What the CMA veterinary services reforms mean for pet owners

Key changes to written prescriptions

Your prescriber will have to offer a written prescription.

Once this requirement applies, when a medicine is prescribed during a consultation, the prescribing veterinary professional must ask whether the pet owner would like a written prescription. This gives the owner the option, where legally and clinically appropriate, to have the medicine dispensed elsewhere. The offer is not required where the medicine needs to be administered by a veterinary professional or the pet needs to start it urgently.

This requirement applies from 23 June 2027 for large veterinary businesses and 23 September 2027 for small veterinary businesses.

Veterinary businesses will be required to clearly advertise this information in physical locations and online communications. The following notification will also have to be given on an invoice or receipt in the same size font as the main text:

“Written prescriptions are available upon request. At this practice, the cost of a written prescription for the first medicine prescribed within a consultation is £[prescription fee price].

You may be able to buy medicines significantly cheaper elsewhere. Compare prices online and at third-party retailers to see the savings you might make.”

Veterinary professionals will also be obliged to make an oral offer of a written prescription, unless there is clinical need to administer it urgently.

Information about ongoing medication may be provided as an A5 flyer, printed legibly on the dispensing bag, or emailed where requested. The requirement does not apply where the medicine is supplied without charge at the point of dispensing, such as through a pet care plan.

Written prescription fees will be capped.

The maximum fee for providing a written prescription will initially be £21.40 including VAT for the first medicine and £12.70 including VAT for each additional medicine prescribed within the same consultation, or alongside the first medicine when prescribed outside a consultation.

The caps apply from 23 March 2027 for large (15 or more first-opinion practices) veterinary businesses and 23 September 2027 for small (fewer than 15 first-opinion practices) veterinary businesses. The initial caps may be updated annually from April 2028. These are caps on the charge for providing the written prescription, not the medicine or consultation price.

Ownership information

Vet ownership for businesses forming part of a group or network will be required to appear prominently on the homepage of a veterinary business website, as well as in website metadata to appear in search and map results online. Ownership status of a veterinary business will also need to be displayed on storefront signage and in pet owner communications.

Pricing

Veterinary businesses will have to publish a price list on their websites (no more than one click from the homepage and accessible and labelled in the website navigation) and make the price list available to pet owners at the premises of any centre that they operate. When sending the first digital communication confirming a consultation booking, the veterinary business will be required to state the consultation price and provide a link to its published price list. It does not have to include all standard treatment or service fees in that communication. 

Price lists will have to be up to date before a new or revised price is charged to pet owners. Any services not included and referred elsewhere to a third party will have to be made clear.

Pet care plans

Veterinary businesses will be required to publish pet care plan information on the relevant section of their website, as well as make pet owners aware of this information in writing on their premises. Veterinary businesses will also be required to show clear evidence of exactly where and how savings have been calculated if they make claims about a pet care plan saving pet owners money compared with buying the included services individually.

The costings and information about pet plans will have to be kept up to date and accurate.

Find a Vet platform

Veterinary businesses will be required to provide the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons with relevant information, price lists, and pet care plan details for the Find a Vet platform. Veterinary businesses will also have to provide details about ownership or group membership and ensure all information is kept accurate and up to date.

Higher cost treatments

Veterinary businesses will be required to give a written estimate of reasonably likely costs for qualifying higher-cost treatment pathways and retain a copy of the estimate for 12 months afterwards. A written estimate will be required where the treatment pathway is reasonably likely to cost at least £500 including VAT and the likely future costs exceed £100. A pet owner may expressly decline an estimate. These will not be required for every treatment pathway.

This will also have to be provided in sufficient time for pet owners to seek an alternative written estimate from another source if they wish to. It will have to be given to the pet owner no later than the end of the working day following the day on which the treatment pathway was recommended.

The exception is when a veterinary professional deems that a delay in treatment would seriously endanger a pet’s health.

Itemised bills

Veterinary businesses will be required to provide pet owners with itemised bills before or at the same time payment is sought. The itemised bill will have to make it clear which items or services have been sold and how they compare with the written estimate and published price lists. 

Veterinary businesses will also be required to show the total of a fixed price bundle, along with the main component elements of the bundle and a comparison with the standalone prices at which the business sells those items. 

Less detailed information may be provided for euthanasia or cremation where the business reasonably considers this necessary to avoid causing distress. Any add-ons must still be disclosed, and the pet owner may request a more detailed breakdown. 

Independent and impartial advice

Veterinary businesses will be required to put appropriate policies, training and monitoring in place to support veterinary professionals in providing independent and impartial advice in accordance with the relevant RCVS codes and guidance.

Own brand items

If a veterinary professional prescribes an own brand medication, they will also be required to let the pet owner know that it is an own brand and that there are alternatives available to buy from third parties. The veterinary professional must identify the medicine as an own-brand product, the reference product alternative must be identified, and its name must be provided in writing when the own-brand medicine is dispensed. Where the reference product is clinically unsuitable, a clinically appropriate alternative must be considered.

Complaints

Veterinary businesses will be required to have a written complaints process to follow and let pet owners know they have a right to complain and how to do so.

Veterinary businesses will be required to try to resolve complaints informally. If a complaint has not been resolved within ten working days, it becomes an actionable complaint and must be acknowledged in writing within a further five working days. A full response should normally be provided within eight weeks after the complaint becomes an actionable complaint. Where more time is reasonably required, the business must explain this within eight weeks and provide its final response within 12 weeks.

Conclusion and next steps 

The substantive Order and RCVS Undertakings have been published.  

We will keep you informed about any developments, as the CMA aims to “remedy, mitigate or prevent competition problems in this sector”. 

To find out more about our pet prescription fulfilment service, visit our pet prescriptions page.