Sophie McMurrough (pictured) and Hannah Goddard are spearheading an innovative new service for patients.
Patient Care Reaches New Heights With Launch Of Innovative New Service
11 months ago 
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A renowned animal hospital in Cheshire is believed to be one of the first in the UK to launch an innovative new service for patients.
Northwest Veterinary Specialists (NWVS), which is owned by Linnaeus, has introduced dedicated medicine referral nurse clinics which are being spearheaded by Sophie McMurrough, head nurse of the internal medicine nursing department and Hannah Goddard, medicine service nurse at the referral centre.
Key to the new clinics is being able to complement the hospital’s internal medicine service and to offer follow-up care by a specialist nurse.
Nurse clinics are performed commonly in general practice, but rarely at referral hospitals. Specialist hospitals often see patients which are complex and require advanced investigations.
An example of this would be a diabetic patient who does not stabilise with routine treatment. Diabetic patients referred to specialist hospitals are often those with insulin resistance, ketoacidosis or other concurrent diseases, making diagnosis and treatment tricky.
Patients are often hospitalised for investigations which require intense nursing care. This nursing care has now been extended to an outpatient service, as part of the referral nurse consultations.
This will allow for NWVS to continue their excellent service after discharge and will support the patients with life-long medical conditions.
Sophie and Hannah both support these types of consultations that include renal (kidney) checks including blood pressure, urinalysis, weight and blood tests.
They are also undertaking diabetic check-ups, fitting sensors to pets to monitor glucose levels remotely, while providing owner education to teach them how to inject their pet, how to draw up the different insulins, education on home monitoring and the management of a diabetic pet.
Additionally, Sophie and Hannah are performing repeat blood tests for conditions such as immune mediated haemolytic anaemia/thrombocytopenia, plus check-ups on conditions such as IBD, Addisons disease and Cushings disease.
Sophie, who holds the prestigious title of veterinary technician specialist (VTS) in small animal internal medicine, is one of just 11 nurses in the UK with this specialist status in small animal internal medicine.
She said: “This is a pioneering service, as we’re now maintaining communication with many of our longstanding patients via face-to-face consultations, telephone consultations and also email.
“This allows us to monitor the patients progress, check and report blood results and alter medication as advised by the clinician.”
Sophie added: “We’re looking to expand the team soon with some of the other nurses with an interest in internal medicine.”
NWVS is one of the UK’s leading specialist-led animal hospitals. It offers care in anaesthesia and analgesia, diagnostic imaging, internal medicine, neurology and neurosurgery, oncology, orthopaedics, physiotherapy and soft tissue surgery.
For more information on Northwest Veterinary Specialists, visit www.nwspecialists.com or search for Northwest Veterinary Specialists on social media.
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