Soft Tissue Surgery

Henry L’Eplattenier was born and grew up in Neuchâtel, in the French-speaking region of Switzerland. He studied at Bern University, then worked for the pharmaceutical company Ciba-Geigy in Basle (now part of Novartis) as a doctoral student in the Toxicology Department, where he completed a Swiss doctorate on nephrotoxicity testing of drugs using cell cultures.

Henry worked in large animal practice for one year in the beautiful and rural Jura mountains just south of Basle, before joining the Small Animal Hospital at Zurich University. He spent four years there and completed his specialist training in Small Animal Surgery under the supervision of Prof Pierre Montavon (the inventor of the Zurich Cementless Hip Prosthesis for dogs).

He obtained his Diploma of the European College of Veterinary Surgeons (ECVS) in 1998, then emigrated from Switzerland and moved to Oslo, Norway to live with his partner. After learning Norwegian, he joined the Norwegian Veterinary College as an assistant professor in Small Animal Surgery. In 2001, Henry was offered a position as a soft tissue surgeon at Utrecht University. He spent the next 5 years as a lecturer in Utrecht, where he was mainly responsible for the Small Animal urology consultations and operations.

Henry left Utrecht University to join VRCC in 2006, where he is a consultant surgeon and head of Surgery. In 2008 he was also made a director of the clinic. In 2009, Henry obtained his PhD from Utrecht University for the research on prostate cancer in dogs that he conducted while he was a lecturer there.

Henry has been involved in the Examination Committee of the ECVS and has also been a member of the Board of the ECVS. In 2015 he was elected President-Elect and is now the President of the ECVS. Henry was made Clinical Director in December 2016 when VRCC joined the Linnaeus Group and became Southfields Veterinary Specialists.

Esteban graduated in Barcelona in 2002, then spent 3 years working in the veterinary teaching hospital of the University of Barcelona, during which he completed a rotating internship. This enabled him to start a residency programme in small animal surgery just outside Paris, under the supervision of Dr Jean-François Bardet. He obtained his ECVS Diploma in 2014 and has worked as a Specialist in Surgery in referral centres in the UK and Spain.

He joined Southfields Veterinary Specialists in 2017 and has an interest in both orthopaedic and soft tissue (including minimally invasive) surgery.

Naomi graduated from the Veterinary School of Alfort (Paris, France) in 2011. After working in private practice for a year in Paris, she completed a surgical internship in the University of Tokyo (Japan). Then, Naomi moved to the UK, and after working in first opinion practice in Wiltshire, she completed a rotating internship in the University of Bristol and a locum internship in soft tissue surgery in the University of Liverpool.

In 2015 Naomi started a 3 year residency program in surgery at the University of Liege (Belgium).

In August 2018 Naomi returned to the UK after completing her residency. She locumed for the University of Bristol before coming to Southfields

Naomi has a dog, a cat as well as poison dart frogs and alpine newts. She enjoys cooking and going to see her family in France or in Japan

Veronica graduated from the University of Santiago de Compostela (Spain) in 2010. After a year as a small animal intern at the same university hospital she moved to the UK where she spent two years working in small animal general practice in Edinburgh and Cheshire. In 2015 she moved back to Scotland where she completed a general internship, followed by a six-month surgical internship at the University of Glasgow. Two years working in general practice in Liverpool and London enabled her to attain a Postgraduate Certificate in Small Animal Surgery in 2018. She then completed a 12-month orthopaedic internship at the University of Liverpool before joining Southfields Veterinary Specialists in July 2020.

Outside work, Veronica enjoys travelling, socializing with friends, cycling and when time allows, the odd salsa and bachata dance class.

Alexandra graduated from the Veterinary Medicine University of Cluj-Napoca, Romania in 2012. Following her graduation, Alexandra relocated to the UK and has since worked in various first opinion practices and then undertook a rotating internship at a referral hospital in Hampshire. After her rotating internship, Alexandra completed an orthopaedic internship in Surrey. Alexandra thoroughly enjoys all aspects of small animal surgery and has a particular interest in orthopaedics, use of 3D models in surgical planning and minimally invasive procedures.

Outside of work, Alexandra enjoys countryside and beach walks with her husband and Ivy her dog, a good cup of tea and fluffy cat cuddles with Oscar the cat. She also enjoys keeping fit and weight training when possible.

Leanne studied Art and Design at college but after a short while, she decided that she wanted a career working with animals. Leanne began by volunteering in a cattery before she took up the role as trainee veterinary nurse at a local practice in 2000. After three years of studying and working within a first opinion, ophthalmology referral and exotic referral practice, Leanne qualified with Merit. Leanne joined our nursing team in 2007 and loves all aspects of referral nursing, but has a special interest in surgery.

Leanne has a cat called Minstrel and a rather large collection of creepy crawlies. She lives with her husband and her little boy.