£7m expansion for Six Mile Bottom vet centre

A veterinary practice just outside Newmarket has embarked on a £7 million expansion scheme.

Dick White Referrals (DWR) in Six Mile Bottom, already one of Europe’s largest veterinary referral centres for small animals, is now is set to double in size.

Work officially began on a new 3,000 square metre expansion at the end of last month when the first turfs were cut by the clinic’s founders, Professor Dick White and his wife Christine. The new facility is set to be completed by next summer.

It will enable the clinic will double its inpatient capacity, from five to 10 wards with additional consulting rooms, medicine procedure and treatment facilities, a significantly enlarged laboratory, an integrated imaging suite with new MRI and CT units, extensive oncological facilities, an out-patient facility to complement the existing in-patient physiotherapy unit and a water treadmill. It will also include an enhanced and expanded intensive care unit to include an emergency triage area.

The new building will also house a spacious reception, a separate feline waiting area with integrated cat ward and dedicated feline consulting rooms, a new lecture theatre and staff welfare areas along with a suite of administration offices. These developments will then facilitate the reconfiguration of the existing buildings to create five further operating theatres and significantly enhanced surgical facilities.

Professor White commented: “It is essential that we stay at the cutting edge of veterinary medicine and this means not only having outstanding veterinary specialists who are the best in their field, but also providing them with the facilities and technology to support their skills.

“We have reached a stage where we must expand the available space to achieve these objectives and to plan adequately for future development”.

Founded in 2003 and opened with a staff of just three, the centre now provides jobs for over 250 people. Two years ago to enhance its education and training facilities, the Dick White Academy was opened to provide training courses for veterinary nurses and animal care assistants.

As a specialist centre, it takes referrals from across a wide range of disciplines, including neurology, orthopaedics, soft tissue surgery, ophthalmology, internal medicine, oncology, dermatology and cardiology.