Small Animal Veterinary Surgeon

About Us

Acorn House is a 12 Vet RCVS Accredited Small Animal Hospital in the beautiful county town of Bedford.

We are an experienced and knowledgeable team with a busy and varied caseload and excellent facilities, including laparoscopic and orthopaedic kits, gastroscopy, bronchoscopy, a dental suite with digital radiography, and ultrasound. We have dedicated dog, cat and exotic wards and have recently completed our extension, increasing our space to three theatres, two dental suites, a new dog ward, and a surgical supplies room.

Acorn House runs as an independent practice but since 2018 has been owned by the Royal Veterinary College, operating as a flagship practice modelling high-quality first opinion care to their veterinary students. We are an ISFM Gold Standard Cat friendly Clinic, Dogs Trust Dog Friendly Clinic and currently undergoing our reaccreditation to maintain our RWAF Gold Rabbit Friendly Practice status. We are proud to be an RCVS-approved Graduate Development and Veterinary Nurse Training Practice and to have achieved Bronze Investors in the Environment accreditation.

Rosie, the Practice Principal, joined Acorn House as a new graduate in 1998 and holds a PGCert in Veterinary Education and is studying for a certificate in Feline Medicine.

Within our 12-vet team are many experienced clinicians including Advanced Practitioners in Dentistry and Zoological medicine and vets working towards certificates in Small Animal Medicine, Small Animal Surgery and Diagnostic Imaging.

We are extremely fortunate to have a fantastic nursing team, lead by our Head Nurse who holds an RCVS diploma in Advanced Veterinary Nursing (surgical) and an ECC certificate. Amongst our nursing team are certificate holders in anaesthesia, exotics, feline nursing and veterinary education. We are proud to be a VN training provider and our SVN’s are well supported by several clinical coaches.

Our amazing Client Care team including Accredited Veterinary Receptionists provide vital support to our clients and the clinical and management teams. Their friendly and helpful outlook embodies the Acorn House ethos.

Each team has regular meetings with representatives from other areas of the practice involved and there are quarterly practice meetings where everyone can share their ideas, and we can celebrate our successes and discuss any challenges we’ve faced over lunch. We then have in-house CPD or a team-building activity.

We’re looking for an experienced veterinary surgeon with a passion for operating and the confidence to take on a varied surgical caseload. This role is ideal for someone with a strong surgical bias who is comfortable with a full range of first-opinion procedures and capable of managing emergency surgeries such as GDVs. An interest in more advanced soft-tissue work, including BOAS, would fit brilliantly with our current caseload and the support we can offer.

We are a practice focused on learning and development. We absolutely encourage our vets to follow their interests and further develop their skills. If you want to take on a certificate, we have the facilities and caseload to support this. If you already have a certificate, we will help you achieve and maintain Advanced Practitioner status. Vets with AVP’s have the opportunity to join our Senior Vet team with additional management responsibilities.

As a teaching hospital, the RVC provides all our vets free online CPD including courses to help mentor and support veterinary students and new graduates. Two RVC 4th or final year veterinary students are on placement with us for a fortnight for most of the year. Their placement is structured to expose them to all areas of practice with dedicated named time with clinicians allowing students to gain varied experience and allowing vets sufficient time to carry out their clinical duties, paperwork and client calls.

Acorn House is happy to support a PGCert in Veterinary Education for staff who are keen to develop in this area.

We know how essential a good work-life balance is to well-being and job satisfaction. That’s why we’ve designed our rota to have set days and shifts,…