staff, and a greatly increased client base, the premises became far too small, and we explored a number of options to enlarge the surgery. We failed to come up with a workable design for many years, until in 2005 we finally decided on the new extension which, as you know largely suited most of our requirements. The process of building the extension took far longer than expected, mostly due to the actions of the builder, who was trying to do many other jobs at the same time. In addition the building inspector was his usual unhelpful self, which delayed matters further. However we finally moved in in January 2008, to everyone’s great relief – by that time we had tired of falling over each other and struggling to find any more space for storage etc – however our new- found relative luxury although greeted with great satisfaction by us and the clients, did not totally please the staff ! The comment was made that they now had to walk too far. Proof that you cannot please everyone all of the time. With the extra facilities, we then employed a fourth vet. and this situation continued until the break up of the practice into the three elements – small, large and equine.
P.H.S. Mackay
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