This Welsh Government funded course is mandatory for any veterinary surgeon working with their Welsh farm clients to complete the Animal Health Improvement Cycle (AHIC) and Biosecurity Assessment for Incoming Stock (BAIS) as required by the Animal Health and Welfare Universal Action of the Welsh Government’s Sustainable Farming Scheme (SFS).

Course Description

 

Animal Health Improvement and Biosecurity Training for Vets

Funded by the Welsh Government and delivered by Mentera and the Aberystwyth School of Veterinary Sciences (ASVS), the Animal Health Advance Programme provides a training and quality assurance programme that supports the Animal Health and Welfare Universal Action of the Welsh Government’s Sustainable Farming Scheme (SFS).

This course is part of the programme and is mandatory for any veterinary surgeon working with their Welsh farm clients to facilitate and complete the Animal Health Improvement Cycle (AHIC) and Biosecurity Assessment for Incoming Stock (BAIS) as required by the SFS. The first part of the course will focus on the background of AHIC, how to engage and enthuse farmers in animal health and welfare improvement, identify suitable Production Health Metrics (PHMs) and then how to work out realistic targets, timeframes and complete action plan report templates. Then the course will equip you in how to continue to engage your farm clients throughout the process, critically review the progress and impact of the actions, how to inform next steps and how to finalise report templates.

The course module will be delivered by a variety of means to suit most situations. This could be face-to-face (at Aberystwyth University or other appropriate locations across Wales), online and/or a hybrid with live sessions and/or recordings. Some content will only be available online.

After successful completion of the initial one-day training and initial assessments (a 30-minute MCQ and a reflective CPD needs-analysis), you will be added to the list of provisionally approved AHIC vets and will be permitted to start to work with all your farm clients on the AHIC and BAIS work. You will then be required to submit the first three completed AHIC and BAIS templates to the University for assessment as part of the course, within a specified timeframe. If you are successful, then you will be added to a register of approved vets and permitted to continue to engage in the work and support businesses in the Wales SFS *. You will also be awarded 5 credits at level 7 (master’s degree level), subject to approval by the University exam boards.

*Note: Vets registers will be maintained by Mentera. Quality measures will ensure all vets maintain a high-quality service and any who repeatedly fail to deliver will also be required to redo this module. Therefore, vets who are on the approved vets register may be subject to random AHIC / BAIS quality checks.