What We Offer

It’s in our nature.

At CVS, we care. We care about the treatment we provide to our patients, and we support the people who care for them.

Whether you are making a call to a client, updating your clinical records, or preparing for a life changing treatment, we have your back.

We help you learn, we give you opportunities to progress, and we offer the right support in every situation.

It’s in our nature – to support, to learn, to improve and to care.

That’s what sets us apart at CVS.

  • We are committed to clinical excellence

  • We have a vast range of career opportunities

  • We have a wide support network for all colleagues

  • We offer the best learning, education and development

  • We prioritise the wellbeing of our people

  • We provide great facilities and equipment

  • Feeling included and being able to be yourself is vital

  • We offer flexibility to colleagues in their benefits packages

We aim to provide the best possible care to animals

Underpinned by an aim to recommend and provide the best clinical care every time. We cultivate a culture where clinicians are given the freedom to make the best decisions for patients, where improvement is encouraged, and where best practice is shared across the group. 

We're clear about the clinical culture we're tying to create and how we drive improvement. It's in our Clinical Governance Framework - a UK first  in veterinary care.  

Diverse perspectives are invited from people across our company as part of our clinical decision making. For example in Companion Animal, we’ve launched a Clinical Advisory Committee and twelve Subject Matter Working Groups to make decisions and share best practice across our network. 

We have a robust quality improvement programme, continue to drive standards of excellence, and are the only company to publish an annual Quality Improvement Report.

Within our nine specialist hospitals, we've got experts who are at the forefront of clinical innovation.

We also support veterinary research and we share our expertise across the group and the professions.

We have a vast range of career opportunities

Because of the breadth of our group. We support our colleagues so they can progress in their current role, different roles or even in completely different career pathways.  

We offer diverse career opportunities across clinical and non-clinical roles. Whether you're a vet, nurse, PCA, receptionist, or part of our support teams, there’s room to grow and explore new paths.

People can build their career in ways they may not have expected. We promote from within and encourage secondments and permanent moves across the group

You can build a career in general practice, as a specialist, as a clinical leader, as an expert mentor, or as a business leader. Veterinary roles include consults, surgery, sole charge, QI projects, and progression into advanced practitioner, internship, specialist, or leadership roles. Our Farm and Equine Vet Career Progression Framework provides a clear four-level pathway supported by CPD.

We support nurses to be the nurse they want to be, with varied caseloads, schedule 3 procedures, and career development through our Companion Animal and Equine Nursing Pathways. We’ve also introduced three new nursing leadership roles.

Our Patient Care Assistants (PCAs) play a vital role in supporting clinical teams and often progress into veterinary nursing through our own college.

 

We support our people with every clinical and non-clinical challenge

Our clinicians are never alone when dealing with a case. 

  • Our Clinical Directors support day-to-day, but our support does not stop there. 
  • Regional Clinical Leads support practices in achieving the highest standards and help them implement quality improvements.
  • An Advanced Clinical Services Network of peripatetic practitioners (vets and nurses) supports primary care colleagues to make advanced treatments widely available.
  • Our vet-to-vet telemedical service Vet Oracle offers Specialist interpretation of results and practical virtual assistance to vets. It has six specialisms: cardiology, dermatology, medicine, neurology, oncology, ophthalmology. We also offer a Teleradiology image interpretation service to support colleagues with, CT/MRI, radiographic and ultrasound interpretation 24/7 365 days a year.
  • A network of Pastoral Support Vets, mentors and Wellbeing Champions help colleagues look after their career and mental health.
 

We have industry leading learning, education and development

We’re committed to helping every colleague reach their full potential, providing on-the-job training as well as access to a network of experienced colleagues to support you in providing the best possible care.

  • An in-house team develop our LED, with 60% of courses delivered internally.
  • We offer leading clinical CPD, enabling our teams to recommend up-to-date evidence-based treatment.
  • Our Regional Clinical Leads teach first opinion practices advanced diagnostics and techniques.
  • CVS’ nurse further education college CVTC is one of the UK’s top nursing schools.
  • Our Knowledge Hub offers over 700 courses covering clinical and non-clinical training.
  • We have created 14 hubs for one-stop-shop learning, including: Leadership, Clinical Improvement, Client Care, Nursing, PCA, New Graduate, Companion Animal, Farm, Equine, and Practice Standards.
  • BSAVA’s full library of veterinary resources is offered free to our colleagues.
  • For those enrolling on a CertAVP or PgCert, we cover course tuition, up to 3 exam fees and RCVS library fees, plus 2-weeks study leave.
  • Accredited leadership and management development programmes are also offered to all.

 

We provide great facilities and equipment

Our practices meet the rigorous Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons voluntary Practice Standards Scheme. 

We invest in our facilities, clinical equipment and technology to improve standards of clinical care and our colleague and client experience. 

Our practices include:

  • Well laid out clinical spaces; multiple consultation rooms, spacious operating theatres, central preparation areas, dedicated dental suites, in-house labs and digital x-ray.
  • Modern office spaces, kitchen facilities, rest areas, staff showers and lockers.
  • Large welcoming receptions with separate cat and dog waiting areas, along with easy client access to consultation rooms. 

This enables our clinicians to do the work they want to do, allows us to offer an increased range of services, and creates a nice place to work.

 

We prioritise the wellbeing of our people

We’ve introduced a range of initiatives to promote mental wellbeing, work-life balance and healthy lifestyles, and to reduce work-based stress.

Our wellbeing initiatives include:

  • All colleagues having regular monthly line-manager check-ins to support their wellbeing and work.
  • Over 400 Wellbeing Champions and First Aiders for Mental Health, trained to support team wellbeing. 
  • A Wellbeing Hub housing 12 wellbeing courses, articles, resources, and a Wellbeing Calendar.
  • A CVS Distance Challenge where colleagues compete to walk, run, cycle and row furthest over a month.

Our benefits and policies include:

  • A flexible working policy.
  • Enhanced parental leave (maternity 10 weeks full pay, 10 weeks half-pay).
  • Five days paid leave for fertility investigations.
  • One week extra compassionate leave for pregnancy loss.
  • Up to eight weeks pay to support with exceptional health related events.
  • An Employee Assistance Programme and confidential helpline.

Feeling included and being able to be yourself is vital

We want to foster an inclusive and equitable workplace environment where everyone feels welcome and nurtured.

We have an EDI Committee and colleague groups, focusing on: ability & neurodiversity; ethnicity; gender; LGBTQIA+; and social mobility. They create strategy, launch initiatives, form peer support networks and monitor progression.

  • Our Equity, Diversity and Inclusion policy sets out how we prevent discrimination.
  • Our values include a “just culture”, where diverse perspectives are invited and people feel safe to speak up.
  • We produce consultation room posters and colleague guidance on handling discriminatory comments.
  • Our microaggressions training outlines their harmfulness to minority groups and offers advice.
  • A menopause support forum peer support group and resources have been introduced.
  • We provide free menstrual products to all colleagues at work via dispensing machines.
  • We support Neurodiversity Month, including discussions on supporting autism in the workplace.
  • We are Disability Confident Committed, supporting the recruitment and development of people with disabilities.

We offer flexibility to colleagues in their benefits packages