APHA has awarded two of the contracts to deliver veterinary services and bovine TB testing across the two Welsh regions.

From 1st April 2015 all new TB testing and other Official Veterinarian (OV) work in Wales will be undertaken by two 'delivery partners': Menter a Busnes in the North and Iechyd Da (Gwledig) Ltd in the South.

However, Tuesday's announcement was due earlier in January, and the Animal Health office admitted that the awarding of contracts for the English regions has been delayed further. APHA said it is "not yet in a position" to award the contracts for England's five regions, as an unsuccessful bidder has issued legal proceedings, understood to be related to rules on competition between providers.    

Commenting on the new contracts on Tuesday, APHA's Veterinary Director Simon Hall said the move in Wales "Will improve our ability to detect disease through on farm testing and protect animal health."

He said the new regime will not undermine the importance of local vets, adding, "The new arrangements provide higher levels of assurance about quality of testing and value for money. 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."

On 20th January, the British Veterinary Association wrote to APHA to demand an update on the tender process. BVA said its member vets have expressed concerns about the tendering of OV work, including the potential impacts of a competitive bidding process that has driven down the cost of providing veterinary and testing services. BVA was seeking assurances that the new process will provide "A level of remuneration that allows for sustainable delivery."

Association President and cattle vet John Blackwell said last week, "BVA argued strongly against the move towards tendering for OV services, reflecting member concerns about how tenders awarded to companies outside of a local practice area could affect the critical relationship between local vets and their farming clients, as well as the impact on rural practices.

"BVA's position and member concerns have not altered and we will follow the outcomes of the tender very closely, continuing to argue for local veterinary expertise at the point of delivery, which is so important for disease prevention and detection."

From April, farmers and livestock keepers in Wales will continue to be responsible for ensuring that TB testing is completed on time but in future will need to contact their regional Delivery Partner to make the arrangements. Delivery Partners will then have to allocate the actual testing activity through their network of practices.

The Animal Health agency added that new contracts will require delivery partners to offer testing work to eligible local veterinary practices, "In recognition of the important relationship between farmers or livestock keepers and their vets in preventing and controlling disease."

The three year contracts announced today could be extend up to a further 2 years, APHA said.

Work that has already been assigned to Official Veterinarian (OV) practices under existing arrangements will be completed by those practices but from 1st April all new work will be undertaken by delivery partners. APHA said farmers arranging tests can express a preference to use a specific vet from within the Delivery Partner's network.

Farmers and livestock keepers can opt to use a veterinary practice that is not part of their Delivery Partner's network, but will have to pay for testing privately.

Commenting on Tuesday, Rob Davies, President of the BVA in Wales, added, "The BVA has argued that the outcome of the OV tendering process should not result in local vets no longer delivering the service to their clients. We hope the APHA continue to recognise that local vets are essential to delivering reliable and effective OV services.

 
"However we still maintain that the delivery of OV services must not be driven by cost savings. It is essential that the remuneration that local trusted practices receive reflects the expertise and quality of the service they deliver."