One of the original pioneers of a leading UK animal hospital has decided to stand down after seeing her ambition to create a top veterinary centre exceed all expectations.
Davina Anderson, an RCVS and European Specialist in small animal surgery, was one of four shareholders who launched a fledgling referral service near Winchester in Hampshire in 2006.
That small practice has since grown into the highly-respected Anderson Moores Veterinary Specialists (AMVS), whose expert team delivers the highest quality surgical and medical care to small animals across Hampshire, Dorset, West Sussex and beyond.
Davina has described the last 15 years as an “extraordinary rollercoaster” but says it’s now time to step away and slow down.
She explained: “In 2006, I sat down with my husband Richard Hoile and tried to set out a vision of what I thought a multidisciplinary referral hospital should look and feel like.
“We knew it was a venture we wanted to launch, but it never really occurred to me what an extraordinary rollercoaster it would be.
“We opened our doors on September 1, 2006 – also my son’s first day at school – with just three vets and two nurses thinking, mistakenly, we would only have a few cases a week in the early days!
“Amazingly, those two nurses are still with us and we have travelled a long, long road to where we are now, with more than 200 team members providing a comprehensive referral service to our vets and pet owners.”
Throughout the journey, Davina ensured the remarkable expansion remained focused on the same founding principles installed at AMVS from day one.
She said: “What was most important to me was a working environment where everyone’s opinion was taken seriously; where nurses, technicians and non-clinical staff all had the same level of importance as the senior clinicians and senior management.”
Achieving those aims has meant saying goodbye was all the more difficult. Davina added: “My team are really special people and I will miss them terribly.
“However, 15 years of being totally absorbed in both the growth of Anderson Moores and the reality of running a rapidly growing company has taken its toll and I am ready to step aside.
“I am not retiring, I will still work as a specialist surgeon, but it’s time to let someone else with more remaining energy take on the next challenges in the life of this company.”
Anderson Moores director David Walker has been quick to pay glowing tribute to Davina’s incredible contribution to the practice and the lasting legacy she will be leaving behind.
He said: “Without Davina’s vision, Anderson Moores would not exist and without her passion and dedication, it would not have evolved to become the exceptional place it is today.
“Davina will be sorely missed by everyone at AMVS; however, she leaves behind an incredibly strong team that will continue to provide an excellent service to our referring vets, clients and their beloved pets.
“We wish Davina every happiness in whatever she decides to do next and hope that after 15 years of dedication to AMVS she can find some time to relax.”
Davina can certainly look back on a long and illustrious career. She qualified from Cambridge University in 1989, completed her PhD in 1997 and became a Diplomate of the European College of Veterinary Surgeons in 2000.
In 2002, she became one of only five surgeons in the country to hold the RCVS Diploma in Small Animal Surgery (Soft Tissue) and is a recognised specialist in Small Animal Soft Tissue Surgery. She has been head of the soft tissue surgery service at Anderson Moores since 2006.
Davina has been an external examiner for veterinary undergraduates as well as the Advanced Nursing Diploma and the specialist examinations for the European College of Veterinary Surgeons. She was President of the European College in 2014-15 and Chair of the ECVS Board of Regents in 2015-16.
She was also a founding Trustee of the British College of Veterinary Specialists and has been involved in the RCVS specialisation committee, review committee on renal transplantation and an external auditor for university appointments.
Anderson Moores, which is owned by Linnaeus, offers specialist care in soft tissue surgery, orthopaedics, internal medicine, neurology, cardiology, oncology and dermatology.
