Veterinarians’ prescribing fees may be limited by the watchdog

Updated 2 hours ago

A cap on vet prescription fees is one of the measures being considered by the UK Competition Authority as it investigates the industry.

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) is continuing a formal investigation into the vet market amid concerns that pet owners are overpaying for treatment.

She said she heard from people who were struggling to pay vet bills and didn’t always know the best treatment options for their pets.

The British Veterinary Association said regulation of the sector was “woefully out of date” as it welcomed the review.

The CMA said estimates suggest up to 16 million UK households have at least one pet.

The Office for National Statistics has estimated that the cost of veterinary and other pet services has increased by around 50% since 2015, far more than the overall rate of inflation.

The watchdog launched a survey last year to ask people if they had any concerns they could be paying too much and received 56,000 responses from pet owners, vets and charities.

Earlier this year, she raised concerns that pet owners may not be receiving basic information such as price lists online and were not always informed of the cost of veterinary treatment before agreeing to it.

The CMA is now launching a formal investigation, meaning it could intervene directly in the market.

The regulator outlined three tips for pet owners when seeking treatment:

“The message from our vets so far has been loud and clear – many pet owners and professionals have concerns that warrant further investigation,” said Sarah Cardell, CMA chief executive.

“We’ve heard from people who are struggling to pay vet bills, potentially overpaying for medication and not always knowing the best treatment options available to them,” she said.

The CMA said local veterinary services are worth between £2bn and £2.5bn a year, but when other aspects such as cremation, specialist treatment and medication are taken into account, the industry’s total value is estimated at £5.7bn a year.

The competition authority has highlighted that the industry is increasingly dominated by larger firms and how this can limit choice for consumers

There are around 5,000 veterinary practices in the UK, but since 2013 six large corporate groups have acquired around 1,500.

They are CVS, Independent Vetcare Ltd, Linnaeus, Medivet, Pets at Home and VetPartners.

Four of the six tend to retain the name and brand of an independently owned practice when they buy it, which the CMA says can create an “illusion of competition” for consumers as they try to shop around and find alternative practices.

The watchdog said the inquiry would look at:

It said possible remedies could include forcing firms to provide certain information to consumers, imposing maximum prescription fees and ordering businesses to be sold or broken up.

Malcolm Morley, senior vice-president of the British Veterinary Association (BVA), told the BBC’s Today program that the trade body was “very keen” on the investigation and had been working closely with the CMA in recent months.

“Some of the points the CMA is raising are things we’ve been raising for a long time,” he said.

“The Vets and Veterinary Practices Regulation is woefully out of date and not fit for purpose.”

Mr Morley added that the area of ​​buying treatment online also needed to be looked at.

He said many independent veterinary practices were forced to buy drugs from wholesalers at prices that were higher than what consumers face when they buy from an online pharmacy.

Gemma Attenborrow, a dog owner from Birmingham, told the BBC she spent almost £10,000 on spinal surgery for her French bulldog Bali.

She said she felt she was charged an “extreme amount” for mediocre service.

Ms Attenborrow said pet owners can be too scared to go to the vet because of large bills and that this is “unfair” to both animals and owners.

However, the CMA also heard from vets who said they sometimes faced abuse from pet owners because of what they perceived to be high fees.

While they acknowledged that fees have increased, they also said interactions with pet owners have also been affected by factors such as:

BVA president Dr Anna Judson said: “Since the CMA first announced its assessment, veterinary teams in practice have found themselves on the receiving end of some truly unpleasant, often abusive behaviour.

“This is unacceptable and we urge everyone to remember that vets are human and are often not responsible for pricing structures within a practice.”