Mangement
Monika Safalowicz
BVSc CertAVP MRCVS
Clinical Director
(Small Animal)
Monika joined us in October 2020. She has been working as a small animal surgeon for 7 years, most of which in the UK.
She completed the Certificate in Small Animal Medicine in 2018. She is also interested in diagnostic imaging, emergencies and mentoring her team.
Monika lives with her lovely partner and two cats. In her spare time, she plays board games with her friends.
Georgina Torregrosa
LV MRCVS
Clinical Director
(Equine)
Georgina graduated in 2000 from University Barcelona. She completed an internship in equine medicine and surgery at the same University after completing several externships in USA.
After her postgraduate studies she worked in several hospitals and ambulatory
practices back in Spain. She also worked in a equine referral hospital in Spain. Georgina moved to UK in 2012.
Georgina’s main interest are poor performance horses and stud work but she enjoys all aspects of equine work.
In her spare time she enjoys cinema, travelling and spending time with her son and her cats.
Clare Barker
RVN
Practice Manager
Clare started as a nursing student at our Attleborough branch in 1999. She qualified in 2002 and has worked at a variety of practices since then as both a Veterinary Nurse and a Head Veterinary Nurse.
She started working as a Practice Manager in 2010 and returned to Uplands Way in 2018. She has a mischief of 4 ferrets, Macgyver, Fiji, Wilson and Gilbert and a grumpy tortoiseshell called Kate.
In her spare time, she loves to bake the most amazingly decorated cakes for the team!
Veterinary Surgeons
Iris Granell
Senior Veterinary Surgeon
Iris joined Uplands Way in 2018. She graduated at the Autonomous University of Barcelona in 2014 and following her graduation she completed an internship in Spain. She worked in two different referral hospitals in Spain before she moved to the UK in 2018 and began working at Uplands Way Vets.
Iris is particularly interested in surgery but also likes internal medicine and critical care. She is also quite partial to cuddling puppies!
In her spare time, she loves travelling, spending time with her family and sharing the sofa with Edu (the handsome equine vet) and Ron, their rescue cat.
Katerina Apostolou
Veterinary Surgeon
Katerina finished her Veterinary Medicine degree at Aristotle University of Thessaloniki in 2019.
She was very interested in both small animal medicine and public safety at that time and took the decision to continue her studies by doing a master’s at Wageningen University & Research of the Netherlands in Food Safety, which she concluded a month ago. However, her love for small animals and specifically internal medicine and dental surgery which involve her main interests in the field, made her want to pursue this position in Uplands Way Vets.
Katerina’s life before her studies involved growing up in the USA, UK and Greece due to her parents’ occupation. In her spare time she love’s to bake, paint, travel and meet with friends.
Karen Wu
Veterinary Surgeon
Karen was born in Malaysia and raised in Hong Kong. She left home to pursue her dream and graduated from the Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies in Edinburgh in 2018.
She joined Uplands Way Vets in 2020 after working in a small animal practice in Suffolk for 2 years. She enjoys all aspects of small animal practice, with a keen interest in surgery and imaging.
Outside of work, she enjoys painting and trying out various recipes to satisfy her craving for Asian food
Irene Garcia
Veterinary Surgeon
Irene, our night vet, graduated as a Veterinary Surgeon in Cordoba (Spain) in 2018. She moved to England in March 2019 to work as a first opinion Small Animal Vet. Her main area of interest lays in Internal Medicine.
Starting a Post-graduate Diploma in Emergencies in May 2021. Outside of work you can find Irene going for a walk in the woods with her cat Kiwi (she’s a cat lover) or reading a
good book at home.
Soledad Guiñón Vea
MRCVS
Equine Veterinary Surgeon
Sole joined the equine team of Uplands Way in July 2018. She qualified in 2015 and completed a 1-year equine internship at the Autonomous University of Barcelona.
Prior to arriving to the UK, she worked as an ambulatory equine vet in different places in Spain and as a vet in equine endurance competitions.
Sole has a particular interest in equine diagnostic imaging and orthopaedics investigations, as well as surgery and emergency care. Also, she enjoys being involve in the breeding season.
Recently she adopted an 18-year-old cat who makes a lot of noise!
In her spare time, she loves to explore the countryside and play padel! She also loves Suffolk punch horses, which look even bigger next to her!
Eduardo Alguacil
MRCVS
Equine Veterinary Surgeon
Eduardo joined Uplands Way three years ago, and is very much enjoying his work here.
He qualified from University of Cordoba in 2014 and wanted to focus on horses, so after few months spent in Ireland, he did an equine internship at the equine hospital of University of Barcelona.
Before moving to UK, Eduardo worked in an endurance stud with the foals. His main interests are internal medicine cases and dentistry.
He used to participate in endurance races with his horses and currently he has five horses in Spain!
When he gets home at the end of the day, Ronald the cat is waiting for him to share the sofa with Iris, his partner!
He likes to go out running and enjoy cooking for everyone (and his food is delicious!).
Swasti Misra
Veterinary Surgeon
Swasti joined our small animal team in 2020 after graduating from the Royal Veterinary College in London. Having grown up in the Middle East and India, she has always had a passion for animal welfare. Her interests lie in internal medicine and hospital care.
Outside of work, she’s usually curled up with a book or podcast and loves to cook for her friends and family. She looks forward to meeting our clients and their furry and feathered companions!
Rachael Coulson
Equine Veterinary Surgeon
Rachael graduated in 2021 from the University of Glasgow but originally comes from Belfast. She has always had a strong interest in horses, having grown up around them.
At home she enjoys eventing and working with young horses. Outside of work she loves going out for food and drinks, and on the weekends, she likes exploring Norfolk to find new places to go walking.
Samia Lalmas
Veterinary Surgeon
Samia qualified from Algiers veterinary school in 1991. After working in a small animal practice in Algiers for 2 years and pursuing further studies in physiology, she moved to the UK in 1996 where she sat and passed her MRCVS statutory examination. She has been working with small animal in the UK since 1997.
Her professional interests includes animal welfare, cardio-respiratory diseases in dogs and cats ( she completed her certificate- certAVP – in 2018), and acupuncture ( a new service offered at uplands way vets).
Outside work, she spends time with her family, walking, exercising or just eating good food.
Olivia Carey
Veterinary Surgeon
Olivia is part of the vet team, her clinical interests include exotic animal medicine and neurology.
She is a keen environmentalist and has made many changes in her personal life to reduce the impact that she has on our planet, and she actively encourage others to do the same.
Olivia love’s reading and travelling, and high adrenaline-type activities!
Nursing Team
Emily Philpot
Head Registered Veterinary Nurse
Emily joined Uplands Way in 2015 and has been leading the small animal nursing team since 2018.
She is particularly interested in wildlife, inpatient care and offering exceptional customer service.
She has a penchant for old rescues of all shapes and sizes, resulting in a vast menagerie of animals ranging from a flock of chickens, to rats, to dogs and cats!
Her side hustle is making and selling items inspired by the things she finds on dogs walks and various jaunts around the country.
Kathryn Trett
Equine Head Registered Veterinary Nurse
Kathryn has worked at Uplands since 2010 and qualified as a veterinary nurse in 2014. She has a particularly interested in all things horse related but can be seen from time to time working with the small animal team.
At home she has two cats named Smiffy and Berlioz, and a dog named Dennis. Dennis and Kathryn enjoy going for walks at the weekends, often with friends and can be found at one of the many beautiful beaches Norfolk and Suffolk has to offer.
Leanne Maltby
Deputy Head Registered Veterinary Nurse
Leanne started nursing in 2010 and joined Uplands Way in 2019. She is particularly interested in canine behaviour, nurse consultations and mentoring.
Leanne has further qualifications in canine behaviour management and exotic nursing, and is a clinical coach for nursing students.
She has two Cavalier King Charles Spaniels called Pumpkin and Peachy and enjoys hand rearing the orphan baby animals that come into the practice.
James Ashfield
Registered Veterinary Nurse
Jamie has been a part of the Uplands Way nursing team since 2018 and has been nursing animals since 2012 in one form or another. A life-long animal lover, Jamie finally took the plunge to dedicate his life to animal care following a year of jungle living in Ecuador, working with injured and traumatised wildlife rescued from the cruel and illegal exotic pet trade.
Unsurprisingly, Jamie has a keen interest in both wildlife and exotic species, be they furred,
feathered or scaled. He is also enthusiastic about quality nursing care and anaesthesia.
Jamie has a lovable old grump of a cat, called Hermione.
Rebecca Davies
Registered Veterinary Nurse
Rebecca joined us in 2018 when she graduated from the Royal Veterinary College. She enjoys all aspects of nursing, however, has a keen interest in exotics, having completed the Advanced Programme of Veterinary Nursing (Small Mammals) recently, with the aim to get her Diploma in Veterinary Nursing of Zoological Species in the next couple of years.
She is also one of our crazy cat ladies, having adopted two kittens that came into our care who keep her hands full when she isn’t at work!
Her hobbies include walks along the beach and spending the weekend under a blanket watching documentaries.
Tempra Walton
Registered Veterinary Nurse
Tempra is an experienced Registered Veterinary Nurse who is proudly part of our dedicated night team, delivering nursing care to hospitalised pets through the night and providing telephone triage and advice to pet owners out of hours.
Tempra joined us in February 2020 after gaining valuable nursing skills working for various animal charity hospitals in London.
Tempra is passionate about continually improving her nursing knowledge and implementing those skills gained to the everyday needs of the animals in her care.
Vikki Saberton
Registered Veterinary Nurse
After studying at Central College of Animal studies, Vikki gained her qualification as a Registered Veterinary Nurse in July 2020.
She joined our night team at Uplands in December 2020 and has been loving the night life! She has an interest in emergency services, patient care and looking after a variety of exotics.
Vikki’s passion for animals has been influenced from her childhood, growing up with a menagerie of pets ranging from snakes, tortoises and lizards to dogs, cats and even goats!
Grace Swatman
Registered Veterinary Nurse
Grace qualified as a Veterinary Nurse in July 2021, she had been working in the industry for 4 years. Prior to her training, she worked as a VCA for one year and before this she spent a few years working at a cattery alongside other Veterinary Nurses.
At home, she enjoys spending time with her three cats – Molly, Louie and Sasha, one of which she managed to obtain through her previous practice! Grace also has a passion for music. She enjoys playing her bass guitar and has played in bands in the past before starting her Veterinary training.
At work, she enjoys all areas of practice, though her favourites areas include medical nursing and emergency and critical care. Grace hopes to one day complete a further qualification in these areas.
Fay Clark
Registered Veterinary Nurse
Fay has been working as a Veterinary Nurse for 7 years, she has recently joined us permanently after finishing a long term locum position. In this time, she has worked night shifts, sole charge shifts, but her favourite shifts are the when she is surrounded by a big team!
Fay has a passion for anaesthesia, puppy socialisation and weight clinics.
Outside of work she can be found training her cocker spaniel, or out socialising with friends over food.
Sara Knights
Registered Veterinary Nurse
She started nursing in 2008 and qualified in both equine and small animal nursing in
2016. Sara then relocated from Hampshire and start expanding her family.
She started working with us in 2018 where she particularly enjoys doing anaesthetics, dealing with the exotics and going out with the equine team. She used to compete her horse in show jumping but now enjoys watching her daughters riding their own miniature Shetland
called Squid and going on family bike rides. She has a motley crew at home of two
cocker spaniels, a rescue cat called ‘Cat’ and a flock of chickens.
Shannon Burdett
Registered Veterinary Nurse
Shannon joined Uplands at the end of 2020 after recently qualifying as a veterinary nurse.She has particular interests in feline nursing, laboratory diagnostics and inpatient care.
Shannon has two rescue cats both acquired from working within veterancy practice, called Pickle and Chutney.
In her spare time, Shannon enjoys gaming, the outdoors and being creative by making one-of-a-kind pieces out of resin.
Amy Howard
Student Veterinary Care Assistant
Amy has been volunteering at Uplands since September 2020 and is now training to be a Veterinary Care Assistant.
When she’s not at the vets she is busy raising her 4 children who ask her hundreds of questions about the animals she encounters at work. She has 3 cats, 3 guinea pigs and 2 rabbits of her own and in her spare time she enjoys walking, gardening, drinking a cup of tea in peace and sleeping.
Rebecca Cornell
Kennel Assistant
Rebecca has been working at Uplands Way Vets for 5 years. She adores cats and has 2 of her own. She also has guinea pigs, hamsters and tropical fish at home which she looks after with the help of her two daughters. She enjoys long walks and meeting friends for coffee.
Client Care Team
Lisa Gager
Client Care Team Manager
Lisa joined us in 2019 having moved up from London after wanting a little more countryside in her life! She has years of experience in managing client care teams and particularly enjoys working with her team to offer a fantastic level of customer service.
At home, she has a large crew of various dogs and cats, including an enormous and soppy English Mastiff and a very naughty pair of spaniels nicknamed ‘The Krays’!
Jane Rackley
Client Care Team
Jane joined the Uplands Way reception team in November 2017. Previously she had worked
for over 10 years at a busy London Vets. She enjoys being on the reception desk, getting to know the clients and their pets. Jane always tries to deliver the best customer service possible.
At home, she loves to spend time with her little rescue chihuahua, Skippy. As Skippy is one of the laziest, and fair-weather dogs ever, they can normally be found curled up on the sofa watching a film. Jane also recycles jewellery to make into earrings, which she brings in and distributes amongst her colleagues.
She regularly enjoys going for a manicure, and her nails are always ‘done’, often with snazzy nail art. One of the things that makes Jane the happiest though, is brightening up someone’s day a little, be it with a helping hand or a slice of her yummy fridge cake, as she knows how hard her colleagues days can be.
Simone Nash
Client Care Team
Simone has been part of the client care team since August 2019, working between both the
Attleborough and Bressingham branches.
Simone has two cats, Bitsie and Thor.
Helen Knighton
Client Care Team
Helen started with Uplands Way in September 2006 at the Stanton branch and transferred to the Bressingham branch in 2020.
Brought up in a farming environment she has always been surrounded by animals. Helen has 4 llamas, a retired racehorse, 10 cows, 2 geese and a cat! One day she hopes to learn how to spin the llama fibre and make something useful!
Stacey Lamb
Client Care Team
Stacey has been at Uplands since October 2017. She has always had a passion for animals. She has previously worked in the equine industry for 9 years and has worked within the veterinary industry as a receptionist for the past 3 years. She loves her job,and her lifelong dream is to become a small animal veterinary nurse.
An interesting fact? She used to live in the USA!
Phoebe Silburn-Cooper
Client Care Team
Phoebe joined Uplands Way in 2020 as part of our Client Care Team. She first started working in the animal care sector in a small animal pharmacy, she hopes one day to be a Veterinary Nurse.
Phoebe has 2 bouncy dogs, Frank the chocolate Labrador and Eric the goldendoodle, she also has a Sulcata tortoise called Pilgrim. When Phoebe isn’t on an adventure with the dogs, she enjoys crocheting and baking.
Ellen Field
Client Care Team & Veterinary Care Assistant
Ellen joined Uplands Way in 2018 as part of our Client Care Team. For the past year Ellen has been working alongside our veterinary nursing team as a student veterinary care assistant and has recently completed her Veterinary Care Assistant course!
Ellen has two rescue cats at home named Tom and Lottie who are both very mischievous. Ellen hopes to one day have a dog to complete the family!
Marta Patajewicz
Client Care Team
Marta joined the client care team in 2021. She recently graduated in her Animal Behaviour degree.
Her main interests are dog behaviour and training. She has a goldendoodle called Bruce who loves mind games and running around in the woods. Bruce goes on every holiday with Marta and her partner, including, Croatia, Poland, and Slovenia! Marta also runs Puppy classes which she loves!
Rebecca Martin
Client Care Team (Equine)
Rebecca joined the equine team in 2020 and has worked in a similar role for the NHS in the past. More recently, she worked for a large equine charity as an equine centre team member.
Rebecca is currently undertaking a History degree alongside her work and in her remaining spare time she can be found at the yard with her horse Malcolm or attending local schools with her dog Benji, a registered Pets As Therapy dog.
Julia Porter
Client Care Team
Julia has many years of experience within the veterinary industry.
Julia worked as a Blood Donor Carer for the NHS. Julia has 2 children and 3 grandsons.
She loves music, reading, riding her bike, and walking her dogs.
Administration/Stock Control
Lisa Robinson
Accounts Assistant
Lisa joined us in 2019 having worked as a veterinary receptionist since 2003. She has years of experience in various aspects of the veterinary world and particularly enjoys solving account queries and insurance claims.
Although she doesn’t currently have any pets, she has two young children that keep her on her toes. Lisa enjoys baking, embroidery and reading in her spare time, if she ever gets five minutes peace!
Margaret Stocker
Pharmacy Assistant
Margaret is our longest standing team member. She has worked for Uplands Way Vets for 23 years!
Margaret runs our pharmacy but had a previous life as a landlady of a public house.
She enjoys escape rooms and the occasional gin and tonic in her spare time.