Along with changes to the procurement of veterinary services, AHVLA has announced its aim of modernising the system for training and authorising vets to act as OVs.

An Invitation-to-Tender (ITT) for this requirement has now been published on Bravo https://defra.bravosolution.co.uk/web/login.shtml, with the aim of a contract being signed by March for incremental implementation over the following 12 months.

Official Veterinary Qualifications

Under the new arrangements, OV panels will be discontinued and replaced by Certificates of Competence with corresponding training modules. The Certificates of Competence will be termed Official Veterinary Qualifications (OVQs) and the proposed list is as follows:

OVQ	Description	Revalidation Interval
OVQ – ES (essential skills)	Basics of state veterinary medicine, working with AHVLA, regulation of animal diseases and animal welfare, principles of certification, avoidance of conflicts of interest, communication, health and safety etc.  A prerequisite for any other module – except OVQ-CA.	5 years
OVQ –TT (tuberculin testing)	Tuberculin testing of cattle and other species.	1 year
OVQ –SS  (statutory surveillance)	Statutory surveillance activities for ‘endemic’ diseases other than bTB; currently Brucellosis and anthrax testing but others may be added.	3 years
OVQ –EX  (exports, general)	General principles of international trade, export procedures and export certification, a foundation for the following export modules.  This alone may be sufficient for certain exports for which no further training is required (e.g. insects)*.	5 years
OVQ –SX (pet exports)	Exports of companion animals including PETS and pet birds*.	5 years
OVQ –UX  (ungulate exports)	Exports of ungulates including equidae.	3 years
OVQ –AX (avian exports)	Export of poultry including Poultry Health scheme and captive birds which are not pets.	3 years
OVQ –PX (product exports)	Export of products of animal origin including food for human consumption and animal by-products.	3 years
OVQ –GX  (germplasm exports)	Exports of germplasm including supervision of AI centres.	3 years
OVQ-CA (companion animals)	A separate self-contained module specifically designed for companion animal vets with minimal reference to production animal issues.  (No requirement to undertake OVQ-ES and OVQ-EX.)	5 years

Possession of the relevant, valid OVQ will be a mandatory requirement for operating as an OV, whether performing AHVLA funded statutory work or that funded by private customers.

Feedback from the profession

A consultation was recently run to seek feedback on these proposals. The issues arising, and AHVLA’s response to these, are described below.

1. Why change a system that has worked well for decades?

AHVLA has received regular and consistent feedback that while much of the training delivered by AHVLA is well received, there is room for improvement, especially in the following areas:

• AHVLA Veterinary Officers are not expert trainers, meaning delivery can be inconsistent.
• There can be delays in training courses becoming available, with consequential delay in new OVs being able to operate.
• The time away from the work place in order to attend face-to-face training, sometimes in distant locations.

Whilst the direct contact between AHVLA and OV vets has benefits, it will be possible to redirect resource not expended in training to practice liaison and audit. This provides better on-going contact than an once-in-a-lifetime training encounter.

2. Timing of the change: it is unreasonable to implement this now whilst the outcome of the TB testing procurement exercise is unknown.

There will be minimal requirements for current OVs to revalidate their existing knowledge and skills ahead of contracts being awarded for TB testing work (see question 9).

3. Concerns of a single training provider

The option of authorising more than one training organisation in order to give some choice in a competitive market has been considered. It has however been concluded that a single provider model is preferable as it better ensures consistency and portability of qualifications. It also maximises economies of scale, providing better value for money, in particular by spreading the fixed costs of developing training materials and IT systems. The training organisation could of course be a consortium, or could sub-contract work in order to provide complete coverage of subject matter expertise and geography.
AHVLA would expect to have a close relationship with the provider and will monitor their performance, including seeking customer satisfaction, to ensure continuous improvement in the service provided.  AHVLA will also work with the provider to create opportunities for OVs to be trained to provide innovative services such as TB Plus / Cymorth TB or enhanced surveillance.

4. Cost of training

The cost of training and revalidation will in future fall directly on the recipient or their employer, a reflection of the professional benefits accrued, which enable both publicly and privately-funded income streams to be developed or maintained. There will also be cost and time savings over the current AHVLA-provided classroom-based training.

A more modern approach to training provision will mean that it can be accessed on demand – it will no longer be the case that vets are economically inactive as an OV whilst they await a training course to be run. Similarly, training should be accessible during the working day, or out-of-hours, rather than having to travel to an AHVLA office during working time, time which might otherwise have been used to provide chargeable services.

In terms of the costs charged, be assured that cost will play a significant part in AHVLA’s selection criteria for the provider. However, in view of concerns raised, more emphasis will be given to price in assessing bids, and the contract awarded will be written to avoid price rises over its term. Bidders will also be invited to offer incentives such as non-discriminatory discounts to encourage uptake.

The procurement will challenge prospective training organisations to offer innovative solutions for effective and accessible training.  Much of this would be on-line but we would expect additional activities to address practical skills such as tuberculin testing.  The training and revalidation should count as good quality CPD towards RCVS requirements and should form part of the Professional Development Pathway for recent graduates.  Voluntary added-value optional CPD modules could also be offered, at extra cost, which could provide credits towards postgraduate qualifications.

5. Confusion and concerns that non-MRCVS will be allowed to train

Only qualified vets will be authorised to work as an OV. Others can undertake training and be assessed, but cannot be authorised as an OV. Examples of non-vets who may wish to be trained could include: AHVLA’s lay TB testers; local authority Environmental Health Officers signing AHVLA export certificates for food products (who will be required to possess OVQ–EX and OVQ-PX); vets based abroad who may seek work in the UK; and final year veterinary students.
For any vet who has achieved an OVQ, the ability to act as an OV would be given by AHVLA for the duration of validity of the certificate of competence.  This does not oblige them to undertake OV work and there is no commitment to give them publicly-funded OV work. 

6. AHVLA, rather than the training provider, should be responsible for authorising OVs.

Agreed; AHVLA will continue to issue letters of authorisation and official stamps.

7. The necessity of revalidation and concerns over the cost of revalidation

We accept the concerns that have been expressed, and have revised our approach to revalidation.

Revalidation is considered preferable to more onerous systematic third party inspections. There is a however a balance to be struck between frequency of revalidation and its depth.  This should bear some relationship to the rate at which the required knowledge changes or skills may lapse or become outdated.  Looking at these and benchmarks used elsewhere, it is proposed that the revalidation intervals shown in the table above are used.

One of the changes introduced as a result of the consultation is that existing OVs will no longer be required to revalidate their competence immediately. Rather, they will be expected to do so within the period of the revalidation cycle applicable to the OVQ.  For example, for tuberculin testing (OVQ-TT), it will be necessary to revalidate competence within two-years of the new OVQ becoming available (see below for further information on transitional arrangements).

In terms of the approach to revalidation, a lighter-touch approach will be taken, for example an on-line self-assessment at less frequent intervals than originally considered necessary. In the case of tuberculin testing, revalidation will include a certificate to state that the OV has been subject to an audit of their practical performance (in accordance with AHVLA guidance) with satisfactory results. There will be flexibility in how this audit may be carried out to reflect different circumstances.

As for initial training, businesses employing OVs, or self-employed individuals, will be expected to pay for revalidation, however AHVLA will, through the procurement process, seek to ensure that the cost - both in cash and time terms – is reasonable. 

8. There won’t be enough OVs in remote areas or where the volume of work doesn’t justify investment in training etc.

This risk is recognised, but the new approach should increase the accessibility of training. The accessibility of training will be a key requirement in the tender, including a requirement to recognise and manage slow internet connection speeds.

It is likely that aspects of revalidation can be self-assessed, so that even a sole practitioner on a remote island will be able to comply. We intend that revalidation should not be onerous and its cost correspondingly small.   

9. The new approach is too onerous for the small animal sector relative to the volume of business generated.

This issue is accepted, and in response AHVLA is introducing a specific companion animal OVQ which excludes any reference to food producing species.

Transitional arrangements

An Invitation-to-Tender has been published on the Bravo system https://defra.bravosolution.co.uk/web/login.shtml, with contract award expected to be made in March 2014. Implementation will be managed as a rolling transition commencing summer 2014. It is expect modules to be introduced progressively, starting with those for which there is high demand, such as tuberculin testing and export certification including PETS. 

Following consultation, it is recognised that the burden of revalidating all OVs immediately would be significant. Instead it is now expected that current OVs will be required to register on the system operated by the new training provider, in doing so declaring the work areas they wish to retain. These OVs will then be expected to validate their competence in line with the revalidation cycle of the OVQ, effectively conferring ‘grandfather rights’ on experienced OVs.

In the event that existing OVs do not register, their existing panel appointment will be cancelled. After this point any vet subsequently wishing to work as an OV would have to undergo the full initial training for any OVQ which they wished to use.

As a transitional arrangement, AHVLA will continue to provide limited training for OV work areas where the equivalent OVQ training is not yet available from the training provider.