TB testing and the future of OV work

Re: TB testing and the future of OV work

Julian Earl — Thu, 29 Sep 2011 18:52:24 GMT

[quote user="Jill Nute"]

...Things to note, tendering is not yet a done deal, the
Minister will get the results of this exercise then make a decision, ?
Oct/November time, IF tendering is to happen, best estimates from defra is that
the work up for the documentation will take about 6 months, then there has to be
a 2 stage process, first the pre Qualifying process, which will take a minimum
of app 30 days, during which interested parties get their applications in, then
there will be a sift to provide a shortlist, which depending on applicants could
take a month or more, then a second tender round when those successful in the
first round then compete on prices/lots etc. Minimum time for this is app 30
days, so realistically if Minister says yes, expect process to start in earnest
next May, & could be completed about Sept ish, start date & other details would
be contained in tender details. [/quote]

So what happened to the expected completion date for all this last year? Are the Government and Defra being indecisive or has it proved more complicated than they expected?

If the lattter, then they could always just let practices do it as we have been doing - and pay us a proper rate while they're doing so - and forget all this middle-man stuff, because...

[quote user="Jill Nute"]

...Impressions are that the lot sizes have to be decided, & could be more sensible
to go for larger areas ( FSA are down to 6 in their OV tender for the whole of
GB currently) & this might be more attractive to practices/practitioners, who
would be seen as subcontractors working for a Delivery Partner (DP)who has made
prior agreements with them to provide OV services, the DP providing the
management system, training, Quality assurance & complaints handling.Alot of
questions unanswerable at present but at least the SW made some very valid
points to the AH team, CVO was present. Also helpful to note
there will be some additonal presentation meetings, these will probably not have
the group sessions, but wiil allow more folk to listen as well as see the
material & contribute, VERY important to do the on line feed back if you really
want to get your point across. Don't know about other areas, but looks like
Truro on 11 Oct for Cornwall OVs who couldn't make it today.

[/quote]

Delivery partners are going to want a cut, meaning that the Government who want to spend less than they currently do will be paying this lesser amount to a Delivery partner who will take their percentage in turn leaving even less for the practices doing the work. So, as many (all?) of us know, the Government are simply not bothered about getting TB sorted as it is, and I quote, "not a human health problem". They clearly would like the farming industry to sort it out themselves despite the fact that they have been obstructive about proper control and have thereby left us in the mess we are in now.

Re: TB testing and the future of OV work

Hannah Wynne Richards — Thu, 29 Sep 2011 18:21:30 GMT

Jill A few less abrieviations,and your letter might have made more sense

Wynne

Re: TB testing and the future of OV work

plantagenet — Thu, 29 Sep 2011 14:32:57 GMT

We have till 7th October to give our views - please make sure what happens represents the views of the whole profession.

Arlo can you do a link?

Re: TB testing and the future of OV work

mariette asselbergs — Thu, 22 Sep 2011 21:24:55 GMT

It is true and we were shocked that we were not even invited or informed. We are a small large animal practice, but through conscientious work we have detected 8 anergic animals keeping TB going over 3 years. We are dedicated to combat TB but AHVLA is only interested to go through the motions of testing in the cheapest possible way. This means lots of holes in the system, and no interest to address them. Although I hope NADIS wins the tender, its approach "keeping the status quo" is in itself no hopeful solution for the TB problems.

Re: TB testing and the future of OV work

Jill Nute — Thu, 22 Sep 2011 20:24:49 GMT

Attended the Exeter meeting today, useful exchange of information, presentations
are on defra website, but more important is the accompanying oral info, some
group work & feedback. Things to note, tendering is not yet a done deal, the
Minister will get the results of this exercise then make a decision, ?
Oct/November time, IF tendering is to happen, best estimates from defra is that
the work up for the documentation will take about 6 months, then there has to be
a 2 stage process, first the pre Qualifying process, which will take a minimum
of app 30 days, during which interested parties get their applications in, then
there will be a sift to provide a shortlist, which depending on applicants could
take a month or more, then a second tender round when those successful in the
first round then compete on prices/lots etc. Minimum time for this is app 30
days, so realistically if Minister says yes, expect process to start in earnest
next May, & could be completed about Sept ish, start date & other details would
be contained in tender details. One useful thing was the links to the websites
where you can see what tender docs look like, as the EU Journal website is
difficult to access for the PDFs. These will be sent out in an OV newsletter,
but if interested try contractsfinder.businesslink.co.uk or
defra.bravosolution.co.uk but you have to register to log in for the latter.
Impressions are that the lot sizes have to be decided, & could be more sensible
to go for larger areas ( FSA are down to 6 in their OV tender for the whole of
GB currently) & this might be more attractive to practices/practitioners, who
would be seen as subcontractors working for a Delivery Partner (DP)who has made
prior agreements with them to provide OV services, the DP providing the
management system, training, Quality assurance & complaints handling.Alot of
questions unanswerable at present but at least the SW made some very valid
points to the AH team, CVO was present. Also helpful to note
there will be some additonal presentation meetings, these will probably not have
the group sessions, but wiil allow more folk to listen as well as see the
material & contribute, VERY important to do the on line feed back if you really
want to get your point across. Don't know about other areas, but looks like
Truro on 11 Oct for Cornwall OVs who couldn't make it today. Also picked up that
all is not clear on the possible VLA closures, & we should be getting letters
from the CEO explaining more, Prospect Trade Union may have jumped the gun &
not got all the facts straight. Hope this helps, cheers, Jill

Re: TB testing and the future of OV work

plantagenet — Thu, 22 Sep 2011 14:54:17 GMT

Is it true that there were only 3 x 50 delagate meetings for the whole country - was there something to hide?

Re: TB testing and the future of OV work

Michael Woodhouse — Thu, 22 Sep 2011 11:12:16 GMT

Bob is right. Last night went to a meeting at our local (AH)VLA (Thirsk) and a chap from above came to explain their various decisions; closing two of the labs at the busiest centres! We will be left at Thirsk with a big building a few people to answer the phone and 5 vets rattling about. How long is that going to last for?

The government will be very sorry when Foot and Mouth comes back.

Re: TB testing and the future of OV work

Bob Russell — Thu, 22 Sep 2011 10:04:18 GMT

Without the background workload that testing brings many practices will lose track of farm clients (how many are only seen for testing?). This move is a disaster for farm practice in the long run and nobody in government is at all worried about the big picture.

I think it should be made very clear to Animal Health that the profession is unlikely to be in a position to help when the next FMD outbreak arises because there will be few experienced vets to do the work. The potential to destroy the farm vet profession as we know it by leaving it in the hands of a few large groups is real, for the sake of a relatively insignificant saving in the grand scheme of things.

Not sure they are bothered!

Re: TB testing and the future of OV work

Alan Tevendale — Wed, 21 Sep 2011 20:41:33 GMT

I think this is one of the biggest issues to face large animal and mixed practice in many years. I've heard strong rumours about certain practices looking to tender for a significant portion of the country which I agree would almost certainly lead to corporitzation of the sector. The only solution I've seen so far that would help practices as they stand at the moment is the potential bid from NADIS - for the whole country which would then subcontract out to individual practices.

Even if this were to happen however I think that we may find that we are having to do the same or more work for less money. Practice partners/principles are going to have to think very hard about what they are going to do here.

Re: TB testing and the future of OV work

plantagenet — Wed, 21 Sep 2011 10:58:56 GMT

This could be a disaster for small, large animal and mixed practices economically - or all large animal practices, if tenders come from outside practice.

I am not happy with the conflict of interests that will arise if practice are doing government work for their own clients.

I don't think we will be geared up for the unexpected and I think costs will go up.

This is going to lead to the corporitization of LA practice, alas.

Vets need to read these proposals very carefully and respond - don't let apathy make the decision.

There are a lot of vets employed in Animal Health and the VLA at the moment who presumably will face redundancy.