Referral Registered Veterinary Nurse (Surgical) – 4‑day week

About the role

We are expanding our specialist referral service for soft‑tissue and orthopaedic surgery at Ellesmere Port Hospital. This theatre‑based position offers a varied surgical caseload, a four‑day week and no weekend work, providing an excellent work‑life balance.

Key responsibilities

• Assist specialist surgeons and RCVS Advanced Practitioners in planning and delivering complex referral surgeries.
• Provide pre‑, intra‑ and post‑operative care, including patient preparation and multimodal analgesia.
• Monitor anaesthesia, manage multimodal pain protocols and maintain sterility as a scrub nurse when required.
• Perform diagnostic imaging such as CT scans for advanced orthopaedic and soft‑tissue cases.
• Order and manage specialist surgical consumables and implants.
• Liaise with referring practices and clients to ensure smooth referral processing.

Required profile

• RCVS‑registered Veterinary Nurse.
• Confident working in a surgical theatre environment; certification in anaesthesia or surgical nursing is desirable.
• Strong knowledge of veterinary surgical procedures and anaesthetic monitoring.
• Excellent communication and ability to work under pressure.

Required skills

• Monitoring anaesthetics and delivering multimodal analgesia.
• Diagnostic imaging, including CT scanning.
• Handling surgical instruments and maintaining sterility.
• Patient preparation for complex surgeries.
• Ordering and managing specialist surgical consumables.

What we offer

• 6 weeks holiday (including bank holidays).
• Fully funded CPD and paid RCVS/VDS fees.
• Contributory pension scheme (4%).
• E‑Car scheme, cycle‑to‑work scheme and staff discounts.
• Enhanced maternity and paternity packages.
• Long‑term sickness cover and employee assistance programme.