About TB Field Audits

TB Field Audits for OVs in England who do not work on behalf of a Veterinary Delivery Partnership (VDP)

APHA has an enhanced field audit programme of bovine tuberculosis skin testing carried out by OVs across Great Britain. This programme is to provide assurance that regulatory standards are being followed.

A requirement introduced on 2nd November 2020 specifies that Improve International must carry out TB field audits of OVs who work in England but do not undertake TB testing on behalf of a Veterinary Delivery Partnership. All TB testing OVs will be audited at least once every three years by APHA, their VDP or Improve International*.

Improve International will email any OV who has been selected by APHA for audit to notify them of this. There is a fee of £550 plus VAT for each audit, which must be paid as soon as the notification is received and before an audit can take place. The fee is paid via the OV’s Personal Training Dashboard (at https://www.improve-ov.com/login/), where the field audit information will be displayed on the overview page. TB field audits will be undertaken on behalf of Improve International by UK Farmcare Ltd. Vets who test for a VDP will continue to be audited in accordance with their VDP contract. VDPs are Iechyd Da (Gwledig) Ltd, Menter a Busnes, Farmcare Devon & Cornwall Ltd, Farmcare West Ltd, Farmcare Central Ltd and Farmcare North Ltd.

The cost of a field audit must be met by the OV for whom the audit is being carried out.

Where an OV fails to pay the audit fee within 15 days of the original notification, or fails to comply with the requirement for audit, Improve International will notify APHA. APHA will then contact the OV in writing, giving a deadline by which the payment must be made to enable the audit to take place. Failure to comply by the deadline will result in suspension of the OV's authorisation.

What is the process for a field audit?

1. APHA selects the OV for audit and informs Improve International
2. Improve International contacts the OV via email to notify them**
3. The OV must pay the audit fee of £550 + VAT by logging on to their Personal Training Dashboard
4. Improve International will arrange the audit, which may be:
   • announced (the OV will be informed of the date of the test at which it will take place); or
   • unannounced (the auditor will not notify the OV before arriving at a test)
5. The audit will take place
6. The audit results will be reported to APHA

OVs must ensure that they keep their test dates up to date on Sam so that audits can be arranged.

Please note: if an auditor arrives to audit a test that was scheduled on Sam and the OV selected for audit is not present, that OV will be responsible for paying for the auditor to return on another occasion to complete their audit.

* Please note: the OCQ(V) - TT Practical Assessment is not an audit.

** OVs must ensure that their contact details on their Personal Training Dashboard are up to date at all times.