Nursing Team
Louise Hughes – RVN BSc (Hons)
Head Veterinary Nurse
Louise joined the practice in 2004 after working in several referral hospitals. She then became the Head Nurse in 2010 and has been leading our nursing team ever since.
As the Head Nurse, Louise often leads the way when the practice undergoes any clinical changes and she recently directed the team in the implementation of our CT scanner, ensuring the process was smooth and safe for our patients.
When she’s not overseeing the nursing team Louise enjoys anaesthesia and is often involved in our more complex cases due to her extensive knowledge. She also enjoys physiotherapy and has an interest in animal behaviour.
Leanne Walsh – RVN, AVPN Exotics and British Wildlife
Deputy Head Nurse
Leanne began working for the practice in 2013 as an Animal Care Assistant. She then undertook her nursing journey and qualified in 2016 before going on to become Deputy Head Nurse in 2023.
Leanne has a particular interest in exotic species and has completed an additional qualification in this area, so she is often our go to person for small furries, birds and reptiles. She enjoys inpatient care, particularly during overnight shifts where she can utilise her nursing skills to full effect when emergencies arrive. Leanne also has a passion for training and enjoys guiding newer staff members in their journey with the practice.
Sophie Rowell – RVN 
Deputy Head Nurse
Sophie joined the practice in 2018 as a Trainee Veterinary Nurse, going on to qualify in 2021 and then becoming Deputy Head Nurse in 2023.
Sophie has a passion for physiotherapy and is currently undertaking an additional qualification which will allow her to treat patients who have undergone orthopaedic surgery or who might struggle with arthritis.
She enjoys inpatient care and loves being able to spend time giving her patients a little extra TLC to ensure they feel as comfortable as possible. Sophie also enjoys utilising her people skills to train new staff members.
Sue Harding – RVN NCert(SAN)
Veterinary NurseSue is our longest serving nurse, having joined the practice back in 1999.
Sue oversees our laboratory and enjoys utilising her years of knowledge to analyse samples and teach new staff members how to look down the microscope.
Sue also has a keen interest in nutrition and has completed an additional qualification, allowing her to provide detailed information on appropriate diets. Once a week Sue runs our nursing clinics and really enjoys the client interaction and continuity of care this provides.
Sarah Carter – RVN
Veterinary Nurse
Sarah has been with the practice since 2008, having qualified as a Registered Veterinary Nurse in 2005.
Sarah loves that her role comes with new challenges each day and offers her great variety, with no two days being the same.
She particularly enjoys client-facing roles and can often be found performing nurse clinics where she enjoys meeting both the animals and the people. Sarah also enjoys all elements of inpatient care and providing TLC to animals in the hospital.
Pippa Noyce – RVN
Veterinary Nurse
Pippa joined the team in 2018 as a Registered Veterinary Nurse after taking a break from nursing to raise her family.
Since returning to the role Pippa has been enjoying the huge variety of cases that we see in the practice, particularly now that we have improved our continuity of care with CT.
Pippa also enjoys monitoring anaesthetics and performing roles in theatre such as scrubbing in. Pippa is well known in the community and enjoys catching up with clients and their pets as well as meeting new people when conducting our nursing clinics.
Dani Palmer – RVN
Veterinary Nurse
Dani has been with the practice since 2016, starting as an Animal Care Assistant and moving on to complete her nurse training in 2019.
Dani has a passion for wounds and loves assisting the vets with complicated cases, particularly if she gets to practice her suturing skills!
She enjoys all aspects of surgical nursing and has completed lots of CPD to hone her skills. She also enjoys emergency and critical care work, particularly when she gets to intensively nurse a very sick patient who goes on to recover and go home.
Kimberley Carter – RVN 
Veterinary Nurse
Kim joined the practice in 2017 as a Trainee Veterinary Nurse, going on to complete her nurse training and qualifying in 2019.
Kim has a particular passion for inpatient care and behaviour, and enjoys being able to spend time providing her patients with some extra comfort and TLC.
She also enjoys performing nurse clinics and getting to chat with our clients as well as seeing the patients. When given the opportunity Kim also enjoys utilising her surgical nursing skills with tasks such as suturing.
Rebecca Long – RVN
Veterinary Nurse
Becky has been with the practice since 2016, starting out as an Animal Care Assistant before moving on to complete her nursing journey, qualifying in 2021.
Becky particularly enjoys looking after hospitalised patients and providing them with extra comfort and enrichment to make them feel more at home during their stay. She also enjoys utilising her nursing skills to perform tasks such as teeth cleaning, placing feeding tubes and suturing. Becky has also been involved in many of our CT scans and has helped to pave the way for other nurses.
Grace Bourton-Metcalfe – RVN
Veterinary Nurse
Grace started working for our team in 2021 as an Animal Care Assistant and has since completed her nursing training, becoming a Registered Veterinary Nurse in February 2025.
Grace particularly enjoys the client facing aspects of her role such as nursing clinics.
She also enjoys the daily challenges that come with monitoring anaesthetics and keeping her patients safe and stable. Since qualifying she hopes to begin utilising her nursing skills more to perform supervised tasks such as scrubbing in, suturing and teeth cleaning.
Nicole Woods – RVN
Veterinary Nurse
Nicole joined the practice in 2021 as an Animal Care Assistant before going on to complete her nursing training and qualifying in February 2025.
Nicole enjoys looking after our hospitalised patients and providing individualised care throughout their stay with us.
She also enjoys assisting with emergency cases where she can utilise her skills to help stabilise patients and positively impact their outcome. Since qualifying Nicole has found a passion for surgical nursing and enjoys scrubbing in and assisting with dental procedures where she can help with suturing.
Grace Adkins
Trainee Vet Nurse
Grace joined the team in 2022 as an Animal Care Assistant, before beginning her nurse training in 2023.
So far Grace has really enjoyed learning how to perform nursing clinics. She also has a keen interest in laboratory diagnostics and especially loves getting the chance to look at specimens down the microscope.
Her favourite part of her job though, is looking after hospitalised patients during the night shift where she gets to provide one-on-one care.
In the future she hopes to increase her skills in surgical nursing.
Sara Nagy
Trainee Veterinary Nurse
Sara joined us in September 2024 as a Trainee Veterinary Nurse. She is now in her second year of nursing and is particularly enjoying providing inpatient care and finding ways to provide enrichment to patients in the hospital.
She has also developed an interest in laboratory work and is just starting to learn how to perform nursing clinics. She’s excited to begin honing her nursing skills ahead of qualifying next year.
Georgie Parfitt
Trainee Veterinary Nurse
Georgie joined the practice in 2022 as an Animal Care Assistant and as of September 2025 began her journey as a Trainee Veterinary Nurse.
She enjoys all aspects of her role but particularly likes providing care to hospitalised patients, assisting with emergencies, and performing laboratory tasks.
She can’t wait to learn more in her new role and is excited to be more involved with our clients too. Look out for Georgie working alongside our registered nurses!
Katie Edwards
Animal Care Assistant
Katie joined the team as an Animal Care Assistant in 2024.
Having previously worked for a well-known pet shop, Katie has lots of experience with exotic animals and enjoys when we see anything unusual at the practice! Katie also enjoys helping the vets with patient handling and providing every animal that walks through the door with lots of cuddles.
Having been with the team for over six months now, Katie has also begun to hone her skills in our laboratory and enjoys assisting the nurses with running samples.
Emma Bates
Animal Care Assistant
Emma is an Animal Care Assistant & started working here in July 2024.
Emma has a farming background and has previously worked with livestock. She is now enjoying working in our small animal hospital.
Jade Robinson
Animal Care Assistant
Jade joined the practice in May 2025 as an Animal Care Assistant.
So far, she has been enjoying learning the ins and outs of her role which has included handling lots of different species.
She has also enjoyed the team culture and the fact that she gets to work in a close-knit group of people who share a passion for animal welfare. Jade has a particular fondness for cats and loves seeing your feline friends come into the practice!
Owen Early
Animal Care Assistant
Owen joined the practice as an Animal Care Assistant in December 2024.
Owen is currently studying towards becoming a vet and works at the practice on Saturdays.
He particularly enjoys assisting the vets with handling patients. He has also enjoyed learning how to run a variety of samples in our laboratory. He hopes to continue to develop his skills in preparation for vet school in the next few years.