Temporary registration of OVs option to remain open

Significant progress has been made to reduce short-term registration of vets for meat inspections despite increased “volatility” caused by tougher immigration rules, the Food Standards Agency (FSA) has claimed.

The scheme allowing the employment of temporary registered novice official veterinarians (TRNOVs) is set to continue until mid-2026 following an RCVS council vote.

The FSA, together with Food Standards Scotland (FSS) and DAERA in Northern Ireland, said the mechanism would only be used for individual rather than bulk applications when other options were exhausted.

However, the agency warned that “ongoing uncertainties in veterinary resourcing”, together with emerging regulatory and government policies, meant the scheme still has a role.

Language requirements

The TRNOV provision has been in place since the spring of 2021, initially following a proposal from the FSA and Defra, and enables vets who do not meet the language requirements for RCVS registration to carry out official controls in slaughterhouses.

A similar scheme for FSS was approved by the college’s standards committee in February 2023, while provision for DAERA was given the go ahead earlier this year.

A report presented to the council’s 7 November meeting sought an extension of the scheme for individual applicants only, with bulk submissions not expected to be necessary from the end of this year.

Members voted unanimously in favour of the extension during their meeting in London and 19 to 3 for it to be time-limited, before endorsing a proposal for a review to take place by June 2026.

Proportion falls

The paper said the proportion of TRNOVs working on the FSA’s contract had fallen from 46% in July 2022 to 18% by August 2024.

But the agency cautioned: “Workforce shortages remain challenging for the whole veterinary profession in the UK and worldwide. Home Office changes to immigration policy in April 2024 added further volatility, uncertainty, complexity and significantly increased the cost of providing veterinary services – particularly in veterinary public health (VPH) .

“Critical VPH roles are generally not seen as attractive within the profession in the UK – especially in abattoirs – and [more than] 96% of OVs currently working in abattoirs in England and Wales are from overseas.”

Although the report said interest in OV work was now increasing among UK vets due to initiatives including EMS provision, a new recruitment pathway called Vet Track is expected to be critical to reducing TRNOV reliance further.

The scheme enables vets with degrees from universities accredited by the European Association of Establishments for Veterinary Education (EAEVE) to carry out official control work while studying for the International English Language Testing System (IELTS) Level 7 qualification that is required for registration with the RCVS.

Pathway

The report said pass rates for the level 7 exam had risen from 57% in the first half of 2023 to 100% in the third quarter of this year, and the path is expected to become “a significant recruitment pathway” from around mid-2025.

But longer-term solutions may still be needed because of the council’s vote earlier this year to end the current RCVS recognition of EAEVE-accredited degrees by 2029 at the latest.

The decision followed a period of concern about divergence in the organisations’ standards and was linked to the college’s plans for direct accreditation of overseas universities. The FSA said it was “working to understand and support RCVS ambitions” in the area because of the central role of EAEVE accreditation in the Vet Track scheme.