Provision of Contingency Official Veterinarians ("COV") Services in Scotland

Supporting Scotland's Response to Exotic Animal Disease Outbreaks

The Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) is seeking support from vet practices across Scotland to help respond to outbreaks of exotic notifiable and reportable animal diseases, including Avian Influenza (AI) and Bluetongue (BT).

During disease outbreaks, APHA often requires additional veterinary capacity to undertake field-based disease control activities such as farm visits, clinical inspections, examinations and sampling. We recognise the invaluable local knowledge and expertise held by veterinary practices across Scotland and would like to work with practices to strengthen Scotland's ability to respond quickly and effectively when outbreaks occur.

We intend to invite interested practices to join a framework that would allow APHA to call upon veterinary resource within your local area when additional support is needed.

Before designing this framework, we are interested to hear from vet practices in Scotland about how you think we can best work together. We are inviting you to:

1. Submit written feedback to us by Fri 16th October.
2. Join one of our engagement sessions (via Microsoft Teams), during which we will present our draft plans for the framework. The time has yet to be agreed, but we propose either 7pm Wed 28th Oct or 12:30 pm Fri 30th Oct allowing you to engage with us over lunch or after practice hours. If you wish to attend, please let us know which time works best for you.

Below, we provide further information regarding the services, and describe the areas on which we are keen to hear your thoughts about how we can best work together.

Training and Support

Any vets deployed through this arrangement will receive comprehensive training before undertaking outbreak work. Practices can decide which members of their team receive training and make themselves available for deployment; there is no requirement for all vets within a practice to participate.

APHA will provide disease-specific training and ongoing support. Deployed vets will be briefed before each assignment and supported by experienced APHA colleagues throughout the process. Practice principals and senior vets will not be expected to supervise these visits or provide the training themselves.

APHA will reimburse participating vets for the time spent completing the required training.

Flexible Participation

The framework will operate on a best endeavours basis, recognising that private veterinary work remains your priority and that staffing availability can vary significantly between practices.

While we hope practices will support disease control activities wherever possible, there is no obligation to release staff when operational pressures make this difficult. Participation in the framework does not guarantee deployment, nor does it commit practices to providing resource on every occasion.

When additional veterinary support is required, APHA will contact practices within the relevant geographical area to determine availability and arrange deployment.

Contract and Payment

We are open to considering a range of pricing models to provide these services. For example: (1) practices could submit pricing to us, we would then award work to practices that represent the best value for money for a specific requirement; (2) we could use the OV19(S) hourly rates; or (3) you could propose other models for our consideration.

Travel and Expenses

Deployed vets will be required to hold a valid UK driving licence and have access to a practice or personal vehicle. We propose that travel and subsistence expenses will be reimbursed in line with APHA's published rates.

Working Together to Protect Scottish Livestock

Scotland's geography presents unique challenges for animal health and disease control. The remote nature of many farming communities means that local veterinary practices play a vital role in protecting livestock health and supporting farmers.

By working together, APHA and private veterinary practices can strengthen Scotland's disease response capability, helping to safeguard animal health, protect rural livelihoods, and support Scottish farming communities when they need it most.

We hope you will consider joining this important initiative.

If your practice would like to learn more, please contact Tom Redfearn, tom.redfearn@defra.gov.uk, provide feedback regarding how we can best work together, and join one of our online information sessions.

NOTE ON VALUE: a £ 1mn contract value is advertised to allow for a large disease outbreak that would require significant resources to manage. We however expect to spend in the region of £25,000 per year.