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Service statement

The VLA is committed to setting and maintaining the highest standard of service.

We continually aim to improve our services and that means we need, and value, your feedback on the services we provide.

Our staff perform procedures in line with the best scientific and administrative principles. We are certified to ISO 9001 for all aspects of our work. In addition, various parts of the VLA are certified to the following external quality standards:

  • Good Laboratory Practice (GLP)
  • Good Clinical Practice (veterinary) (GCPv)
  • Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP)
  • ISO 17025 - Requirements for the competence of testing and calibration laboratories
  • ISO Guide 43 - Requirements for proficiency testing providers
  • Joint code of Practice for Research and Veterinary activities (pdf) (including surveillance) issued by Defra, Food Standards Agency, Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council and Natural Environment Research Council
  • Official Food and Feed Control Regulations in relation to its Community Reference Laboratory (CRL) and National Reference Laboratory functions

The VLA has ‘Investor in People’ status; we are committed to investing in the training and development of our employees to maintain and improve the quality of the services offered.

We are also certified to ISO 14001 and we make sure our daily operations are as environmentally friendly as possible.

Feedback

We carry out work for customers on a contract basis. For our Government customers the main point of contact is the programme manager. Non-Government customers have a named project manager as the main contact. Addressing particular needs of each of our customers, whether in Government or the private sector, is fundamental to our work.

We send out an annual Customer Satisfaction questionnaire to our surveillance and research customers in Government, and a questionnaire to commercial customers when contracts have been completed. The results of these are then used to review and improve our services.

We welcome both positive and negative feedback, to help us maintain a high quality service.

If you are unhappy with any aspect of the service that we offer, and would like to complain, the VLA has a formal complaints procedure.

You, the customer, can expect us to

  • Be open and provide full information as far as is practical.
  • Investigate the cause of any problems.
  • Operate effective systems and continually seek improvements to prevent things going wrong.
  • Put things right when they do go wrong and make sure that it does not happen again.

(First published March 2002, Updated December 2007)