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News & Reports bva
BVA president highlights the value of working in partnership
The BVA President, Sean Wensley (right), with (from left) Simon Doherty, president of the BVA’s Northern Ireland Branch; William Irwin, chair of the Committee for Agriculture and Rural Development in the Northern Ireland Assembly, who hosted the dinner at Stormont; Robert Huey, Chief Veterinary Officer for Northern Ireland; and Peter Weir, chair of the Northern Ireland Assembly’s All Party Group on Animal Welfare
of a compulsory BVD eradication scheme, Animal Health and Welfare Northern Ireland was working with the Agri-Food and Biosciences Institute to test the robustness, efficiency and effectiveness of a database and the BVA was looking forward to the roll out of BVD control legislation in the very near future. On surveillance, Mr Wensley urged the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (DARD) for Northern Ireland ‘not to follow in the APHA’s footsteps in changing the way Official Veterinarian work is procured’. ‘The role of the private vet as a trusted source of evidence-based advice for farmers in endemic disease control programmes must not be lost in the rush to make cost savings as pressure is placed on government budgets,’ he said. He added that, while it was reassuring that the Omagh surveillance laboratory had been retained, concerns remained about how changes to the surveillance network across the UK and the Republic of Ireland could affect data capture. ‘We must make sure vital data is not being lost. Being able to join the dots of disease is crucially important in our increasingly globalised world. In Northern Ireland we are fortunate to still have our vital local veterinary practice network – and this must be underpinned by an effective, coordinated system of data capture that will enable us to make the links to control new
disease threats, and tackle existing ones.’ Animal welfare was another area where working in partnership had value, said Mr Wensley. ‘In agriculture, for example, I believe strongly in collaborative approaches to finding ways of ensuring humane, sustainable agriculture rewards our farming colleagues for producing safe and accessible food that promotes the long-term health and wellbeing of farmers, farmed animals, the natural environment and all of us as citizens.’ The BVA was in the process of developing an Animal Welfare Strategy in consultation with its members and wider stakeholders. It would be based on the principle of veterinary leadership in animal welfare. However, ‘as well as partnership, we need pragmatism’, he said. The BVA’s Animal Welfare Strategy would allow it to take an evidence-based approach to a range of animal welfare issues, ‘seeking to educate and inform, and help move society towards solutions.’ Mr Wensley ended his speech by mentioning Vet Futures, the joint initiative between the BVA and the RCVS, which was seeking to help the profession shape its own future (see pp 502, 503-504 of this issue). One of the themes captured by the project had been that of veterinary wellbeing. ‘Concerns about mental health can affect vets at different stages of their careers, but we know that recent graduates can struggle during the November 21, 2015 | Veterinary Record | 507
t
THE value of collaboration was emphasised by the BVA President, Sean Wensley, in a speech in Stormont last week. Speaking at the BVA’s annual dinner in Northern Ireland, Mr Wensley highlighted the importance of working together on issues ranging from surveillance and disease eradication to animal welfare and antimicrobial resistance, and to protection of the veterinary nurse title and the future of the veterinary profession. The annual dinner is one of four that the BVA holds in each region of the UK each year. The aim is to bring issues of importance to the veterinary profession to the attention of policymakers, the agriculture industry and others with an interest in animal welfare. Noting that the theme for his presidential year was ‘Vets in the humananimal age’, he said that this recognised that human beings were one animal among many, and also their commonality with animals in terms of shared disease susceptibility and shared capacity to feel. ‘It does so within the concept of One Health, which links and fosters interdisciplinary working on the health and wellbeing of humans, animals and the environment,’ he said. Joint working was key in tackling issues such as antimicrobial resistance, where the BVA was collaborating with the British Medical Association and the British Dental Association to share insights into resistance and on key initiatives such as European Antibiotic Awareness Day on November 18. Highlighting the value of the veterinary team, Mr Wensley said that the BVA and the British Veterinary Nursing Association were supporting the RCVS’s campaign to legally protect the title ‘veterinary nurse’. Veterinary nurses were integral parts of the veterinary team, he said, and deserved recognition of their training and qualifications. Turning to the eradication of bovine brucellosis from Northern Ireland, Mr Wensley said that it was ‘fantastic’ that the collaborative efforts of local vets, farmers and government had been recognised by the award of Officially Brucellosis Free (OBF) status in September. However, continued vigilance and cooperation were needed to maintain the highest standards of biosecurity. A joined-up government, profession and industry approach was also crucial for the delivery of a successful programme to eradicate bovine viral diarrhoea (BVD) from Northern Ireland. As part of the introduction
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t
News & Reports
transition from their support network at vet school into the workplace,’ he said. The BVA was keen to ensure that it continued to offer vital support and representation to recent graduates in the early years of their career. Noting that there was a thriving Young Vet Network group in Northern Ireland, Mr Wensley said that the BVA would build on its success and that of other successful groups to reinvigorate and revitalise the Young Vet Network across the UK. He concluded: ‘It’s hard to overstate the role of vets in society, but I think it is easy to understate it – and speaking to parliamentarians over the course of the past year, more than one has said to me, “I didn’t realise vets were involved in those kind of things!” Vets bring a great deal of value to society and we will keep doing so.’ Robert Huey, the Chief Veterinary Officer for Northern Ireland, delivered a speech on behalf of Michelle O’Neill, the minister for agriculture and rural development, who was unable to attend the dinner. One of the minister’s priorities over the past year had been to engage with the farming industry over the poor prices that farmers were receiving for their produce. Part of the answer was to increase export markets and Mr Huey said he was pleased to report that ‘we are making good headway in attaining even more international 508 | Veterinary Record | November 21, 2015
export markets for our agri-products’. High standards of animal health and veterinary certification underpinned all exports and, as CVO, he emphasised his appreciation for the contribution of all branches of the veterinary profession in this ‘critical and often difficult task’. Establishing new export markets was also dependent on maintaining high animal health status in Northern Ireland. The achievement of OBF status had been the highlight of the past year, he said. ‘The export of our livestock and products, and the further development of the all-island Animal Health strategy, are both dependent upon a robust animal disease and agri-food surveillance system across our livestock sector,’ said Mr Huey. He believed that the maintenance of a veterinary diagnostic service in Omagh was an important link in an all-island surveillance network, and had been reassured by the decision to maintain diagnostic pathologists on site. He announced that, subject to final confirmation of the functionality of the new BVD database mentioned by Mr Wensley, Mrs O’Neill hoped to begin a legislative process in December, which would mean that the compulsory programme should commence ‘in the early part of 2016’. Regarding bovine TB, Mr Huey said that the involvement of all stakeholders in
a united effort to eradicate the disease was essential, and the role of the veterinary profession, both within government and the private sector, was vital. The procurement of TB testing services in Northern Ireland was progressing, he said, and he was pleased that recent changes to EU procurement legislation had provided more flexibility that could potentially be used to simplify and accelerate the process. ‘My intention is that local veterinary practices will continue to be fully involved in providing a high-quality service on their local farms while delivering value for money to the department,’ he said. He also reported that the second year of the ‘Test and Vaccinate or Remove’ badger research project had recently been completed in County Down. ‘This is a five-year project and capture rates of badgers were significantly higher this year than during year one. In total, 341 individual badgers were sampled this year compared to 280 during 2014. Removal of positive badgers commenced this year and all euthanased badgers underwent postmortem and bovine TB culture.’ He added that the results from the tests were not being disclosed so as not to interfere with the scientific integrity of the project. doi: 10.1136/vr.h6195
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BVA president highlights the value of working in partnership Veterinary Record 2015 177: 507-508
doi: 10.1136/vr.h6195 Updated information and services can be found at: http://veterinaryrecord.bmj.com/content/177/20/507
These include:
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To request permissions go to: http://group.bmj.com/group/rights-licensing/permissions To order reprints go to: http://journals.bmj.com/cgi/reprintform To subscribe to BMJ go to: http://group.bmj.com/subscribe/
News & Reports bva
BVA president highlights the value of working in partnership
The BVA President, Sean Wensley (right), with (from left) Simon Doherty, president of the BVA’s Northern Ireland Branch; William Irwin, chair of the Committee for Agriculture and Rural Development in the Northern Ireland Assembly, who hosted the dinner at Stormont; Robert Huey, Chief Veterinary Officer for Northern Ireland; and Peter Weir, chair of the Northern Ireland Assembly’s All Party Group on Animal Welfare
of a compulsory BVD eradication scheme, Animal Health and Welfare Northern Ireland was working with the Agri-Food and Biosciences Institute to test the robustness, efficiency and effectiveness of a database and the BVA was looking forward to the roll out of BVD control legislation in the very near future. On surveillance, Mr Wensley urged the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (DARD) for Northern Ireland ‘not to follow in the APHA’s footsteps in changing the way Official Veterinarian work is procured’. ‘The role of the private vet as a trusted source of evidence-based advice for farmers in endemic disease control programmes must not be lost in the rush to make cost savings as pressure is placed on government budgets,’ he said. He added that, while it was reassuring that the Omagh surveillance laboratory had been retained, concerns remained about how changes to the surveillance network across the UK and the Republic of Ireland could affect data capture. ‘We must make sure vital data is not being lost. Being able to join the dots of disease is crucially important in our increasingly globalised world. In Northern Ireland we are fortunate to still have our vital local veterinary practice network – and this must be underpinned by an effective, coordinated system of data capture that will enable us to make the links to control new
disease threats, and tackle existing ones.’ Animal welfare was another area where working in partnership had value, said Mr Wensley. ‘In agriculture, for example, I believe strongly in collaborative approaches to finding ways of ensuring humane, sustainable agriculture rewards our farming colleagues for producing safe and accessible food that promotes the long-term health and wellbeing of farmers, farmed animals, the natural environment and all of us as citizens.’ The BVA was in the process of developing an Animal Welfare Strategy in consultation with its members and wider stakeholders. It would be based on the principle of veterinary leadership in animal welfare. However, ‘as well as partnership, we need pragmatism’, he said. The BVA’s Animal Welfare Strategy would allow it to take an evidence-based approach to a range of animal welfare issues, ‘seeking to educate and inform, and help move society towards solutions.’ Mr Wensley ended his speech by mentioning Vet Futures, the joint initiative between the BVA and the RCVS, which was seeking to help the profession shape its own future (see pp 502, 503-504 of this issue). One of the themes captured by the project had been that of veterinary wellbeing. ‘Concerns about mental health can affect vets at different stages of their careers, but we know that recent graduates can struggle during the November 21, 2015 | Veterinary Record | 507
t
THE value of collaboration was emphasised by the BVA President, Sean Wensley, in a speech in Stormont last week. Speaking at the BVA’s annual dinner in Northern Ireland, Mr Wensley highlighted the importance of working together on issues ranging from surveillance and disease eradication to animal welfare and antimicrobial resistance, and to protection of the veterinary nurse title and the future of the veterinary profession. The annual dinner is one of four that the BVA holds in each region of the UK each year. The aim is to bring issues of importance to the veterinary profession to the attention of policymakers, the agriculture industry and others with an interest in animal welfare. Noting that the theme for his presidential year was ‘Vets in the humananimal age’, he said that this recognised that human beings were one animal among many, and also their commonality with animals in terms of shared disease susceptibility and shared capacity to feel. ‘It does so within the concept of One Health, which links and fosters interdisciplinary working on the health and wellbeing of humans, animals and the environment,’ he said. Joint working was key in tackling issues such as antimicrobial resistance, where the BVA was collaborating with the British Medical Association and the British Dental Association to share insights into resistance and on key initiatives such as European Antibiotic Awareness Day on November 18. Highlighting the value of the veterinary team, Mr Wensley said that the BVA and the British Veterinary Nursing Association were supporting the RCVS’s campaign to legally protect the title ‘veterinary nurse’. Veterinary nurses were integral parts of the veterinary team, he said, and deserved recognition of their training and qualifications. Turning to the eradication of bovine brucellosis from Northern Ireland, Mr Wensley said that it was ‘fantastic’ that the collaborative efforts of local vets, farmers and government had been recognised by the award of Officially Brucellosis Free (OBF) status in September. However, continued vigilance and cooperation were needed to maintain the highest standards of biosecurity. A joined-up government, profession and industry approach was also crucial for the delivery of a successful programme to eradicate bovine viral diarrhoea (BVD) from Northern Ireland. As part of the introduction
Downloaded from http://veterinaryrecord.bmj.com/ on November 12, 2017 - Published by group.bmj.com
t
News & Reports
transition from their support network at vet school into the workplace,’ he said. The BVA was keen to ensure that it continued to offer vital support and representation to recent graduates in the early years of their career. Noting that there was a thriving Young Vet Network group in Northern Ireland, Mr Wensley said that the BVA would build on its success and that of other successful groups to reinvigorate and revitalise the Young Vet Network across the UK. He concluded: ‘It’s hard to overstate the role of vets in society, but I think it is easy to understate it – and speaking to parliamentarians over the course of the past year, more than one has said to me, “I didn’t realise vets were involved in those kind of things!” Vets bring a great deal of value to society and we will keep doing so.’ Robert Huey, the Chief Veterinary Officer for Northern Ireland, delivered a speech on behalf of Michelle O’Neill, the minister for agriculture and rural development, who was unable to attend the dinner. One of the minister’s priorities over the past year had been to engage with the farming industry over the poor prices that farmers were receiving for their produce. Part of the answer was to increase export markets and Mr Huey said he was pleased to report that ‘we are making good headway in attaining even more international 508 | Veterinary Record | November 21, 2015
export markets for our agri-products’. High standards of animal health and veterinary certification underpinned all exports and, as CVO, he emphasised his appreciation for the contribution of all branches of the veterinary profession in this ‘critical and often difficult task’. Establishing new export markets was also dependent on maintaining high animal health status in Northern Ireland. The achievement of OBF status had been the highlight of the past year, he said. ‘The export of our livestock and products, and the further development of the all-island Animal Health strategy, are both dependent upon a robust animal disease and agri-food surveillance system across our livestock sector,’ said Mr Huey. He believed that the maintenance of a veterinary diagnostic service in Omagh was an important link in an all-island surveillance network, and had been reassured by the decision to maintain diagnostic pathologists on site. He announced that, subject to final confirmation of the functionality of the new BVD database mentioned by Mr Wensley, Mrs O’Neill hoped to begin a legislative process in December, which would mean that the compulsory programme should commence ‘in the early part of 2016’. Regarding bovine TB, Mr Huey said that the involvement of all stakeholders in
a united effort to eradicate the disease was essential, and the role of the veterinary profession, both within government and the private sector, was vital. The procurement of TB testing services in Northern Ireland was progressing, he said, and he was pleased that recent changes to EU procurement legislation had provided more flexibility that could potentially be used to simplify and accelerate the process. ‘My intention is that local veterinary practices will continue to be fully involved in providing a high-quality service on their local farms while delivering value for money to the department,’ he said. He also reported that the second year of the ‘Test and Vaccinate or Remove’ badger research project had recently been completed in County Down. ‘This is a five-year project and capture rates of badgers were significantly higher this year than during year one. In total, 341 individual badgers were sampled this year compared to 280 during 2014. Removal of positive badgers commenced this year and all euthanased badgers underwent postmortem and bovine TB culture.’ He added that the results from the tests were not being disclosed so as not to interfere with the scientific integrity of the project. doi: 10.1136/vr.h6195
Downloaded from http://veterinaryrecord.bmj.com/ on November 12, 2017 - Published by group.bmj.com
BVA president highlights the value of working in partnership Veterinary Record 2015 177: 507-508
doi: 10.1136/vr.h6195 Updated information and services can be found at: http://veterinaryrecord.bmj.com/content/177/20/507
These include:
Email alerting service
Receive free email alerts when new articles cite this article. Sign up in the box at the top right corner of the online article.
Notes
To request permissions go to: http://group.bmj.com/group/rights-licensing/permissions To order reprints go to: http://journals.bmj.com/cgi/reprintform To subscribe to BMJ go to: http://group.bmj.com/subscribe/
