Vet charges!

[hellswelshy]

After paying for my cat to be seen and paying for prescription only flea treatment from them for a few months, I decided to ask my vet for the prescription which I was told would cover her for 12 months from time of the original appointment. The online vets have requested a prescription to confirm this treatment, and after being provided with a print out by the receptionist I've been told this isn't adequate. Just rang the vets and now been told a hand written prescription is £30!!! I was so shocked I've said I will call them back, but this is crazy isn't it? Or am I missing something? I have paid for the initial 'health check 'appointment to say she was suitable for Bravecto, why do I have to pay another £30 for a piece of paper to say this??😡

You need a prescription for a prescription medication , in exactly the same way as a chemist won’t hand human medicines over without a prescription. The cost of a prescription varies from vet to vet .

You are paying for their time, insurance and their expertise. If they wrote a prescription that wasn’t suitable, you could claim against them. They have to do a blanket charge rather than ‘oh that item won’t cause harm so I won’t charge so much for this prescription’ because it would add additional admin time doing that for each prescription. Mine only charge iirc £18 so I guess it depends on what area you are in also but they have to write the prescription, update your pets record, the receptionist has called so her time, the call etc etc.

Sorry, will call to say it’s ready.

Yep totally understand I'm paying a fee, and expected that, but a nominal fee surely? As stated I have already paid £60 for them to weigh her and do a quick examination to ensure she was healthy enough for the flea treatment initially. I think paying an extra £30 to confirm what they have already confirmed in the appointment itself is steep to say the least. I would have been okay with £18.

My vet charges around that for a private prescription too. It is what it is. If you want to buy the treatment elsewhere you need to pay the private prescription fee to do so.

Yes I understand all of that, as I say I wasn't expecting it for free. I think for transparency however it may have been something that they could have mentioned at the initial appointment 6 months ago, but it wasn't and therefore I am not sure if it's worth it now as dcat will have to go back in December for another health check. It's just annoying as they charge nearly double the price for Bravecto than online. Anyway clearly I'm on my own thinking its very expensive..

Many people in the UK have no idea of the real cost of medical treatment and as a result are often shocked at what veterinarians charge.

£30 is a nominal charge in a medical/veterinary context.

fwiw, I don't think there are many rich vets.

Is your vet independent? A lot of them have sold out to the big companies now but keep their own names going. These companies set the prices and only want profits for the shareholders.
You’re certainly not alone, I think they are expensive.

If vets did everything at cost or for a nominal fee, they wouldn’t make a living income. This is what their time and qualifications cost. Sure, it might feel expensive, but pets aren’t obligatory. Ask your vet for their fee schedule, it will detail all independent costs so that you aren’t surprised in the future / don’t mistakenly assume one fee covers additional services.

Any private medicine is expensive and everything is costed and included in the bill.

But why should flea treatment be prescription medication?

Presumably the purpose of a prescription for human medication is to stop people overdosing/prevent misuse.

I doubt that many people are likely to be abusing flea spot ons.

It's private medicine, and £30 for a qualified professional's paperwork isn't a rip off.

I suppose where I'm coming from is, if at the initial appointment it had been presented as an option- okay we can either give you a prescription for £30 or you can buy the treatment from us at X amount, then I could have decided there and then and weighed up what was most cost effective. Its about being given all the information. And like a pp has pointed out, it is just flea treatment? I'm now 6 months in after the initial appointment and it's probably not worth it now but I will be making sure I'm asking the questions at the next appointment.

One of the reasons that most non-prescription worm, flea and tick medications don’t work effectively anymore is because people have just bought them over the counter and not gotten the medical discussion on correct dosage for their pet’s weight and breed and how to properly treat holistically for parasites along with it. They then don’t use the drugs appropriately and so the parasites develop resistance. The longer a drug is kept prescription only the longer the drug keeps being effective - because the vet makes sure the owner knows how to do good worm, flea and tick control with their appointment and instructions.

Vets have to strictly adhere to a prescription protocol referred to as the cascade. This dictates the drugs that must be used in the treatment of animals: vets must use a drug that’s licensed to be used in that particular species and for that particular condition. If that drug in question is manufactured as prescription only, vets are obliged to provide the prescription. Like anyone else doing a job, they could do it free of charge - but why should they? Why should people with expensive qualifications and overheads be expected to give anything free just because some people think it’s unfair they should have to pay for what they need and want?

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cx00dl5gwp8o

Coincidentally in the news this morning!

Over 50% of all veterinary practices are owned by the same 12 companies.

Just this morning, it was announced that the Competitions and Marketing Authority are starting an investigation into Veterinary charges and procurement.

As an example, the head of the British Veterinary Association explained that although Veterinary Surgeons are regulated, Veterinary Practices aren't. So the majority of Practices are unable buy medicine at a discount and have to pay the same price as members of the public would pay from the wholesalers (prescription excluded). This is why a flea treatment from the your Vet is four times more expensive than you would pay online.

Also, having insurance means the cost of treatment goes up. If your insurance is paying, anything goes. If you were paying, the Vet would.have to convince you the treatment was necessary. How may people would pay £500 for an MRI scan "just as a precaution" ?

used to be that you had to be a Vet to own the business but that was changed a while back so that eg MakeMeRich can buy all the practices in an area and charge accordingly.

Over 50% of all veterinary practices are owned by the same 12 companies.

Also, having insurance means the cost of treatment goes up. If your insurance is paying, anything goes.

Your first point and your last are hugely interconnected. Pet insurance has indeed played a huge part in terms of deciding what medical treatment many pet owners are prepared to put their pet through when they don’t have to foot the bill themselves. From there, consumer expectations of what should be on offer for their pet have vastly increased – and that’s where group structures and private equity took such a foothold in the industry in the first place. The landscape of veterinary medicine has changed enormously over the past few decades because the average practice now offers / needs to offer the sort of treatments and surgeries which virtually nobody would have dreamed of their pet being provided with until relatively recently. As a result, modern veterinary medicine has enormous capital costs and overheads: everyone wants the best treatment for their pet and equipping a surgery with all the latest gear from MRI scanners to oncology isolators to state of the art biochemical analyzers to hydrotherapy pools to a stock of pharmaceuticals which retail for eyewatering amounts doesn’t come cheaply. Small, independent practices ultimately found themselves completely unable to raise the levels of capital they needed to be able to equip themselves and remain competitive against larger surgeries and groups which could – so they either folded or were bought out by groups backed by private equity, who can inject the required capital.

Having previously worked with the CMA on their market investigations into fertility clinics, children’s social care, and the funeral industry, I can ultimately see this study resulting in very similar conclusions, mainly surrounding transparency in and clear publishing of fee structures, transparency about the success rates of particular therapies, and ensuring customers are treated fairly – all of which are necessary and important. Beyond that, it’s such a complex industry to remedy, for all of the above reasons.