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An Irish Farmers Journal investigation has uncovered poor control of the sale of veterinary antibiotics in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland.
Following an approach by seven concerned vet practices, the Irish Farmers Journal launched an undercover operation.
Eleven vet practices in Northern Ireland (NI) were visited on Saturday 6 February. Eight sold antibiotics without requiring proof of ID, a prescription or a herd number.
Just under £270 (€308) worth of antibiotics were obtained
Four of the practices accepted fake names and addresses, two of which were across the border.
The other four did not ask for names or a herd number and all transactions were made in cash.
Just under £270 (€308) worth of antibiotics were obtained, including critically important antibiotics used in human health, without any farm animals having been assessed or seen by a vet.
Breach
The practices were in breach of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeon (RCVS) code of professional conduct, which states that, to prescribe antibiotics, a vet “must first carry out a clinical assessment of the animal under his or her care.”
At one practice, we were told the farm would have to be visited “just once a year” in order to be supplied with medication.
None of the addresses included postcodes or Eircodes and a phone number was only requested once, rendering any potential farm visit impossible.
Republic of Ireland
In a tandem operation, the Irish Farmers Journal visited five vet practices across several counties in the Republic of Ireland.
Three practices that were approached refused to sell antibiotics without knowing the individual or a valid herd number.
However, in one practice we were able to obtain Pen & Strep without a herd number, though the individual was almost immediately called by the vet to explain the person on the till made a mistake, was still in training, and the vet needed a herd number and to arrange a visit to the farm.
The individual was unknown to the practice and a fake name and address was used
But another practice sold a bottle of Pen & Strep and a bottle of Betamox without a herd number. The individual was unknown to the practice and a fake name and address was used.
Practices north and south of the border who supplied the antibiotics were not in compliance with the veterinary regulations in their respective jurisdictions.
Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons
The situation in Northern Ireland has sparked outrage among a number of vets, who point to a lack of enforcement by the Veterinary Medicine Directorate (VMD) and the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons (RCVS), which are both based in England.
The VMD has an agreement in place with the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA) in NI. The VMD is the lead agency that can inspect vet practices in NI but figures obtained by the Irish Farmers Journal show that just 11 inspections were carried out in 2020 – a marked decrease from the 52 inspections the previous year.
The Irish Farmers Journal has also seen documents showing that the issue has been raised on multiple occasions, including a meeting with the chief veterinary officer in Northern Ireland, Dr Robert Huey, in April 2019, and another with the VMD in February 2020 where the “widespread supply of medicines” and the “dubious interpretation” of prescribing rules were discussed.
We feel the matter is being overlooked by the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons
Vets Andy Mayne and Gareth Bell of Jubilee Vet Centre in Newtownards have joined forces with six other practices to call on the VMD and RCVS to step up and enforce regulations.
They and their colleagues have become concerned by reports of farmers accessing antibiotics outside of their primary veterinary practice, and being cold-called in person on their farms by vets offering to sell them large quantities of medicines.
“We feel the matter is being overlooked by the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons and the Veterinary Medicine Directorate, who are based in England,” Gareth Bell said.
“The veterinary profession in the UK is dominated by small animal practices. Solely farm animal vets make up only about 4% of the vet population.
“We have contacted the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons and made a complaint against one practice, but it’s a very, very slow procedure.”
Better enforcement
Bell says there needs to be better enforcement of the regulations. Several vets also told the Irish Farmers Journal of their concerns about the situation.
“What I see happening within Northern Ireland is a lot of farmers can just go and get whatever prescription only medicines they want and that just isn’t acceptable,” John Johnston of Fairgreen Veterinary Centre, Co Tyrone, said.
“To be quite honest we don’t know what’s happening on some farms because we know they’re not getting all the medicine through our practice. It’s important to realise there is a lot of frustration out there among vets who do responsibly prescribe.”
Farmers and vets need to work together to control the level of antimicrobial resistance
Another large animal vet in Antrim described seeing a delivery van dropping off boxes of antibiotics to his farmer client which were not supplied by him as the primary vet for the farm.
“Farmers and vets need to work together to control the level of antimicrobial resistance, but we’re not getting the full picture on many of the farms that are getting antibiotics elsewhere,” he said.
“In my view it comes down to the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons not policing strictly enough. They have failed miserably to deal with this issue.”
When contacted for comment, a number of the practices confirmed that breaches had occurred and they were launching full investigations into the matter.
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