Vets will also have to reveal if they are part of a large group, following concerns that ownership of practices was unclear.<\/p>\n
About 60% of UK households own a pet, and the CMA says the vets sector is worth more than \u00a36.7bn.<\/p>\n
Martin Coleman, chair of the independent Inquiry Group, said: “Today’s reforms will make a real difference to the millions of pet owners who want the best for their pets but struggle to find the practice, treatment and price that meets their needs.<\/p>\n
“Too often, people are left in the dark about who owns their practice, treatment options and prices \u2013 even when facing bills running into thousands of pounds.<\/p>\n
“Our measures mean it will be made clear to pet owners which practices are part of large groups, which are charging higher prices, and for the first time, vet businesses will be held to account by an independent regulator.”<\/p>\n
The CMA found that more than 70% of pet owners bought long-term medication from their vet practice even though many could save \u00a3200 a year or more if they looked online.<\/p>\n
As part of the reforms, pet owners must be told they can have a written prescription which could save them money. <\/p>\n
Prescription fees are currently uncapped, but will be capped at \u00a321 for the first medicine and at \u00a312.50 for any additional medicines under the reforms.<\/p>\n
Under other measures set out by the CMA<\/p>\n
Vet practices must publish a “comprehensive” price list for standard services \u2013 including consultations, common procedures, and cremation options<\/p>\n
A written estimate must be provided in advance for any treatment expected to cost \u00a3500 or more, including aftercare costs, plus an itemised bill. Emergencies are the only exception to this<\/p>\n
Vet businesses must make clear whether they are part of a group or an independent business<\/p>\n
To help pet owners compare local practices, price and ownership information will be made available through the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons’ “Find a Vet” service, which will share the data with third-party comparison sites.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Vets will also have to reveal if they are part of a large group, following concerns that ownership…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":492338,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[49,50,51,47,52,48],"class_list":{"0":"post-492337","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-headlines","8":"tag-headlines","9":"tag-news","10":"tag-top-news","11":"tag-top-stories","12":"tag-topnews","13":"tag-topstories"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/492337","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=492337"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/492337\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/492338"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=492337"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=492337"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=492337"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}