Vets and nurses at Penmellyn Vet Hospital, St Columb Major, were delighted to welcome Local MP Steve Double and his wife Anne to officially open the newly installed CT scanner.
The first of its kind in Cornwall, and one of only a handful in the South-West, the Siemens CT scanner is a state-of-the-art diagnostic scanner for dogs and cats. Previously, to access scans, clients with pets in Cornwall had to travel out of county to Somerset or Bristol. Now, with the scanner having been installed on 23rd May, initial training complete and the first 20 scans already processed, pets can have rapid direct access to scans including imaging to guide spinal surgery, screen for cancer scares, diagnose a huge range of orthopaedic conditions and investigate conditions of the chest and abdomen.
Director Colin Whiting welcomed Steve to the practice and toured him round the Small Animal Department, where extensive facilities already include surgical theatres, x-ray and ultrasound suites, a vast prep and emergency area and dedicated overnight kennelling with 24hour nursing care. Colin leads the A30 Referrals side of the practice, and he sees cases for spinal, orthopaedic and soft-tissue surgery. Steve saw Harvey, a whippet who had multiple spinal surgery of the neck and was taking his first steps post-surgery and he met clients Mr. And Mrs Richens whose dog Tsar had made a full recovery following spinal surgery at Penmellyn 3 months previously. They had taken Tsar for imaging scans in Bristol, and Mrs Richens said she was delighted to see that the CT scanner was now here for future pets in need.
Moving through to the new CT scanning suite, Director James Christie demonstrated the images acquired, illustrating one pet who had successful surgery of an abdominal tumour following CT diagnosis and screening. James explained that the CT scanning service would be available to clients of practices throughout Cornwall and the South-West, by referral from their own practice.
Steve cut the ribbon for the official opening, watched proudly by James and other members of the clinical team trained in scanner use- vet nurses Rachel Ede, Molly Teague and Jade Pascoe and vet Lizzy Clift.
Finally, Steve and Anne had a tour of the Equine department with Director Peter Murrish, who showed the huge scale of the operating theatre, anaesthetic recovery room, X-Ray and examination suite and discussed some of the medical cases the dedicated equine vet team at Penmellyn regularly treat.
All in all a whistle-stop tour of a thoroughly modern, locally owned and run Veterinary Practice, with a practice history extended over a hundred years here in Cornwall, constantly updating and developing its clinical services for the local community.
Commenting, Steve said:
"I was delighted to be able to open the state of the art CT scan at Penmellyn Vet Hospital, St Columb Major."
"This is the first of its kind in Cornwall and it's great to know that pets can now benefit from this new facility close to home rather than have to travel out of county. This is a great addition to vet services and I am very pleased to see it here in Mid-Cornwall"