Top European diplomat Andrea Holmes joins growing team of specialists at Paragon

We are delighted to announce that we have recruited a top European diplomate to join our specialist-led team.

Andrea Holmes, a specialist in small animal medicine, has joined the team at Paragon Referrals.

The former England youth team basketball star is aiming high after returning from Australia to work in her native Yorkshire at the £5m, state-of-the-art referral centre and animal hospital.

Andrea, who graduated from Bristol University in 2011 and became a specialist in 2017, said: “I’m so pleased to be returning to my beautiful home county of Yorkshire and joining the brilliant team at Paragon Referrals.

“Internal medicine will be my key area and my main interests are infectious diseases and postgraduate clinical teaching.

“Paragon is a multi-disciplinary centre with amazing facilities and a committed caring staff. It really is a centre of excellence on all levels.”

Andrea represented England youth at basketball between 2000 and 2002, starring in tournaments in Hungary and Italy, and her passion for sport is still high on her list of priorities.

She added: “Now I’m back home I’m looking to join a triathlon club and will attempt to master the ukulele, which I recently began playing.”

Paragon Referrals managing director, Ian Monteith, welcomed the appointment, saying: “Andrea is the fifth high-calibre specialist addition we’ve made in the past six months which illustrates our dedication to delivering the highest level of care and treatment to our patients.

“Paragon is a new centre but we have invested heavily in the most advanced specialist equipment available within veterinary science.

“We are now rapidly expanding our team of top specialists, highly-qualified nurses and support staff to complement the facilities fully and to provide an excellent caring and compassionate service across all levels and disciplines.”

Andrea joins fellow specialists Sophie Adamantos (emergency and critical care), Mickey Tivers (soft tissue surgery), Turlough O’Neill (orthopaedics) and Rodney Ayl (oncology) at Paragon.