APHA awards all five contracts to one veterinary group
The APHA has officially confirmed that all five contracts for TB testing in England have been awarded to XL Farmcare.
As of May 1, 2015, all new TB testing and other official veterinarian (OV) work will be carried out by five regional suppliers, all of whom belong to the same veterinary group.
The regional delivery partners will be responsible for allocating work to local vets and ensuring a high standard of testing. APHA says this will help to improve standards and ensure ongoing quality of testing for animal diseases.
The successful delivery partners for each region are:
South West 1 - XL Farmcare Devon and Cornwall Ltd
South West 2 - XL Farmcare Wessex Ltd
South East - XL Farmcare South East Ltd
Midlands - XL Farmcare Midlands Ltd
North - XL Farmcare North Ltd
In future, farmers and livestock keepers will need to contact their regional delivery partner to organise TB testing. These partners will then allocate work through a network of eligible local veterinary practices.
Farmers and livestock keepers may express a preference for a specific veterinary practice within this network and APHA says this preference will be taken into account where possible. Those who wish to use a practice that is not included in this network will have to pay for the test privately.
Recently, Xperior Farm Health launched a legal challenge against Defra and its responsible agency, APHA, for its decision to award all five contracts to a single veterinary group.
Xperior, who put in a bid for the contract, said they were concerned the accepted bids were "unfeasibly low" and could result in a seriously reduced quality of service for farmers and pose a threat to the viability of many rural veterinary practices.
However, the group said it had to withdraw the legal challenges due to the "aggressive timetable" set by Defra for building a case.
Revealing the news, APHA said each of the delivery partners is a "distinct business entity".
Commenting on the award of contracts, the agency's veterinary director, Simon Hall, said: “This new partnership with the veterinary industry will modernise the way we deliver key services such as bovine TB testing and improve our ability to detect disease and protect animal health.
“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.”
Two independent vets have launched a podcast to help owners strengthen their bond with pets. Dr Maggie Roberts and Dr Vanessa Howie, who have worked in both veterinary practice and major charities, are keen to use their experience to enable people to give pets a better life.
