Senior vets dismiss CMA claim that proposals will cut costs for owners

Senior vets have rejected the Competition and Markets Authority’s (CMA) prediction of lower prices for pet owners as a result of its proposed remedies for the profession.

Speaking in a panel at London Vet Show, CMA chairperson Martin Coleman said the authority believed its package of remedies “will keep prices lower than they otherwise would be”.

Later in the session, a panel of vets were asked if the public would be happy with the outcome of the CMA’s investigation into the sector, with BVA senior vice-president Elizabeth Mullineaux replying: “I’d love to say yes, but I honestly think they probably aren’t.”

Unhappy

She added: “Ultimately, the people who are really complaining are complaining about cost, and I can’t see any of this making prices go down. I do worry that we’ve gone through all this and that a small minority will still be really unhappy.”

Dr Mullineaux’s response was met with agreement from her fellow panellists and a round of applause from a packed theatre.

A later question from the floor asking delegates if they thought the cost of care would increase was met with a sea of raised hands.

Panellists also warned against further implications of remedies such as a £16 price cap on prescriptions, the issuing of same-day prescriptions and a requirement to inform clients they may find medicines cheaper online.

‘Administrative burden’

Locum vet and BVA council member Nick Jackson said: “The administrative burden cannot be overstated. It doesn’t reflect the professional expertise required to [issue prescriptions] accurately and correctly.”

IVC Evidensia group chief medical officer Gudrun Ravetz added: “We have to be aware of the administrative burden, and that is not just on financials, that is on opportunity lost cost, as well.

“The administrative burden has to be taken very seriously for all of the remedies that are going forward.”

Rebecca Robinson, president of the VMG and business development consultant at Vet Dynamics, said: “I think, as a profession, we’re starting to recognise we have to charge adequately for our skill and expertise, and the cap on prescription fees is preventing that to a degree.

“If the percentage of clients getting medicines from our practices goes down enough, it will no longer be business effective to keep that stock in practice, so then the choice will be removed from the clients.”

‘Mixed bag’

Dr Robinson said the investigation had been a “mixed bag” so far, but had led to “interesting conversations and challenging conversations” which she hopes will lead to “positive changes”.

Dr Mullineaux said that while “we probably all prefer it had never happened”, one notable positive to come from the CMA investigation is a renewed push for legislative reform.

She added: “If we get reform of the Veterinary Surgeons Act, I’ll buy Martin and his colleagues a drink because they really have helped there.

“I think they’ve moved that discussion on like nothing else has. We’ve never been anywhere near it, now it feels like we might be really near.”