Wales Antimicrobial Resistance Animal Health Group Quarterly Meeting 3: 25 June 2025

Hywel Morgan* (HM) Farmer
Kitty Healey* (KH) Veterinary Medicines Directorate (VMD)
Gwenllian Rees* (GR) Vet, Aberystwyth University/Arwain DGC
Catrin Moore* (CM) Microbiology Society
Ifan Lloyd* (IL) Vet, Iechyd Da/Arwain DGC
Silvia Stronati (SS) Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA)
Sarah Carr^* (SC) Vet & Farmer / Animal Health & Welfare Framework Group Representative
Rob Smith* (RS) Vet, Iechyd Da
Meryl Davies (MD) Public Health Wales
Dominic Mellor (DM) Public Health Scotland
Rebecca Miller (RM) Scottish Government
Dewi Hughes  (DH) Mentera/Arwain DGC
Hilary Glasgow (HG) DAERA, NI Government
Richard Pizzey (RP) OCVO, Welsh Government
Natalie Sampson (NS) OCVO, Welsh Government
Sian Timms  (ST) OCVO, Welsh Government
Kirsty Falcus (KF) OCVO, Welsh Government
Laura  Czerwinska (LC) OCVO, Welsh Government

Apologies

Thomas Bletcher* (TB) Farmer
Simon Rolfe  (SR) HSS, Welsh Government
Chris Teale* (CT) Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA)
Peter Jones (PJ) HSS, Welsh Government
Eleri Davies (ED) Public Health Wales
Richard Irvine (RI) OCVO, Welsh Government
Claire Jones* (CJ) Farmer

Facilitator(s): please contact waeamrdg@gov.wales
    
KEY
* = DG Board Member
^ = Technical issues

The meeting commenced with a round of introductions. New members and guests were welcomed. Laura Czerwinska was introduced as a new team member, joining on her third day. Participants shared their roles and affiliations, setting the stage for collaborative discussions.

KF reviewed the minutes from the March meeting. The following actions were discussed:
Action 2: Engagement with education colleagues is ongoing.
Action 3: Parked until Action 2 progresses.
Action 4: Contacting YFC for a representative is in progress.
Action 5: Parked due to limited relevance to agriculture.
Top 3–5 Risks and issues will be circulated via a survey to the group to vote on before September meeting.
Actions 7, 9, 10: To be included in future meetings.

RP noted that DM and RM might not be available through the whole meeting (DM leaving at 11). The meeting today will focus on AMR and devolved nations. Mentioned that it was announced at the last meeting that funding for phase III has been secured.

• Action 2: Engage Welsh Government education colleagues to support AMR educational activities
• Action 6: A poll/survey to be circulated post-meeting to gather input before the September meeting regarding risks/issues.
• Action: Develop an e-learning module on AMR for all health and social care staff in Wales.
• Action: Include Actions #7, #9, and #10 in meetings scheduled for September, December, or 2026.

DH presented updates on the Arwain programme:

• 90% of Welsh vet practices are engaged.
• The AMU calculator now includes data from over 5,000 farms.
• A new mobile app for VPCs is under development.
• AMR monitoring is expanding in collaboration with Bristol University.
• Communication strategy includes events, awards, and youth engagement.
  Innovation grants of £5,000 are offered to vets and colleges.
• Syndromic surveillance is being enhanced using AI and the FAVSNET system.
  Arwain received international recognition at the Antimicrobial Awards.

Action: Align Arwain Phase 3 with SFS and RIS objectives for funding continuity.

HG expressed interest in Northern Ireland replicating Arwain hoping to launch a pilot this year and keep in touch to learn more. 

RM also expressed interest in the work done by Arwain and what Welsh Government has achieved in AMR. Scotland has had a pilot system in place with six vet practices but would like to expand to twelve. Would also like to see if a national roll out in Scotland would be possible. 

DM was also impressed with the scope of work and mentioned the importance of knowledge exchange between the industry, vets and academic institutions. Noted issues with finding and keeping resources in a way that is sustainable in Scotland to duplicate the work.

RP mentioned the need to better understand the links between what is happening on farms, the pathogens that are surfacing and integration with public health space. Within the work of OCVO and in Bristol University we try to understand this kind of epidemiology but there is still room for improvement.

Challenges discussed included funding, data integration, and public engagement. The importance of a one health approach and integration with human health data was emphasised.

CM mentioned a project she is working on trying to understand data on the human health side and quality of the data and whether data quality indicators can be found.

GR pointed out a difficulty of bringing together all of the software practice management system developers together and requesting them to standardise it.

RB mentioned that unfortunately even with financial incentive not all vets want to input data in a standardised way.

KH proposed looking at how other European countries introduced mandatory antibiotic usage data requirements.

HM and IJ discussed how antibiotics are administered and by whom to farm and companion animals.

MD put forward an idea for a workshop with companies that make the prescribing management system about AMR and how documentation could be improved. Noted that on human side, farmers can be lacking when it comes to engaging with health system for their own health rather than animals. The uptake of flu vaccines among farmers has been very low and is there a way to improve that and upskill them in this area to reduce the need for antibiotics in them as a human partner in the same way as with the animals.

Action: Plan and deliver a communications campaign for World Antimicrobial Awareness Week (November)

Action: Continue cross-nation discussions on companion animal AMR strategies.

Action: Share learnings with Scotland and Northern Ireland to support their AMR initiatives.

NS shared insights from a recent Welsh Government workshop:

• Wastewater is a valuable surveillance tool.
• AMR persists post-treatment.
• There is a need for leadership in environmental AMR.
• Plans are underway for future workshops and collaboration.

Welsh Government: New AMR plan published; World AMR Awareness Week planning underway.

• VMD: Updates on PAC report, international engagement, and surveillance funding.
• APHA: Research on biosecurity, AMR persistence, and organic fertiliser risks.
• Public Health Wales: Planning for AMR Awareness Week; children’s poster competition.
• Ifan Lloyd: Highlighted vet training in mental health and TB support.
• Microbiology Society: Opportunities for collaboration and upcoming events.

There will be no AMR Day at the Royal Welsh due to venue constraints. The next meeting is scheduled for 18 September 2025, to be held in person in Cardiff.

With no further business, the meeting finished at 12:00.

Links mentioned:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/long-read/digital-vision-for-antimicrobial-stewardship-in-england/ (NHS England)

https://microbiologysociety.org/publication/policy-briefings/antimicrobial-resistance-amr-in-wastewater.html (microbiologysociety.org)

https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm5901/cmselect/cmpubacc/646/report.html (UK Parliament)

https://microbiologysociety.org/event/annual-conference/annual-conference-2026-register-interest.html (microbiologysociety.org)

https://climar.org/about/ (climar.org)

https://amast.org.uk/

https://www.ukri.org/news/new-research-networks-will-tackle-antimicrobial-resistance/ (www.ukri.org)