Simon Hester
Managing Director
Simon actively manages the Specialist orthopaedic / soft tissue surgery and CT service at ViS at Optivet Referrals. He is your first point of contact, will work with you to build the optimal service offering for your Practice and will personally remain in contact with you on a long term basis.
He is also the pet owner in the equation – passionate about providing Specialist level veterinary services at affordable costs to all pet owners.
Ian Nicholson
BVSc CertSAS DipECVS MRCVS
European and RCVS Specialist in Small Animal Surgery
Since finishing his specialist training, Ian has worked in university and private referral hospitals in the UK as a general surgeon performing soft tissue, orthopaedic and neurosurgical procedures. He has been working with us for some years now and has led our surgery service since September 2019.
Ian has particular interests in helping pet owners to decide what to do for the best; avoiding over-diagnosis and over-treatment; patient safety; the benefits of surgical generalism; openness; and collaborative clinical research.
He also has a strong interest in teaching, and provides undergraduate teaching to vet students at the University of Surrey, plus post-graduate training to specialists, advanced practitioners and general practitioners in all aspects of small animal veterinary surgery.
Ian graduated from the University of Bristol in 2000 and spent time in mixed practice before undertaking further training for a year at the Royal Veterinary College (RVC), London, then three years at the University of Cambridge Veterinary School.
Jerry O’Riordan
MVB CertSAS DipECVS MRCVS
European Veterinary Specialist in Small Animal Surgery
Jerry operates on a wide variety of orthopaedic, neurosurgical and soft tissue cases.
In Jerry’s own words, ‘I previously worked in a Specialist referral hospital for a large corporate Practice. I felt I needed to move on as I did not believe that the patient’s best interests are served in this type of environment and I wanted a more personal approach to the clients and their pets.
I want clients and vets to get better use of my approach and I want them to have personal confidence in me.
I have an interest in both soft tissue surgery and orthopaedics and my long period of time working in primary care Practice has given me a realistic understanding of the challenges we face as surgeons in Practice.
I graduated from the UCD and did a number of years of small animal work in England immediately after graduation. I developed an interest in surgery working for a short period in the RSPCA animal hospital in Birmingham. I have worked in small animal surgical referrals in Ireland, England, Scotland, New Zealand the USA and in France.
I obtained my certificate in Small Animal Surgery while working In Fitzpatrick Referrals in the South of England and following that I returned to the UCD Veterinary Hospital to complete a small animal surgical residency. Since then I have worked in the Maison Alfort Vet School in Paris and most recently in Glasgow University Small Animal Veterinary Hospital’.
Carlos Adrega Da Silva
DVM DipECVS MRCVS
European Veterinary Specialist in Small Animal Surgery
Carlos operates on a wide variety of orthopaedic, neurosurgical and soft tissue cases.
Carlos commutes from Portugal to join us on a regular basis and has also been seconded regularly to the Universities of Glasgow and Edinburgh. Carlos is an engaging person with a wide skillset who proves popular wherever he goes – we feel lucky to work with him.
What is a Specialist vet?
Becoming a Specialist is the highest level of expertise that a vet can attain in the UK. It’s the equivalent to being a consultant in human medicine.
In the same way that your GP (general practitioner) doctor is your first point of call for your own medical concerns, your GP primary care vet is where your pet’s treatment journey begins. Your pet’s care will more than often be totally covered by your excellent GP but when more complex diagnosis or treatment may be beneficial, you should be offered the option of referral to a Specialist vet.
It takes in the order of 10,000 – 12,000 hours for a vet to become a Specialist vet. A vet wishing to become a Specialist will normally do one or two 12 month internships at a Specialist centre and then apply for a 3 year Residency where he/she trains directly under other Specialists spending 100% of their time on their area of specialism – so in total, the process generally takes about 5 years and also includes publishing clinical research papers before the vet is ready to sit the ECVS exams, which can sometimes have a pass rate of only 30%.
Candidates who pass the exams are known as Diplomates and win the hard-earned right to be called a Specialist. Specialist surgeons will have DipECVS written somewhere after their names.
Please be aware that Certificate holders and Advanced Practitioners are not Specialists. They are valid and valuable qualifications but should not be considered as anywhere near the same.