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APHA awards contracts for TB testing in Wales THE APHA announced on January 27 that it had awarded two contracts for the supply of TB testing and other Official Veterinarian (OV) services in Wales. However, it said, it was not yet in a position to award contracts in England as an unsuccessful tenderer had issued legal proceedings. It said the matter was currently being addressed and remained confidential. From April 1 this year, all new TB testing and other OV work in Wales will be undertaken by two regional Delivery Partners. Menter a Busnes has been awarded the contract for services in the Wales North region, while Iechyd Da (Gwledig) will deliver services in the Wales South region. The contracts are for a three-year period, with the option of extending them for up to a further two years. Describing the awarding of the contracts as a significant milestone in modernising the APHA’s partnership with the veterinary profession in Wales, Simon Hall, the APHA’s veterinary director, said that they would ‘improve our ability to detect disease through farm testing and protect animal health’. ‘The new arrangements provide higher levels of assurance about quality of testing and value for money,’ he said. ‘Testing will continue to be performed by fully qualified vets and APHA will carry on working in close partnership with the veterinary profession. Local veterinary practices have always made an invaluable contribution to

national disease control programmes and this new arrangement underlines the critical role they will continue to play in protecting animal health and welfare.’ Menter a Busnes is a not-for-profit organisation that provides support and advice to individuals and groups who want to start or develop businesses. Its director of development, Eirwen Williams, said: ‘We will be working with Milfeddygon Gogledd Cymru which includes 27 local vet practices in North Wales. Winning this contract will mean a continuation of service to farmers and secures many veterinary jobs within the local practices, which make an important contribution to the rural economy. Our aim is to provide an efficient, high quality service and we will be working in close partnership with APHA and the veterinary profession.’ Iechyd Da is a consortium of independent veterinary practices based in Wales. It was recently awarded a contract by the APHA for the delivery of postmortem examination services in Wales (VR, January 3, 2015, vol 176, p 5). Under the terms of the contracts, the Delivery Partners will be responsible for allocating testing activity through a network of practices; they are obliged to offer testing work to eligible veterinary businesses operating within their geographical regions. Farmers and livestock keepers will be able to express a preference to use a specific veterinary practice from within the Delivery

Partner’s network and the APHA says that this preference ‘will be honoured where possible’. The Delivery Partners will be responsible for assuring the quality of the work performed. The APHA says that work that has already been assigned to OV practices under existing arrangements will be completed by those practices but that, from April 1, all new work will be undertaken by the Delivery Partners. It says it will be working with both partners to establish plans for the transition of the arrangements and also for communicating what the changes mean in detail. It will also be working to ensure that the livestock industry and veterinary profession are given information and support in preparing for the introduction of the new processes. The BVA welcomed the announcement that both Delivery Partners will involve a large number of local farm practices in the delivery of OV services. John Blackwell, the BVA President, commented: ‘We have consistently opposed the decision to move to a system of tendering for OV services and we have pushed for any new system to ensure the vital relationship between farmers and their local vets is not adversely affected. We are therefore pleased that local practitioners have worked together to bid and ultimately win the two lots in Wales.’ doi: 10.1136/vr.h512

January 31, 2015 | Veterinary Record | 109

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APHA awards contracts for TB testing in Wales Veterinary Record 2015 176: 109

doi: 10.1136/vr.h512 Updated information and services can be found at: http://veterinaryrecord.bmj.com/content/176/5/109.2

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APHA awards contracts for TB testing in Wales.

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