AHVLA has announced the providers of subsidised post-mortem examinations, which will help veterinarians with diagnostic work from 1^st September. The government animal health agency made the announcement on Monday, when three providers will begin work with AHVLA.  

The private sector providers will take some of the workload from AHLVA, which has been subject to spending cuts. The privatisations are part of an ongoing process that will come into effect gradually throughout this year.

Under the new regime, seven of AHVLA's labs around the country are to close this year, with an eighth (Winchester) expected to follow in 2015.

AHVLA said its "wider scanning surveillance network" will include the agency itself, the wider veterinary profession and the livestock industry, as part of a "new approach to [improve] access to diagnostic support for private veterinary businesses and enhance scanning surveillance" to detect new and re-emerging disease threats.  

The agency said the changes will enhance surveillance, by facilitating the sharing of information between Universities and private vets, who will shoulder more of the burden for surveillance work. Along with a new funded carcase collection and transport service to serve areas more than one hour from a PME centre, AHVLA said this will mean more farms are now within reach of good surveillance and diagnostic sites.

However, in December the British veterinary Association warned that the privatisations must enhance surveillance, rather than merely cutting costs, and suggested that the reformed surveillance regime "appears to make a lot of assumptions that will need to be tested."

BVA president Robin Hargreaves said at the time, "We have said repeatedly that any changes to the veterinary scanning surveillance system must not be based on cost alone. The cost of disease outbreak far outweighs the cost of providing a robust surveillance system."

"Some of the initial challenges we have identified are that the changes must not create a disincentive for farmers to utilise [post-mortem] services… and we need to be sure that there isn't a loss of veterinary expertise at AHVLA."

Although vets could stand to reap financial rewards from the subsidised surveillance work, groups had expressed reservations over the lack of private sector providers to come forward, suggesting this could weaken the country's response to disease threats. Staff at AHVLA – where 600 people have lost their jobs and budgets have been cut by £18m in the past four years – have also expressed concern over the direction of government reforms.

AHVLA's six remaining labs will now be supplemented by:

• The Royal Veterinary College – serving areas of East England
• SAC Consulting Veterinary Services – serving areas in North East England
• The University of Bristol – serving areas of South West England
• The University of Surrey – serving the East Midlands and South East and parts of the East, South West and North West England.

Three new providers will begin providing post-mortems and other services from September (RVC, SAC Consulting Veterinary Services and the University of Bristol), with the University of Surrey (relying on local facilities across its large catchment) beginning work in autumn or winter 2014/15.