SPVS have announced that their vet's fees survey results are now available. Vet’s fees have been very much in the limelight recently because of the ongoing CMA review. This year 148 practices across the UK responded to the fees survey. While we saw no real surprises, we did see lots of moderate increases as in previous years and just a few categories with more significant increases.
Headline figures from the fees survey
- Consultation fees for small animals increased by 4.5%
- Vaccine fees for small animals increased by 9-16 %. The higher values may represent practices shifting to Lepto4 after MSD withdrew Lepto2)
- Prescription fees increased by only 3% to £19.25 (excluding VAT). This is of particular interest because the average prescription fee is significantly more than the £13.33 capped rate proposed by the CMA.
- Neutering cats and dogs increased by 8% on average.
- Small animal surgery and diagnostic charges have significantly increased - pyometra surgery, x-rays, and ultrasounds have increased by 20%. It's possible that this is in reaction to the CMA remedies which propose reducing profit on medicines.
The impact of the CMA investigation
Most vet businesses work by cross-subsidies. They are able to treat wildlife, run out-of-hours surgeries, give large neutering discounts, and generally charge less for certain fees by using profits from drugs to subsidise this. This is because being able to treat and do these procedures is essential for animal welfare.
The CMA are looking to change this model. They would prefer more competitive charging of drugs but by doing so the cross-subsidy model will be affected. Veterinary fees must therefore increase in order for businesses to still be profitable and successful.
SPVS have been in meetings with the CMA to try and slow these changes down so any fee increases can be put in place slowly and minimise the possibility of harmful effects or negative impact on animal welfare. We have yet to see what the final CMA remedies hold but rest assured SPVS will be there to support its members navigate any changes. SPVS will be running several in-person roadshows around the country after the final remedies are released to help with this. To register your interest in attending these roadshows and to see provisional dates and regions please visit https://spvs.org.uk/cma-spvs-response/
More surveys from SPVS
SPVS undertakes annual surveys on profitability, salaries, and vet fees, and can be found here. Full results are only available to SPVS members.
