Balmoral Veterinary Practice – Celebrating a Major Upgrade and Expansion

NIVT speaks to Dan Flynn about the latest developments at one of his three practices.

Balmoral Veterinary Practice, located on Stockmans lane – close to the M1 turnoff – is a well known independent practice in Belfast– not just for its ideal location, but for its reputation as a steadfast, reliable, safe and professional practice – providing excellence in clinical care for patients and a friendly, compassionate environment for pets and their owners.

The Balmoral Practice is unquestionably now the jewel in the crown for Dan Flynn’s trio, which includes practices in Ballynahinch and Commons Brae on the Saintfield Road.

Dan explained “We have literally just completed a major upgrade of the practice – the result of four years graft from start to finish. We’ve doubled the space available. We bought over the property next door when it became available, which has allowed for this major expansion project.

“It’s now one large building across three floors. We’ve also been able to extend out the back, and add more car parking.

“It’s been a big job – I’m glad it’s just finished, and everyone – staff and our clients are delighted with the result.

“Basically, when the building next door came up for sale in mid Covid, we jumped at the opportunity to buy it over. We liaised with planning for a ‘change of use’ and extension. Four years on, we’ve gone from purchase to complete renovation. It was done in phases – and we kept working through it all in this building. The builders worked with us, as we tried to keep the disruption to a minimum.

“For staff, it was hard to work through it all – it was difficult at times. There would be loud days and drilling – looking back everyone was very good at dealing with it.

“And we’re delighted with the outcome. Balmoral is now the main practice, the other two practices feed it to an extent. They were never set up as branch clinics, but now we can do more specialised work. One of our vets, Kirsten Keys does most of the ultrasound. I do a lot of cruciate work. The Commons Brae practice will be moving this service to Balmoral.

“Eventually we aim to have overnight provision – with a veterinary nurse staying overnight. That’s part of our future plans for the upstairs extension. Veterinary only is on the ground floor.

“The dog groomer service is upstairs. The Cat Loft takes the whole top floor, with 14 pods – over the July holidays it was at full capacity. All are joinery built, multi-level pods with plenty of room to run around.

“We’ve new signage outside, which has also made a difference.”

Ballynahinch

Ballynahinch is a stand alone practice opened in 2018 with one vet.

“IBallynahinch was not served by a full-time vet for years. Now it remains busy with spays and neutering. When more specific treatment is needed, pets can be referred directly to Balmoral. All three practices work as part of one team – with an active WhatsApp keeping everyone in touch. Animals can move with ease between practices.

“We have nine vets– three in Balmoral, two in Commons Brae and one in Ballynahinch, so effectively that’s six whole time equivalents working a four day week, supported by 13 vet nurses, 1 animal nursing assistant, four receptionists and a practice manager.

Clinical developments

“Personally I do a lot of cruciate repairs in dogs – often a TPLO twice a week” said Dan. “I started branching out – getting some referrals from local vets based on a fixed fee which is bit cheaper than high end referrals. We’ve been fortunate to not have many complications. We provide a middle ground – some referral work can be very expensive for pet owners.

The three practices all focus on small and companion animals.

Background

Dan qualified in 1996 and initially worked in three mixed practice roles, before moving towards small animals in 2006-7.

“I worked in the emergency clinic in Belfast while trying to get set up in Belfast. Basically, I bought over the Balmoral practice from Kieran McAllister. He had been well established there since 1988. After 20 years there, we took over the practice December 2008. Kieran stayed with us for a further 10 years. The way it all happened just panned out. We took over Balmoral in December 2008 and then a month later opened Commons Brae on the Saintfield Road. We  ended up with two practices in a short space of time.

“It wasn’t planned that way but it worked out fine.  Balmoral was already an established practice. Commons Brae was a starter practice – a slow build over five years, but now well established and operating at full capacity. It is a great location and has great parking – in fact, we’ve just signed a further 15 year lease on the property.

Balmoral Developments

“The Balmoral development is a good news story for us all. We were renting the building off Kieran for 15 years then got the offer for the other house, so we bought both, which allowed us to draw up the extension and renovation plans.

“It was a massive investment and a big undertaking – even for staff. Basically, the old building – before the upgrade and renovations, wasn’t acceptable for staff. Now I’m proud that we have a really attractive workplace.”

Dan explained that there are further new staff coming onboard,

“We have a reputation for being good at keeping staff. One of our vets was moving back to South Africa, so literally a couple of weeks ago, I put an advert out and have taken on a new vet – he is an outstanding applicant, from a strong pool of applications. The process of recruitment can be challenging – but we’ve been fortunate to get the right person, who will be starting in the autumn.

Golf Society

In his down time, Dan Flynn loves nothing more than a good round of golf. He has just taken up the reigns as secretary of the Vet Industry Golf society – a society composed of practicing vets, Department vets, industry reps – basically anyone involved in the industry.

“Our next meeting is set for  September in Royal Portrush – with a record 68 signed up.”

Dan works full time as a vet – and describes himself as being very lucky in the practice, with the support of an excellent practice manager. “She runs the business – it allows me to put my energy into practicing as a vet – knowing that Katrina will implement my ideas. One of the biggest issues is HR – so a good practice manager is essential.”

Future plans

“Where are we going from here? We will be developing towards an overnight practice. We are a vet nurse training practice, and generally when they qualifythey join the team permanently. We also encourage CEMS placements and have had many students returning throughout their training and those who have joined the team as qualified vets.

Kirsten’s ultrasound and scoping work is another area that will develop further. She is highly experienced in ultrasound and surgery – while I just enjoy the progress of the cruciate disease work and going through all the procedures.  Other vets in the team are also continuing to develop their specialties – we are very lucky to have such a well rounded skill set within a team that supports everyone on a daily basis.

Kirsten says ‘Before joining Flynn Vets I worked for 19 years at the Clare Vet Group Hospital in Ballyclare and it was there that I developed my love for (obsession with!) all things medical. I love nothing more than working up those difficult medical mystery cases with ultrasound and endoscopy and also enjoy more complex soft tissue surgery cases. At the time I came to Dan’s practice, all the Belfast area Hospitals and Referral Centres had been purchased by corporate businesses. What I liked about Flynn Vets was that it was still independently owned and this allows us to be more flexible with our approach to each individual case and I enjoy the challenge of providing an excellent standard of care but very much in a cost effective way allowing for lower expense to the owner but not compromising on what we can offer the patient. I really feel we are achieving that aim now we have the updated premises and thankfully we are starting to get sent cases from far and wide across Northern Ireland’.

“The big moments in this practice for me have been getting through all negotiations for the buildings. I love the business of developing the practice – while keeping everything going. We can’t ignore that we are in the midst of a corporate market. We are proud to remain an independent practice – providing the best care that we can.

“Our aim is to provide excellence in pet health care in a safe, friendly, professional and personal environment. We aim to provide excellence in customer and veterinary service and go above and beyond for clients, pets and the greater community” said Dan “We consider all our clients and patients as members of our extended family!”