Goddard Veterinary Nursing College has converted an external building at its base in Woodford, on the north-east London/Essex border, into a clinical skills area that benefits from all the facilities you would find in practice, including a consult room, operating theatre and preparation area, laboratory, X-ray, dental machine, kennels and isolation unit.
The area will be used to help students to refine their practical skills – practising on soft toys – and can be accessed during study time as well as during lessons.
The space will also be used to deliver CPD sessions and workshops for qualified veterinary nurses who work within Goddard Veterinary Group and at other groups and independent practices in London and the Home Counties, on topics such as emergency and critical care, anaesthesia, rabbit care and laboratory skills.
Goddard Veterinary Nursing College, which is part of Goddard Veterinary Group and owned by VetPartners, was graded “Good” by Ofsted at its first full inspection in 2022 and currently has 120 apprentices studying on its Diploma in Veterinary Nursing and Veterinary Care Support Certificate courses.
As well as training students from within the group it welcomes applications from all veterinary groups and independent practices. It also delivers a variety of high quality CPD to support qualified nurses and veterinary care assistants from the wider industry in developing their clinical skills and knowledge.
Emma Eve-Raw, Goddard Veterinary Group training manager and head of centre, said the aim of the new facility is to help students learn and practise skills in a true-to-life environment.
She said: “Learning how to do practical tasks in a classroom can be very different to performing them in a clinical setting and our new space will be invaluable for helping students gain the confidence and competence to excel in their role.
“Our students will be able to access the clinical skills area for the duration of the course, from our new intake to student nurses preparing for their OCSE practical exams. It will also benefit students who have additional learning needs as they will be able to use the space as often as they need to.
“Investing in this new area is part of our commitment to doing all we can to inspire the next generation of veterinary nurses and veterinary care assistants to be the very best they can be, including tailoring courses to suit our students and offering hybrid learning for students who want to learn from home. We’re proud that our teaching team also has more than 100 years of RVN experience between us and performs five days of CPD in practice every year to ensure we keep our hands-on nursing skills up to date.
“We are also delighted that we have been able to give a new purpose to this building, which has a rich local history and was once used as a stable block when the site was a police dog training centre.”
Goddard Veterinary Nursing College opened in 2005 and began offering apprenticeships in 2020. It is part of veterinary group VetPartners, which owns some of the UK and Europe’s most respected and trusted veterinary practices and associated animal healthcare businesses, including Lynwood Veterinary Nursing School and the VetPartners Nursing School.
You can find more information about Goddard Veterinary Nursing College and how to apply, here.
