XL Farmcare South East Limited

25th May 2015

Dear OVs,

An Update on TB Test Workflow Management

XL Farmcare UK recently completed a tour of England where we spoke with 336 people representing 171 veterinary practices. We havent been able to reach all suppliers so this process will now continue and evolve as our systems develop. We would like to clarify a couple of points regarding the workflow management of TB testing and other Government services under the new contract over the next few weeks.

Availability of TOM and GENIUS:

Our workflow management system, TOM, and our online training environment, GENIUS, will be made available to you towards the end of June. You will access these tools via the XL Farmcare website (www.xlfarmcare.co.uk ) using a unique user login that we will supply to you when these services are available to use. Each member of your team, including OVs and admin staff, will receive their own unique login details.

TOM will gather data daily from your iSAM workbasket and it will allow you to track the progress of a job of work from allocation through to completion and payment. As explained at the induction meetings, it will require you to create a 'job bag' for each test although this series of documents can be held electronically and it will eventually be possible to add them to the task in TOM.

Until TOM is made available, you will need to monitor your iSAM practice workbasket closely as this will be your only source of information about newly allocated tests (see below).

When a member of your team logs into GENIUS, they will be able to see and access all the training documents and manuals that are relevant to their job description. As they access and read through these documents, the system will record the fact that they have done so. This will therefore give us a record of staff training at practice level which we can review at practice audits.

Until GENIUS is made available, you and your staff will be able to view all the training documents by visiting the XL Farmcare website (www.xlfarmcare.co.uk ) and clicking on the 'Vets' tab and selecting 'Document Resources' from the dropdown menu. You will then need to enter the password 'farmcare753' and click on 'authenticate'.

Certificate of Readiness:

In the period before GENIUS is available to you, we need to have a contingency in place to be able to prove to DEFRA that our subcontractors have accessed and read the various manuals and policies and will observe their contents. We have therefore sent the EEOV in every subcontractor practice a document called 'Certificate of Readiness'. Amongst other things, this document requires the EEOV to certify that individuals in the practice team have read our key documents and manuals. Most of you have returned your certificates and we would be grateful if the outstanding ones could be returned as soon as possible now.

iSAM Workbaskets:

Your practice's iSAM workbasket has now been linked to the relevant XL Farmcare Delivery Partner workbasket. From 1st May, APHA now allocate all new tests and other Government jobs of work within the contract to the XL Farmcare Delivery Partner workbasket. Our admin team will then allocate tests to the relevant subcontractor practice. At this point you will see your tests in your practice's workbasket. It will be clear that these tests are to be completed under the new contract arrangements because the relevant tests will show XL Farmcare as the Delivery Partner.

Please note that APHA will not allocate any tests directly to your practice's workbasket. Allocation in the region will only be to our Delivery Partner workbasket with our admin team passing tests on accordingly.

Tests allocated to your iSAM workbasket before 1st May are to be carried out under the old arrangement with APHA. These tests will not show XL Farmcare as Delivery Partner. Therefore, for the next few months, you will be able to see both types of test awaiting completion within your practice's workbasket.

Not Attended an Induction Event Yet?

Despite good attendances at the recent training events, we are aware that a number of practices who have signed contracts were not represented. We would urge those practices to get in touch with us so that we can organise further events for you as soon as possible.

Please contact our admin team on 0800 612 5289 or email admin@xlfarmcare.co.uk.

Orphan Keepers:

We are encountering problems with the accuracy of APHA data concerning the details of orphan keeper herds and hoped to have this sorted by now. This is an urgent priority for all of us and we will be contacting the orphan keepers themselves as well as those of you that are expecting to be allocated extra work as soon as possible so that all parties concerned can forward plan.

If you have any further comments or questions please do not hesitate to contact us.

Kind Regards,

Bill Pepper MRCVS Director bill.pepper@xlfarmcare.co.ukJulia James MRCVS Director Julia.james@xlfarmcare.co.ukSam Baldwyn MRCVS Director sam.baldwyn@xlfarmcare.co.ukSteve Trickey MRCVS Director steve.trickey@xlfarmcare.co.uk

XL Farmcare South East Limited. Registered in England and Wales. Company Registration Number 07891251. Registered Office: 21 Cliffe High Street Lewes East Sussex BN7 2AH VAT Registration Number: 178 8315 66T: 0800 612 5289 E: admin@xlfarmcare.co.uk W: www.xlfarmcare.co.uk