An award-winning West Midlands referral centre has appointed an RVN as its new hospital director.

Tom Reilly has taken up the management role at Willows Veterinary Centre and Referral Centre, in Solihull, having joined from parent company Linnaeus, where he was referral field nursing manager.

The appointment is not Tom’s first experience with Willows, however, after he first joined the industry-leading animal hospital in 2011 as a member of its medicine and high-dependency RVN team.

Tom subsequently established the role of patient flow manager at Willows, before working as deputy nurse manager and then moving to head of clinical support services in 2019, during which time he also led the hospital’s efficiency group.

Tom moved from Willows in 2021 to take up the referral nursing manager position with Linnaeus, which entailed overseeing nursing across Linnaeus’s 17 UK referral sites.

His return to Willows caps a remarkable career journey and highlights once again Linnaeus’s commitment to opening up a broad spectrum of career pathways for its nursing community across the group.

‘PRIVILEGED’

Tom said: “I am really pleased and privileged to be returning to Willows to work alongside the amazing hospital team. The opportunity to undertake this role highlights Linnaeus’ commitment and progressive outlook to veterinary nursing as a profession.”

Willows managing director Toby Gemmill said he was delighted to welcome Tom ‘back home’ to the practice, which was voted Best UK Referral Centre winner at this year’s Best UK Vet awards.

He said: “I am incredibly excited that Tom will be ‘coming home’ to Willows as our new hospital director.

“He will play a vital role in leading the hospital forward over the coming years and will without doubt be an absolutely outstanding addition to our team.”

Tom is also an RSPCA trustee, has been involved with BVNA as a council member and on the advisory board, has sat on the BSAVA Congress and programme committees, and was chairman of BSAVA Congress from 2021-22.

Willows offers specialist services in anaesthesia and analgesia, cardiology, clinical nutrition, dermatology, diagnostic imaging, emergency and critical care, internal medicine, neurology, oncology, ophthalmology, orthopaedics, soft tissue surgery and spinal surgery.

To find out more about Willows’ wide range of specialist services, visit www.willows.uk.net or search for Willows Veterinary Centre and Referral Service on Facebook.

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