As the UK Government continues to relax its COVID-19 lockdown and social distancing rules, we wanted to take this opportunity to provide an update to our customers regarding our services during this period, and reassure you of the policies we continue to have in place. We are committed to providing the highest level of service, whilst balancing the needs of our customers and ensuring the health and welfare of our employees. At this time we are conducting a business as usual policy as we recognise that our veterinary services are needed and relied upon as much as ever. We have however, to protect the health and welfare of our employees, customers, and suppliers, made some changes to the way that we operate, which remains a top priority. At present, non-emergency and routine appointments will continue. If this situation changes we will inform you immediately. All vets or field staff visiting your farm will have been adhering to our bio security and COVID-19 policies and will contact you individually before their arrival. In order to facilitate social distancing, if you request a vet visit, then the attending vet will speak to you over the phone to get a history and the vet will determine if PMs at the gate or a full site visit are necessary. If PMs are to be carried out on site, please leave the birds in the changing room and leave the changing room before the vet arrives. He/she will carry out the examination and leave any medication required then call you from their car. If a full site visit is to take place, we would ask that you leave the relevant sheds accessible and do not walk around with the vet. He/she will leave the medication on site and call you from their car. Please ensure as always you have full PPE, gloves and hand sanitiser available. We ask that if you are experiencing any symptoms yourself, self-isolating or have recently returned from a trip oversees to let us know prior to us visiting your site. Our office and dispensary teams are all working within our company COVID policy of social distancing and cleaning protocols, as well as reducing contact between different teams within the business to protect their health and welfare, and to ensure our continued support of your business. There are currently no restrictions in place for the movement of goods, and therefore all deliveries will continue for the foreseeable future. We will of course remain in regular contact with our couriers and suppliers and we will update you should this change. We have ensured that our dispensary and individual branch stores are also fully stocked. Due to how busy our couriers are at this time, to ensure next day delivery, please place your order with Dispensary by 12pm. If you require post-mortems at a practice, please contact us prior to your arrival. During this call you will be advised where to leave them, and we would request that you return to your vehicle whilst they are being done. When the vet has performed the post-mortem, they will call you or see you at your car with the diagnosis and further treatment or advice. If you need to visit any of our branches please ensure that you call prior to your arrival and do not turn up without notification. If you are dropping off any samples to the practice please contact us before arrival and you will be advised where to leave them. Following recent legal changes the Government have extended the requirement of wearing face coverings to all indoor settings where you come into contact with people you don’t regularly meet, and therefore veterinary practices have now been included for this mandatory requirement. It is now become enforceable by law that for clients attending or visiting our offices and stepping inside, for example to drop off samples and picking up medication, you will now be required to wear a face covering. If you are collecting any medication from the practice please always phone through to dispensary. Once an order is received, we will prepare the order and advise you where to collect it, depending on your nearest branch. If we need to use any of our out of hours collection points please be assured that these will be routinely and thoroughly disinfected between customer collections. Veterinary Medicine Supply: In preparation for a no deal Brexit, the pharmaceutical companies had been stockpiling vaccines in their UK warehouses to a sufficient level for 3-6 months of supply. Delivery drivers and people involved in the food supply chain are on the government’s key workers list and, as such, we do not anticipate shortages, however, delivery delays are possible. We would recommend ordering vaccines at least 2 weeks prior to use. Salmonella Testing: Currently, the FSA/BEIC have not relaxed their requirement for Salmonella testing under the National Control Plan. However, laboratories have been asked to prioritise Salmonella testing in the event of staffing shortages. Please ensure that you take your Salmonella samples as early as possible and send them by recorded next day delivery. Contact the lab to ensure they have received them. Lab Results: As labs may be prioritising Salmonella testing, please be patient if you are awaiting the results for other tests. We will continue to review and monitor our policies in line with the government guidelines, and we will update you accordingly. If you have any queries please do not hesitate to contact us. St David’s Poultry Team are committed to ensuring the integrity of the food supply chain through this difficult time whilst ensuring we look after the health and well-being of our team, our customers and the general public. Stay safe, St David’s Poultry Team |