Happy birthday to us!
It is hard to believe that 10 years ago, on the 13th of April 2015 the old VLA laboratory on the Buarth in Aberystwyth re-opened as the WVSC.
Discussions about the closure had started in 2013, and the doors closed in April 2014. The VLA network of laboratories that once boasted 24 laboratories across England and Wales had now been reduced to six. Fortunately for Wales, Carmarthen and Shrewsbury were still open. There were, however, large geographical gaps as Bangor and Cardiff had closed in the 1980s, and Aberystwyth and the facilities at Bristol and Liverpool universities were being closed as VLA centres.
Iechyd Da in conjunction with Aberystwyth University were succcesful in their tender for providing post mortem services for farm animals in December 2014 and we were open for business on 13/4/2015. It was a slow start, February and March are the busiest months for the centre traditionally (and continue to be so), so in terms of a shop opening we had just missed Christmas! But realistically we would not have been ready for that spring rush straight away.
In that first April, we had submissions from two practices, two years later we had engaged with fifty practices. This extended beyond our Surveillance pme contract area as we were now providing CPD and parastitology tests. Our reach extended even further in 2016 when we got our accreditation for BVD serological testing.
What grew out of the map of closed centres was now a new veterinary surveillance landscape:
The continued services of Carmarthen and Shrewsbury APHA laboratories.
Bristol and Liverpool universities now ran their centres as part of their University facilities.
A carcase collection service was started that covered the areas that were beyond an hour’s drive from the nearest centres, vastly improving the coverage for the north west and south east of Wales.
The opening of the WVSC in Aberystwyth.
All of these services work closely with Welsh Government and DEFRA and would not exist without their valued support.
In the subsequent years, Aberystwyth University started their veterinary bioscience degree course, then the joint veterinary degree programme with the RVC started in 2021 and the vet nursing degree course in 2024.
So the Welsh veterinary landscape has changed drastically, and it would be strange to think of it now without these new services and facilities. But all of these institutions face challenges to their existence on a regular basis, such is the economic and political backdrop these days.
So, we can not afford to be complacent. But we can, at this moment, just take a breath and say:
Many happy returns of the day, and thanks for all of your support.
