Linnaeus-owned Southfields Veterinary Specialists shut its state-of-the-art Essex site in April, when a fire in the building next door left the hospital with significant smoke and water damage.

While staff and patients were safely and swiftly evacuated from the hospital, with the Southfields team ensuring continuity of treatment for pets at nearby practices, the damage forced the referral centre to close while repairs were carried out.

However, the dedicated team at Southfields have now welcomed their first patients back to the hospital, having reopened on Monday, September 2.

Hospital director Daniel Hogan said: “We’re so happy to be able to open our doors and once again start welcoming cases from our referring colleagues.

“The damage caused to the hospital was heartbreaking to everyone and I can’t thank the team enough for their dedication, patience and resilience throughout what has been a difficult period. We have continued to care for patients at other veterinary centres, but it will make such a difference to work at our own hospital again.

“Our complete focus, as always, is on providing a wide range of the best facilities, care and treatment to our patients and clients.

“A huge thank-you to the emergency services for their response to the fire, along with the veterinary community which has shown us great support, and those who have helped with our refurbishment.”

The multidisciplinary referral centre is based at Cranes Point and the purpose-built complex is one of the largest and best-equipped veterinary centres in the UK, with seven operating theatres, 16 consultation rooms, recovery suites, lecture halls, a dedicated ICU department and plans for a future hydrotherapy suite.

Southfields offers specialist services such as anaesthesia and analgesia, cardiology, dentistry, dermatology, diagnostic imaging, exotics, internal medicine, neurology, oncology, ophthalmology, orthopaedics, radiation and soft tissue surgery,

It also includes a cutting-edge imaging suite, comprehensive treatment facilities and is one of just a handful of specialist centres to have a linear accelerator, which delivers high-energy radiation to a patient’s tumour, along with a veterinary oncology suite which can offer one of the most advanced veterinary cancer services in the UK.