Being independent isn’t a badge, it’s how our practice works day to day.
We’re owned by Lauren Hamstead, a vet who fell in love with our practice and our town while working here as a locum during Covid – and decided to stay.
So when the then-owners decided the time was right to pass the practice on, it was Lauren they asked.
She agreed to buy at 30 and took the keys just before her 32nd birthday. She knew it would be a challenge and she said yes anyway.
Her aims were set from day one: to give every pet the sort of care she’d want for her own, and to build a practice where people genuinely want to come to work – and are backed to pursue whatever they want to do.
Since then she’s invested in the team, the training and the equipment – but you’re most likely to meet her the same way clients always have, in a consult room with your pet.
Being independent means decisions about your pet are made by your vet, based on what’s best for your pet – with no targets set anywhere else.
It means when the team have an idea to make care better, it just happens: when our nurses have an idea for a clinic they want to run, the answer is simply to go and do it.
The same goes for careers.
Emily joined us for one day a week alongside her work as a farm vet – she’s now a full-time vet here, developing a particular interest in feline medicine and working towards cat friendly accreditation.
Wendy, one of our patient care assistants, has just started her training to become a registered veterinary nurse.
When someone at Filey wants to grow, the practice grows with them.
Once a year we even close the doors for a day and train together as a whole team – not on medicine or surgery, but on how we work together and how we talk to you.
It’s how the team has grown its own areas of expertise, from feline care to acupuncture to rabbits.
And it means the practice is free to do the right thing even when it isn’t the commercial thing.
We support the charities that use our services by offering discounted treatment, donations and practical help. It’s one way the whole team helps care for the community and its animals.
These core principles define our practice and the care we offer our patients. If that sounds like something you want for your pet, we’d love for you to join.
