We are incredibly excited to continue to expand the unique and innovative offerings in patient care at Southfields. Our new referral centre can hold seven operating theatres, sixteen consultation rooms, recovery suites, lecture halls, a dedicated ICU and there are future plans for a hydrotherapy suite. We will have separate cat and dog waiting areas, as well as walking and comfort areas for our patients. We have ensured we are looking after our staff’s wellbeing too by providing yoga and boxercise classes, as well as an education centre for internal and external training.

We have been consulting with sustainability specialists from the start of the project to ensure we can deliver a centre that not only offers the very best facilities for our patients and clients but also embodies sustainable practices.

To ensure this project was sustainable we decided to repurpose an old building rather than building from new. This meant our development was sustainable from the start. By repurposing old land, it has meant we have been able to dramatically decrease our carbon footprint, as no new foundations or steelwork had to be implemented.

So far, we have completed installing a high-performance insulated roof covering and skylights, this will ensure our buildings stay insulated and prevent any heat escaping, therefore, minimising energy wastage. In addition, we have installed solar PV, which will further enhance the practice’s energy efficiency. Our new building also has air source heating, LED lighting and water-saving features. A heating management system will automatically reduce the temperatures in unoccupied rooms, increasing our energy efficiency.

We currently have a range of sustainability procedures and campaigns in place and will continue to keep these running. We’re taking part in the Linnaeus ‘paws to turn off’ campaign, which encourages practices to turn off any unnecessary lights and air-conditioning. This will help reduce our electricity consumption with the aim to reduce our annual usage by 14%. By continuing this at our new hospital we will be able to both reduce our energy usage and reduce our carbon footprint.

But this is just the start of our journey – we will be introducing many more sustainable procedures along the way to help minimise our environmental impact.

For more information on sustainability at Southfields, click here.

Just a few of the members of the Green Group at Southfields Veterinary Specialists.

Solar panels on the roof of our new hospital which is currently under construction in Basildon, Essex.