Megan Walsh, the new head of the emergency and out of hours care team at Wear Referrals, who is aiming to keep the leading animal hospital at the forefront of cutting-edge veterinary care.
Trailblazer Megan Keen For Wear ECC Team To Lead The Way
10 months ago 
470 views
The new head of emergency and out of hours care at one of the UK’s leading small animal hospitals is used to pushing herself to the limit.
Advanced veterinary practitioner Megan Walsh, who has taken on the senior role at Linnaeus-owned Wear Referrals in Bradbury, County Durham, is a keen trail runner and triathlete.
Her high-octane hobbies are clearly great preparation for life in the fast lane of animal care, leading Wear’s emergency and critical care service, which is open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.
Megan, who first joined Wear as an intern in 2016, certainly wants to help the award-winning hospital continue to stay ahead of the pack when it comes to the care it delivers to its patients.
She said: “I'm looking forward to working closely with the team to develop our department so we can become the leading providers of emergency and critical care in the north east.
“This is my first management role, so I have a steep learning curve ahead of me leading and mentoring the incredible team of associates who work for the OOH department.
“They all bring something unique to the service and all work together to an incredibly high standard to achieve the very best care and possible outcome for our patients.
“I really want to get the best out of my team by making sure they are all treated and valued as individuals and encouraged and supported to develop their careers and achieve their goals.”
Megan graduated from the University of Nottingham School of Veterinary Medicine and Science in 2015 and still vividly remembers her first serious case.
She added: “It was a severe case of gastric dilatation-volvulus (GDV), which is basically where the stomach twists over on itself.
“The stomach then swells up like a balloon because of trapped gas and it rapidly becomes a life-threatening scenario.
“It was my first GDV and the acutely stressful situation is one that every new graduate dreads.
“It was also a double-whammy as the dog also had a splenic torsion, where the blood supply to the spleen twists on itself, so I also got to do my first splenectomy.
“It’s definitely a memorable case for me, especially as it all went well and I had a successful outcome.”
When Megan’s not tackling pet emergencies, she’s regularly taking on personal challenges. She explained: “I spend a lot of time outdoors either running or climbing up mountains.
“I compete in triathlons up to Ironman distance and can be found cycling around North Yorkshire most weekends!
“I love trail running and rock climbing, with regular trips to the Lake District and back home to Snowdonia in North Wales to visit my family.
“My partner and I also recently converted a campervan which we take all over the country with my Irish setter cross, Loki.”
Wear Referrals provides an emergency and critical care service 24 hours a day, 365 days a year to pets and their owners in the north east.
The out-of-hours service provides emergency care for primary care practice clients when their own practice is closed.
Wear specialises in providing expert multidisciplinary care, including anesthesia, cardiology, diagnostic imaging, intensive care, internal medicine, neurology, OOH emergency and critical care, oncology, orthopedics and soft tissue.
For more information of Wear Referrals, visit https://www.wear-referrals.co.uk or search for them on social media.
More from Linnaeus Group
- Mars Veterinary Health pilots industry-leading anaesthetic gas capture technology to reduce carbon emissions
- West Midlands communication agency celebrates national award for veterinary marketing campaign
- Senior receptionist celebrates 10 years at Ashby vet practice
- Best 'paws' forward for worthy cat cause
- Dog cheats death thanks to surgery skills of Cheshire vets
1 day ago