09 Jun Thanks

XL Farmcare would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone involved in the on-going delivery of TB testing and other statutory surveillance services for continuing to serve their farm clients during such challenging times. We are under no illusion that the needs of your farm clients are what motivate you most and understand very clearly how challenging it can be to accommodate some of the bureaucratic burdens that can be placed on a practice when attempts are made to continue to ensure full compliance with every aspect of service delivery. This includes both the obligation to be observed by the team of field auditors and also the adherence to the online and paper-based systems of recording all activity. Without exception, all APHA management staff have asked that we pass on their personal thanks for the very high standards of service quality that are delivered day-in and day-out by everyone involved. That includes all support staff who plan the testing work and help the OVs in each
practice ensure that work is submitted in a timely fashion. During the twelve months to the end of March 2020, veterinary practices testing on farms in England submitted results for over 6 ½ million animals tested in just under 63,000 test schedules. On only 1.6% of occasions were those schedules submitted outside the strict timelines required under the terms of the service agreement. This meant that no contractual penalties were ever imposed throughout the course of the year. Because the VDP TB testing contract is one of Defra’s most important and expensive, these performance standards are intended to become included with a few publicly published ‘key performance indicators’ that will help to assure the public that significant government contracts are being managed responsibly. The veterinary community should be justifiably proud of the fact that they have been able to maintain such a high a standard of performance against a background of severe strains on veterinary manpower.