The Pets’n’Vets Family, a network of veterinary practices with surgeries around Glasgow and surrounding areas, has launched Scotland’s first ever in-house Receptionist Academy for the veterinary sector.
The initiative will give every receptionist in the practice an opportunity to enrol in the College of Animal Welfare’s veterinary receptionist’s course; a Level 2 certificate equivalent to a GCSE.
The Distance Learning programme will be structured in-house at Pets’n’Vets’ Roundhouse Veterinary Hospital in Pollokshaws and augmented by a series of CPD presentations. An initial cohort of 10 receptionists have enrolled on the course.
Oliver Jackson, managing partner at Pets’n’Vets said: “It has always been our mission to ensure that each and every individual within all the departments of our practice are given an opportunity for continual learning and professional development. We realised that, to date in the veterinary world, it can often be difficult for receptionists to further their careers and develop this vital part of veterinary practice.
“The launch of our Receptionist Academy recognises the central role that receptionists play as part of the practice team – it can be a demanding, yet rewarding, role – and illustrates our commitment to life-long learning throughout the whole of the practice through the provision of significant investment aimed at ensuring that everyone has the opportunity to grow and develop their skillsets.”
Running alongside the Distance Learning programme, Pets’n’Vets is delivering a series of CPD events for receptionists which will see external experts visit the Roundhouse to present seminars on a wide range of topics.
The course is being overseen by consulting veterinary nurse Cheree Mayell, who said: “The Receptionists Academy has started with an induction process which includes all sorts of innovative ways of learning, such as role playing, scenarios, and fact-finding. The receptionists are all very excited and enthusiastic about the course, which the initial cohort of 10 will aim to complete when they sit an exam in Edinburgh in six months’ time.”
Jackson added: “Our receptionists are already the experts in client service in the practice: we want to acknowledge that and to drive that service forward even further. While this initiative is currently unique, it is our hope that this innovative Academy will be something that all veterinary practices will offer to receptionists in the future and thereby enhance pet owners’ experience of the veterinary sector.”
