Corporates fight fire as fees anger hots up

The biggest corporate veterinary groups in the UK have hit back following calls for an inquiry into rising bills and pricing policies.

Practice groups – some owned by British and international private equity firms – have come under fire following public scrutiny over how large franchises have been able to acquire so many practices and how they charge for their services.

IVC Evidensia, CVS, Vet4Pets, Medivet, VetPartners and Linnaeus own more than half of all practices in the UK between them – now some are accusing these big corporate practices of using their market share to drive up prices.

Debate

The recent backlash started following an article written by Louise Eccles for The Sunday Times (9 May) that claimed “city fat cats have turned your local vet into a ‘cash-generating unit’”.

As a result of the article, Good Morning Britain hosted a debate on 18 May – to which no veterinary representatives were invited – that saw former Blue Peter presenter Peter Purves debating with author Liz Jones on whether there should be an NHS for pets.

During the debate, both Mr Purves and Ms Jones agreed that vet bills are currently far too high, but disagreed on what could be done to mitigate the costs. At one point during the debate, Mr Purves was asked if he thought vet bills were in any way regulated. Mr Purves responded: “I don’t think so”, prompting an angry response from the BVA.

Earlier this month the Daily Mail began a campaign into vet pricing, quoting Tory peer David John Maclean, who invoked the Competition and Markets Authority, adding: “The CMA should now get involved. We’re heading into a monopoly.

“It deserves widespread public attention that the majority of veterinary practices in this country are now in the hands of ruthless venture capital firms. This is a national scandal.”

‘Outrage’

Calls for an investigation are now snowballing, with other celebrities getting involved – Homes Under the Hammer presenter Martin Roberts took to Twitter on 9 June to attack vet fees as “outrageous”.

Speaking about his labradoodle that has needed repeat vet visits due to a digestion issue, Mr Roberts said: “It is an absolute outrage. I think there’s an investigation that needs to be done about costs. I thought vets were there to save lives, not save them if you can pay.”

Inaccurate and unhelpful

Now the corporate groups have gone on the offensive, arguing this portrayal is inaccurate and unhelpful, and that the price of fees is representative of the high-level equipment in modern practices, and the skill and training their staff possess.

A spokesman for CVS Group said: “Our primary focus is on providing the highest-quality clinical services to customers and their animals, and our strong commitment to giving the very best care possible is reflected in everything we do.

“We believe in fair and transparent pricing, and have only applied inflationary price increases for the past three years in our small animal practices. We deferred this price increase last July, given the impact from COVID-19 on our customers’ ability to access our services.

“We have been recognised by the RCVS for our outstanding work on clinical governance, being the first veterinary group to publish an annual quality improvement report focused on improving patient outcomes, reflecting our relentless focus on driving standards across the business.

“All of our practices also participate in the voluntary RCVS Practice Standards Scheme and more than half of our executive committee comprises veterinary clinicians.”

‘Excellent value for money’

A spokesman for equity-owned IVC Evidensia, which operates almost 1,000 sites across the country, added: “IVC Evidensia invests heavily in its clinics for the benefit of customers, pets and staff.

“We offer excellent value for money and run a hardship fund for customers most in need. Our vets have complete clinical independence, and all treatment and pricing decisions are made at clinic level.”