We wanted to give you a summary of what we’ve put in place to tackle Corona-virus. As you know, the situation has developed quickly, but we are working hard to develop the systems and processes in place to enable us to be able to continue our service to you, even with limited team members if we get to that point. We will all be working together to continue to look after your farm and your animals:
- Our field-based teams are working at home and going straight to farm from there instead of the practices
- Our support team are working from home on a rota basis to minimise the number of people in the practice
- We’re now actively restricting access to the practices in order to maintain social distancing
TB testing is still regarded as a critical task, however the 2 metre distancing requirement must continue to be observed at all times during the test. There are times when this can be particularly difficult, for example, when testing young stock and when there isn’t a suitable crush present. We have internally been discussing measures we can put in place in order to complete tests safely. If the social distancing rule cannot be adhered to throughout all parts of the test, we will have to leave the test incomplete:
To ensure the safety of you and our vets, APHA will support the decision to leave a test incomplete if it is not possible to safely maintain a 2 metre distance. We have also clarified with APHA that farmers will receive an amnesty on financial penalties if the test must be postponed, rearranged, or abandoned directly due to COVID-19. (For more information on this, please speak to our vets)
To minimise the likelihood of this happening, we will be implementing the following measures:
Calling ahead
If you’re due a test soon, your vet will be giving you a call to discuss the test and any potential areas that could be of concern. If there are parts of the test that might not adhere to the social distancing rule, it might be that we have to postpone that part of the test. This is also a good opportunity to discuss how handling facilities could be adapted prior to the test and to discuss your own concerns about the test, if you have a vulnerable member of the team for example.
PPE
Our TB testers will be equipped with enhanced PPE. However, this does not mean the 2 metre rule can be disregarded.
These are challenging and rapidly changing times. This is all likely to change again (and again). If you have any comments or concerns regarding TB testing provision during the COVID-19 outbreak please contact your vet.
All still going ahead as planned. However, if you or anyone in your team is experiencing symptoms or is self-isolating, please let us know as soon as possible so we can take the necessary precautions. Government instruction has been to physically distance ourselves, therefore please do not be offended if our team asks for you to stay 2 metres away during the visit. This is to protect you as well as our team.
Please call the main practice number as normal to call in emergencies and book in visits.
Please phone in your medicine orders prior to collection and with plenty of notice. We are limiting access to the practice, therefore when collecting an order, please let us know you are here so we can dispense with minimal contact.
Please phone in your medicine orders prior to collection and with plenty of notice. We are limiting access to the practice, therefore when collecting an order, please let us know you are here so we can dispense with minimal contact.
We are taking, processing and reporting samples as normal.
If you or anyone in your household are self-isolating, we would very much appreciate it if you could inform us so that we can notify vets visiting the farm.