ABS
Approved Blood Samplers
Please ensure that any lay person, including ATTs must have completed their training and have attained full authorisation as Approved Blood Samplers (ABS) before carrying out unsupervised blood sampling.
PhD applications are open
Interested in doing a PhD in this rapidly evolving and groundbreaking subject-take a look!
As part of Iechyd Da’s commitment to The University of Liverpool’s FAVSNET project(our ADGC workstream on practice syndromic surveillance ), Iechyd Da have part sponsored a PhD with the institution.
How can artificial intelligence and data science be used to complement / augment trusted veterinary professionals to improve understanding of farm animal health and disease
About the Project
Much of farm animal surveillance currently relies on passive reporting of notifiable diseases by owners and vets alike, passive surveillance of samples submitted to laboratories, and active surveillance of diseases like bovine tuberculosis. This leaves a gap in our understanding of population-level disease, namely what is being seen in primary veterinary care and on farm.
Most veterinary surgeons now manage their clinical records digitally; these electronic health records (EHRs) represent a research and surveillance opportunity. In animal health, use of EHRs is best developed in companion animals where digitisation of individual animal health records is most complete.
As part of a wider programme of work focussing on understanding and mitigating AMR in Wales (Arwain DGC), we have been piloting the ethics and usability of collecting EHR data from a sentinel network of farm animal practices in Wales (FAVSNET).
Changes to UK Farmcare audit approach
As you will be aware the UK Farmcare TB Tester audits have always been based on a collaborative approach with both TB Tester and auditor working together to ensure the SICCT test for bTB is being carried out to the highest standards possible. If we have arrived on farm and seen any issues with testing, we have always aimed to discuss these with the TB Tester so any necessary changes can be implemented before we begin the marked section of the audit, where penalty points are applied if non-compliances are still present.
APHA have instructed us that from the 1st of January 2026 we must change this approach so that any non-adherence to any aspect of the TB Testing Standard Operating Procedures at any stage of the audit will be documented and penalty points awarded.
This will be outlined in an APHA OV Briefing Note in due course, but we wanted to let all our OV’s know as soon as possible so they can begin preparing for this change. We are in the process of changing our audit materials and manuals to reflect this change ahead of the 1st of January deadline. We are also considering how we can best work with OV’s to minimise the impact of this. We appreciate in particular the implications for OVs wishing to supervise new ATTs as any non-compliance will mean an OV has to be re-audited with a fully compliant outcome before they can take on this role, a risk which we have flagged to APHA.
We will issue further guidance and updated audit materials in the very near future before implementation in January but for now we wanted to communicate the reason for this change to you as quickly as possible.
Catch up
OV Meeting review
Thank you to the OV’s that managed to join our OV meeting on the 12th.
There was a lot of useful information provided from all speakers. For ease the presentations from the day can be found below. If you wish to watch the recording then please contact the office and the link will be forwarded to you.
If you have any problems when registering for the AHIC then please email AHIC@mentera.cymru
UK Farmcare audit report
UK Farmcare’s annual OV audit report 1 September 2024 to 31 August 2025.
UK Farmcare report that during the 12 months ending 31 August 2025 a total of 201 OV audits were completed, 71% of these being unannounced.
It is good to note that 183 (91%) of these audits were fully compliant, and the non compliances recorded in the remaining 18 audits were relatively minor and did not affect the validity of the tests concerned.
The most commonly recorded non compliance concerned hygiene e.g. dirty protective clothing and/or equipment; failure to cleanse and disinfect on arrival or on leaving; unaware of the correct dilution rate of the disinfectant being used.
A link to Defra’s Approved Disinfectants is provided below. Please ensure that you are conversant with the required dilution rates for the disinfectant you are using for Tuberculosis Orders.
Dewin Downtime
Please note that DEWIN will not be available from 5pm on Tuesday 2nd December until 9am Wednesday 3rd December. This is due to a scheduled update to our servers.
