Vets under increasing pressure to make money for corporate owners, BBC told

Vets have told BBC Panorama that they feel under pressure to make money for the big companies that employ them, as well as concerns about the financial consequences on pet owners. The cost of vet services in the United Kingdom increased by 63% between 2016 and 2023, and the government's antitrust regulator has questioned whether the pet-care industry - as it stands - is offering customers value for money. According to one anonymous vet who works with IVC Evidensia, the company has introduced a new monitoring system that may encourage vets to provide pet owners with costly diagnostic and treatment options.

The company's vets and vet nurses never prioritize price or transaction value over and above the welfare of the animal in their care,

a spokesperson for IVC told Panorama:

More than half of all UK households are believed to have a pet. Hundreds of pet owners have contactedBBC Your Voice in the last few months with questions regarding vet bills. One individual said they had paid £5,600 for 18 hours of hospitalization for their pet:

I would have paid anything to save him but then felt we had been treated unfairly.

At the end of the therapy, we were none the wiser about her illness, and we were presented with a bill worth £13,000.

The Competition and Markets Authority, a federal oversight into whether pet owners are receiving a fair price, prompted a formal probe by the Competition and Marketing Authority (CMA).

'Hitting targets'

A vet who performs one of IVC's surgeries (and who does not want to be identified because they fear they will lose their career) has posted a new internal paper with Panorama. The paper uses a colour code to compare the company's national and treatment options, as well as states that it is intended to assist employees in improving clinical care. It includes key performance indicators in categories such as average profits per patient, X-rays, ultrasound, and lab tests. The vet is worried about the new policy:

We will have meetings every month, where one of the area teams will ask you how many blood tests, X-rays, and ultrasounds you're doing.

If a category is marked in green on the chart, the clinic will be deemed to be one of the top 25% of achievers in the United Kingdom. On the other hand, a red mark would place the clinic in the bottom 25%. If this happens, the vet says it could be required to come up with a scheme of action. According to the vet, this will put pressure on upsell services. For example, the vet claims that under the new model, IVC would like any animal with alleged osteoarthritis to be X-rayed. With sedation, it could cost a bill by £700. Although X-rays are sometimes required, the vet claims that the signs of osteoarthritis - or joint swelling, for example - are obvious to an experienced vet who may want to prescribe a less costly anti-inflammatory drug.

Vets shouldn't have to do an X-ray because it will determine whether or not they are getting permission for their clinic's care framework.

IVC has told Panorama that it is extremely proud of the work its clinical teams do, and that the data it gathers is used to

identify and close the gaps in care for our patients. It claims that its vets have

clinical independence

and that prioritizing revenue over care would be against the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons' (RCVS) code and IVC guidelines. According to the vet, a drive to raise money is undermining his career. Panorama consulted with more than 30 vets who are currently employed or have worked for one of the major veterinary companies in the United States. One recalls being told that not enough blood tests were being administered:

We were pushed to do more. I hated opening emails. It was mad when their little business was sold to a large corporation, according to another. It was all about hitting targets". Not all large companies set goals or monitor employees in this manner.

The high cost of treatment

UK pet owners spent £6. According to the CMA, there were 3 billion on vet and other pet-care services in 2024, equal to just over £365 per household. However, most pet owners in the United Kingdom do not have insurance, and bills can make it difficult for less well-off families to feel helpless when medical assistance is needed. According to the CMA, many vets did not bother to display prices and pet owners had no idea what treatment would cost, but in the past two years, they have improved. When his family dog, Betty, became sick during the fall of 2024, Rob Jones took her to an emergency treatment center, Vets Now, and she underwent an operation that cost almost £5,000. Betty was still sick 12 days later, and Rob says she had been warned that she might have a serious infection. A diagnosis - as well as another surgical procedure - would cost between £5,000 and £8,000. Rob, on the morning of the operation, was told that the price had risen to £12,000. He was quoted a new figure when he complained: £10,000. I lost faith in them right away, he says.

It was like, I don't think you've got our best interests or Betty's interests at heart.

Because of Betty's sleep, the family decided to put her daughter to bed. Rob did not know at the time that both his local vet and the emergency center, branded Vets Now, where Betty was treated, were part of the same company, IVC. He was content with the therapy but later received an apology from Vets Now. It offered him £3,755. 59 as a goodwill gesture. Vets Now staff care passionately for the animals they treat:

In complicated situations, prices will vary based on what the vet finds during a consultation, during the treatment, and depending on how the patient responds.

We've reviewed our processes and made some changes to ensure that pricing discussions are as straightforward as possible.

Value for money?

According to Dr. David Reader of the University of Glasgow, independent vet practices have been a hot buy for corporate investors in recent years. He has conducted a comprehensive review of the industry. Pet care has been deemed as appealing due to the opportunities

to find efficiencies, to consolidate, and the establishment of regional hubs, but also to maximize profits. According to the CMA, six major veterinary groups (sometimes referred to as LVGs) now account for 60% of the UK pet care market, up from 10% a decade ago. They are: When the CMA announced its provisional findings last fall, it said there was not enough competition or informed choice in the industry. Between 2020-2024, it was estimated that the total cost of this to UK pet owners would have amounted to £900 million. Corporate vets dispute the £900m figure. Their rates are competitive and made readily available, and they represent significant investment in the industry, not to mention rising costs, especially opioids. Customers also value their services and that they comply with the RCVS guidelines, according to the corporate vets. According to a CMA survey, pet owners are content with their vets, both commercial and independent, when it comes to quality of service. However, with the exception of Pets at Home, customer satisfaction on cost is much lower for the large companies.

I think large veterinary corporations, particularly where they're owned by private equity firms, are more concerned about profits than surgeons who run veterinary clinics," Suzy Hudson-Cooke of Unite says.

Proposals for change

The final report of the CMA on the vet industry is due by the spring, but no date has been set for release. Its provisional study found that improved transparency on pricingand vet ownership could be helpful. Businesses would have to disclose whether vet services were part of a chain, out-of-hours surgeries, online pharmacies, and even crematoria. IVC, CVS, and Vet Partners are all linked companies, and they will all need to be more open about their offerings in the future. Pets at Home does not buy services; it works in collaboration with individual doctors, as does Medivet. These businesses have consistently stated that their brand is responsible for their behavior. The major corporations have stated that they favor measures to make the industry more competitive as long as they don't place too much emphasis on vets. According to David Reader, the CMA plans may have pushed further.

There's good reason to believe that after this probe is concluded, some of the larger veterinary companies will continue with their merger policies.

The CMA claims that its plans will

improve competition by assisting pet owners in choosing the right vet, the right medication, and the right way to buy drugs without confusion or unnecessary expense. It is also too late for Rob Jones, though it is likely that it is too late.

I honestly wouldn't get another pet,he says.I think it's so expensive now, and the financial risk is so high.