Will the UK impose maximum vet prescription fees?

The UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has announced the formal launch of a probe into the country’s veterinary market after an initial review last year.

The watchdog’s key concerns remain the same from March and will be the areas for the upcoming investigation. These include the limited choice of vet businesses, competitive pricing, limited treatment choices and a corrupt regulatory framework that creates a market monopoly.

“We also remain concerned about the potential impact of sector consolidation and the incentives for large, integrated vet groups to act in ways which reduce consumer choice”, adds CMA’s Chief Executive Sarah Cardell.

As the lead investigator, Martin Coleman will chair and oversee the inquiry group made of independent experts. 

What can the CMA do?

Potential remedies to the investigation may include “mandating the provision of certain information to customers, imposing maximum prescription fees and ordering the sale or disposal of business or assets”.

The competition regulator is also eligible to make recommendations to the government for updating its regulatory framework.

Sarah Cardell, CMA’s Chief Executive acknowledged the acute staff shortages and difficult working conditions for vets, but identified the formal investigation as “essential”. 

Martin Coleman believes that a full investigation of competition in the £5 billion ($6.3B/€5.8B) vet service market “matters to businesses, veterinary professionals and, crucially, the 16 million households in the UK who have pets”.

Industry reactions

Pets at Home—which has been subject to the competition review—said that it will “continue to fully cooperate with the CMA to ensure our unique and pro-competitive business model of locally-owned vet practices is fully understood”. The company further explained in its statement that its veterinary practices are led by “individual entrepreneurial vets” with “clinical and operational freedom”.

The British Veterinary Association (BVA) drew attention to veterinarians’ motivation towards animal care. “We urge everyone to remember that vets are people and are often not responsible for the pricing structures within a practice”, says BVA president Dr. Anna Judson.

Judson also expressed her “hope” for the investigation to interrogate the need to reform the “outdated” Veterinary Surgeons Act.