The Implications of the Veterinary Medicines Regulations 2005
to the Renewal, Upgrading and Enrolment of SQPs
(This document dates from 10
October 2005, and should now be read in conjunction with the "Outline
of New Arrangements for Veterinary Nurses", "Enrolment
of new SQPs", and "Conversion Courses &
Examinations for Existing SQPs" pages.)
As everyone should know by now, as from 30 October new animal
medicine Regulations come into force. The essential provisions of these are
explained elsewhere. In addition there will be a new Code of Practice governing
the distribution of what are now PML medicines, which in future will become
POM-VPS and NFA-VPS medicines.
One of the provisions is that the training and registration
of SQPs will be subject to Government approval. However, as was announced in
August, and as is mentioned in the Code of Practice, AMTRA’s formal application
for recognition under the Veterinary Medicines Regulations 2005 to provide
training for and registration of SQPs has been formally approved by the Minister
on the recommendation of VMD.
One of the fundamental changes under the new system is that
all SQPs will be required to have a nationally recognised qualification. This
will help to provide the necessary reassurance that SQPs are appropriately
trained to prescribe some prescription only medicines (those that were PML) in
accordance with the Veterinary Medicines Regulations, which implement new EU
requirements.
Although this will allow the UK’s current distribution system
involving merchants, saddlers and pet shops to continue, with SQPs being
responsible for sales, there will be a price to pay for this concession, a price
which most SQPs and businesses will consider one well worth paying when the
alternative would have been the end of their livelihood or business, or both.
There are implications for three groups of existing and
future SQPs: existing SQPs, student SQPs - i.e. those who are already enrolled
with AMTRA, and future SQPs, i.e. those who will enrol in the future.
Existing SQPs
………….renewal for 2006 & APL
If you are on the 2005 SQP Register a renewal notice for 2006
is being sent to you, together with an APL form (for the accreditation of prior
learning and experience). Renewals for 2006 will only be accepted when the
renewal form AND the completed APL form are returned together with payment for
both. On receipt of the forms and the payment an “X” prefix will be added to
your SQP number - you will become an XSQP. The reason for the APL form and the
subsequent assessment is to meet the requirement that all SQPs have a nationally
recognised qualification. The APL form will be assessed by Harper Adams
University College (HAUC) with whom AMTRA is working in partnership on this
project. Then the assessment itself will complete the process enabling HAUC to
award each SQP academic credits, in turn enabling AMTRA to replace the “X”
prefix with a “Q” (for “qualified”) prefix.
As indicated earlier, there is a price to pay for this
process. HAUC usually charge almost £350 for the accreditation of prior learning
and experience. AMTRA has negotiated a much lower fee, and including a small
administrative charge, the APL fee will be just £130 per SQP.
The AMTRA Register fee for 2006 (set by the AMTRA Board in
May 2005) will be £60 for merchants and £24 for saddlers - these prices include
VAT.
The APL fee will be £130 (£95 of which is VAT exempt. i.e.
£5.21 is VAT) for all SQPs.
So the two (AMTRA 2006 fee plus the APL fee) together will be
- Merchants £190 (£95 of which is VAT exempt, i.e. the VAT included is
£14.15)
- Saddlers £154 (£95 of which is VAT exempt, i.e. the VAT included is £8.79)
And this payment must be returned with the completed 2006
AMTRA renewal form and the completed APL form. On receipt, AMTRA will check
the APL forms, and if they have been completed correctly, will implement the
SQPs renewal for 2006 (making him or her an XSQP) and will submit the APL to
HAUC for assessment.
………..upgrading assessment
Before October 2008 all SQPs with an “X” prefix to their
AMTRA number (XSQPs) must successfully complete an assessment.
This will involve a short, simple multi-choice paper, plus a
simple case study - but the latter will be made simpler because when enrolling
for the assessment XSQPs will be sent two case studies, which they can think
about beforehand, then for the assessment they will be asked to complete one of
them - but they will not know which one in advance.
The charge for the upgrading assessment will be £135 (plus
VAT on £50 of this) - the same for all XSQPs. It is hoped that these assessments
can be offered in all parts of the United Kingdom.
Once a programme of assessments is decided upon (which may
not be until early 2006) this will be circulated to all XSQPs, together with an
application form.
One point must be made - it will not be possible for most
XSQPs to be accommodated at an assessment in the second half of 2008 - if too
many leave it until the last minute - until the end of the 3 years - then many
of them will find it impossible to get upgraded before the deadline and will
lose their SQP status.
Student SQPs
Those who are currently enrolled with AMTRA, but who have not
yet taken an AMTRA examination, are student SQPs, and their SQP number has a “Z”
prefix, they are therefore ZSQPs.
With the new Regulations coming into force soon, the final
examinations under the old system have now taken place. What then is the
position of the remaining ZSQPs? They have paid the old level of fees, rather
than the higher fees that will have to be charged for the new system from 2006
because of the need for HAUC assessments, but will no longer be able to sit an
old style examination.
Since it would be wrong to require ZSQPs to pay an extra fee
as their only option, to enable them to take an examination that they believed
they had already paid for, one further opportunity for them to take an AMTRA
examination without paying any extra fee is being offered to all ZSQPs.
Therefore a series of so-called “hybrid” examinations will be
offered in December 2005 - students will be examined on the existing course
material, but on the new Regulations. These will definitely be offered at Bicton
in Devon and at HAUC, Bishop Burton and possibly at other examination centres
too. Details will be circulated to all ZSQPs as soon as the programme is known,
together with an application form. Some training courses may also be offered
prior to this hybrid examination.
Those taking and succeeding in this hybrid examination in
December 2005 will be given an XSQP number and will still be required to
“upgrade” within 3 years. However, because the hybrid examination will be marked
under the HAUC system, those taking the hybrid December 2005 examination will
not need to complete an APL form - and will thus save the £130 APL fee.
AMTRA will accept new enrolments for these December 2005
examinations at the current enrolment fee - but such enrolments will only be
valid for those examinations, and if one is not taken in December 2005 then any
such new enrolments will lapse and will not be carried forward to the new system
in 2006.
Enrolments of student SQPs from 2006
It is expected that new enrolments under the new system will
be accepted from February or March 2006, and there will be 4 possible types of
SQP enrolment:
SQPs with R prefix - all POM-VPS & NFA-VPS SQPs with E prefix
- all POM-VPS & NFA-VPS for horses & companion animals SQPs with J prefix - all
POM-VPS & NFA-VPS for horses only SQPs with C prefix - all POM-VPS & NFA-VPS for
companion animals (excl horses)
The new courses will be designed on a modular basis under the
HAUC system, and initially will be supplied in manual form. There will be the
following modules
- a Base module with 10 credits
- a Farm Animal module with 15 credits
- a Companion Animal module with 5 credits
- an Equine module with 5 credits
RSQPs will be required to do all four modules; ESQPs will be
required to do them all except the Farm Animal module; JSQPs will be required to
do the Base and the Equine modules; and CSQPs will be required to do the Base
and Companion Animal modules.
The Farm Animal module will include a project as well as an
examination paper, as is currently the case. It is planned that there will be
two examinations; a Base module assessment that everyone will have to take, then
an examination on the appropriate specific modules.
from the AMTRA Secretariat, 10 October 2005
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