WHEN ‘ All Creatures Great and Small ’ returned to our TV screens in September it was welcomed by the farming community . A slice of nostalgia of days gone by when vets were seen variably as either James Herriot or Siegfried Farnon . Independent professionals who were not controlled by anyone other than themselves .

Wicstun Veterinary Group in Market Weighton in the East Riding still holds firm to the independent cause and is proof that you don ’ t have to become part of a conglomerate , often funded through veterinary drug companies , to survive and thrive .

Five years in the making , their brand spanking new , fabulously appointed Wicstun Veterinary Group Animal Hospital on Holme Road shows how the independent ethos can still outweigh the power of the corporate sector , if those who run it have passion in their profession and are committed to its future .

‘ Loyalty is a massive trait in East Yorkshire ,’ says Andrew Moll , one of the five partners in the practice that has twelve vets in all . ‘ We have a really loyal band of farmers who know how we have looked after their stock over the years . If you have a cow calving and you need us we will come out to you , if you have a dog that needs a caesarean we ’ ll be out to you . Our view is whether it ’ s two o ’ clock in the morning or two in the afternoon , we will always see you .’ ‘ This new Animal Hospital allows us to offer something that sets everyone ’ s minds at rest . There will always be someone here – and not just someone but at least two nurses and a vet overnight . This is now a 24-hour , roundthe-clock facility . We have incorporated accommodation for the staff , bedrooms and kitchen facilities in the upstairs part of the building .’

‘ We have always gone out on to farms and seen cattle , sheep and pigs overnight so why wouldn ’ t we offer the same kind of facility to look after your cat or dog overnight ? So , if your dog has a fit at 3am you ring us and we look after you directly rather than some who may transfer you to someone in say York who doesn ’ t know you or your dog . Everything is here at the Animal Hospital , all your animal ’ s records . You can bring your dog in and it will be seen by the vet who is on that night . Your animal comes in when he or she is poorly and you pick he or she up when better . It ’ s not a case of back and forth all the time .’

‘ We also have the capacity for a horse trailer , calf trailer or sheep trailer to unload larger animals should the need arise , but we will always make farm visits no matter what the time of day .’

‘ This is all about being competitive in today ’ s world . If we hadn ’ t come up with this and pushed our elbows out a bit we would have become more squeezed by the corporate veterinary practices .’

‘ The world has changed and ours has too . When I came back here 13 years ago , after working in a practice in Bedale , our practice would have been 50 / 50 between farm animals and pets . It is now 80 / 20 in

favour of pets but that ’ s not because our farm animal business has reduced , it ’ s just that the small animals side has become busier .’

‘ The areas of farm livestock where we have seen growth in recent times have been in calf rearers and in pedigree cattle . There are a number of calf rearers that have expanded massively . We ’ ve not really lost farmer customers , they ’ ve just gone into different livestock production areas . Pedigree herds and in particular semen testing has become another area where we have seen steady progress .’

‘ We have enough work for four vets to be full-time on farm animals and most of us are mixed vets handling both small and large animals . I ’ m still more on the large animal vet side and work one in four nights on rota for farm animals .’

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