Changing Culture, Strengthening Delivery

DEFRA: Animal Disease Outbreak

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Transcript

Caption:  Maximising the learning from evaluation

 

ALISON REEVES:

We know that decisions we take on diseases during an outbreak in the morning have a real world impact in the afternoon.

 

NEWSREADER:

A new case of Foot and Mouth has been confirmed close to the Brecon Beacons National Park where 4,000 sheep have been slaughtered today. Ministers say…

 

DAVID HARRIS:

2001 was an outbreak like nobody had ever seen and we hope nobody ever will see again.

 

ALISON REEVES:

Deputy Director, Exotic Animals Disease Policy Programme

It led to various inquiries, including one on what are the lessons that needed to be learned out of the 2001 Foot and Mouth outbreak that could apply next time to try and ensure we never have that sort of situation again.

 

BRIAN SULLIVAN: Head of Branch,

Animal Health Contingency Planning Division

Since that time, what we’ve concentrated on is our contingency planning. It’s things like ensuring that we regularly review our plan, we exercise frequently and that we have all of our communication systems properly in place.

 

ALISON REEVES:

Today, we are far better prepared to handle a disease outbreak than we have ever been before.

 

NEWS REPORTER: (2007)

Here inside the protection zone there is still intense activity, with government vets and animal health officials arriving at farms to check for any further sign of Foot and Mouth disease.

 

DAVID HARRIS: Head of Veterinary Operations,

National Disease Control Centre

In an outbreak you need to be able to identify the right people to move from one part of the country to another. We had 16 disease control centres, many of which produced their own local versions of how to deal with an incident. We had to bring them together to make a single version of instructions that everyone in future would be able to follow. It makes no difference whether they’re doing in Inverurie or they’re doing it in Truro, they should be doing the same job.

 

ALISON REEVES:

I think the key things are communication, communication, communication, absolutely. If you have a complex situation and different people can do different things, that’s going to have untold consequences, so enforcement agencies will start to question what the policy is, what the right rules are. So keep it simple.

 

BRIAN SULLIVAN:

In the height of, you know, what is a major crisis then you need a structure for the day. We call that the battle rhythm. Every day follows the pattern. So we’ve got a number of people, key people, who need to come together at different points during the day. But we have a sort of skeleton of that around something we call the Bird Table.

 

FEMALE:

Okay, thank you all very much for coming to Bird Table today…

 

ALISON REEVES:

The Bird Table is a concept, something we imported from the Army, so actually in an outbreak we have what we call a National Disease Control Centre, and we have a Local Disease Control Centre, and both operate Bird Table.

 

MALE:

Moving on to cleansing and disinfection, on the farm preliminary C&D was completed at 16.45…

 

DAVID HARRIS:

It’s where the key policy, legal delivery industry partners all come together, get a chance afterwards to have a chat, see what’s going on, resolve any issues, find out what’s happening. It gives a chance for the industry at the Bird Table to raise things that are concerning them. If they work effectively they are a very, very useful way of sharing information, but, more importantly, identifying issues and a route to resolve them.

 

ALISON REEVES:

We take pride now, and we’re seen nationally and internationally as very good as a collective team, whether you’re policy, whether you’re vets, whether you’re local authorities, some of the farming community. We are seen as experts, because we work together.

 

DAVID HARRIS:

There is only one ultimate test, regrettably, that’s the next outbreak. The only thing we know about the next outbreak is it won’t be like the last one, none of our outbreaks have been the same. There’s always been something new to learn in them.

 

BRIAN SULLIVAN:

You’ve got to regularly review your contingency plan. And I think the other thing is just be continually talking to your colleagues from other organisations and making sure that you build those relationships so that when there is an emergency then you can call on relationships that you’ve built.

 

ALISON REEVES:

Lessons learned for us now are a way of life. I think back before they were seen as a threat, it was all very much a blame culture, you must have got it wrong, but not any more. It is the right thing to do.

 

End of Transcript

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