Contingency OV Services for Scotland

Tender description

APHA recognises that Official Veterinarians have particular skills and expertise which are highly desirable in the event of a disease outbreak and is looking to appoint up to fifteen (15) trained Contingency Official Veterinarians (COVs) across Scotland under a framework agreement. COVs must have experience of working in large animal and/or specialist pig or poultry practice. • COVs are intended to support emergency response by bringing local knowledge and specialist skills to a Forward Operating Base (FOB) where a disease outbreak has been confirmed. • COVs will provide a rapidly available local veterinary resource to augment the Agency’s emergency response in the event of a notifiable disease outbreak or other disruptive event in Scotland by augmenting the APHA workforce for variable periods of time. • COVs will be appointed for a period of up to four (4) years and will be paid to attend up to six days’ training consisting of three days in the first year then one day per year in subsequent years. • COVs will be required to attend these training days which will include an overview of disease response, risk assessment, tracings and may include participation in a disease outbreak exercise. In the event of an Outbreak or Incident one or more COVs may be deployed based on regional requirements and potential specialist skills. Successful COVs will be required to provide: - Veterinary advice and/or guidance to a variety of work areas including assessing notifiable disease reports, identifying and prioritising tracings, auditing visits, monitoring/enforcing biosecurity and conducting veterinary risk assessments. - Veterinary expertise that can take account of local situation, e.g. husbandry, geography, marketing, movements etc. - Veterinary advice and effective decision making at the individual / premises level in a disease emergency situation, using sound veterinary judgment and adhering to standard guidance and operating procedures where applicable.