Veterinary nurses

Head Nurse

Katie has been our head nurse since July 2016 but originally started working for the group in 2005. She has been qualified for many years and has worked in referral practice gaining knowledge and experience in all aspects of nursing, including advanced and specialist work. She has a keen interest in anaesthesia, analgesia and critical care and gained her nursing certificate in anaesthesia and critical care in 2011. She is a clinical coach for our student nurses and is also passionate about animal nutrition despite having her own slightly overweight rescue cat Henry! Her horse, Theo takes up most of her free time outside of work.

Penny has been a registered veterinary nurse since 2010 but is also an animal behaviour counsellor; having attained a certificate and diploma in canine and feline behaviour. Penny works part time for the group and is passionate about puppy socialisation and kind methods of training to correct behaviour. Outside of work Penny is kept busy by her cats, Maggie and Harry and has recently adopted a lovely dog called Benny who came to the practice as an injured stray and stole all of our hearts.

Laura has been working for The Village Animal Hospital since September 2014. She joined the team as a student veterinary nurse and started college in September 2015, qualifying as a registered veterinary nurse in 2019. She is very interested in looking after inpatients, diabetes clinics, reptile clinics and wildlife. She has two rescue cats called Toby and Tilly and a family dog called Sidney who is pictured in her photo. Sidney is an unofficial mascot for the practice and is a definite member of the CVS family.

Kate changed career after travelling to India and visiting a rescue centre although she had always been passionate about dogs. She trained at MYF in Aldershot, and qualified in 2010. Currently, she has two rescue Staffies, Reg and Dot, both of whom were found abandoned. Kate says, "they take up a lot of my time, generally cuddling them and administering tummy rubs". Her other interests include travelling, running, reading and spending as much time as possible with her family. At work, she particularly enjoys anaesthesia and theatre nursing, and has a keen interest in nutrition clinics. She finds it extremely rewarding to see results in this area, and helping clients who are struggling with the tricky job of trimming their animals waistlines.

Amanda joined our team as a veterinary nurse in 2010, after qualifying in 2008 and has been a core member of the team ever since. Amanda has developed an interest in emergency and critical care nursing and enjoys mentoring our student nurses as their clinical coach. She has a gentlemanly cat called Simba who has kept Amanda on her toes with his various medical conditions. Outside of work Amanda practises ballet and looks forward to her holidays in Ibiza.

Elke is originally from Lelystad in the Netherlands and graduated from Groenhorst College Barneveld in 2009. She worked as a veterinary nurse there until 2017 when she decided that her dog, Timo, and her needed a new adventure in veterinary nursing in the U.K. Elke is very interested in surgery, anaesthesia, taking care of in patients and rodent medicine. In her spare time she likes taking Timo out for long walks. She also enjoys aerial yoga, diamond painting and travelling.

Lydia has worked in local veterinary practices for many years and has been a qualified veterinary nurse for over since 2015. She started working at our Merstham branch in January 2017 and particularly enjoys running the busy nurse clinics. She has a strong interest in rabbit medicine and animal behaviour and hopes to become an animal behaviour counsellor in the future. She has two beautiful blue British Shorthair cats called Neo and Luna.

Student Veterinary Nurse

After achieving a joint honours degree in marine biology and biodiversity at Anglia Ruskin University, Laura joined the practice in 2014 as an animal nursing assistant. It was during this time that Laura’s desire to train as a veterinary nurse grew as she realised she wanted to actively help in improving the health and welfare of pets and aid in elevating any pain or illnesses. Laura enjoys spending time with her very bouncy (and naughty) chocolate Labrador, Phoebe.

Animal Nursing Assistant

Ella joined the Smallfield team as an animal nursing assistant to gain the practical experience that coincides with her Open Study College course. Being part of the team has opened her eyes to the possibilities of one day becoming a veterinary nurse to turn her passion for animals into a career. She also loves to travel. Ella owns Ruby, a Staffordshire cross. Ruby comes to work with Ella on some days and is an honorary trainee receptionist at the Smallfield branch. Both Ella and Ruby think that meeting all our lovely clients and their pets is the best part of their day.

Animal Nursing Assistant

Jackie joined our Merstham team in November 2016 but before this she worked with children in a children’s nursery for four years. Jackie has always wanted to work with animals and now has her dream job as an animal nursing assistant. Outside of work she enjoys eating out with her fiancé, going to the cinema, taking her daughter to the park and baking yummy cakes. Jackie aspires to become a veterinary nurse.

Animal Nursing Assistant

Charlie always knew she wanted a career in veterinary practice as has always had a passion for animals, especially dogs, cats and horses. She joined our team in Caterham in 2017 as an animal nursing assistant and aspires to one day become a veterinary nurse. She loves how varied each day is at The Village and particularly likes watching our patients get better. She has a gorgeous Cavalier King Charles Spaniel called Archie and a cat called Millie. She enjoys reading, drawing and riding horses whenever she has a free moment.