Vets may have to publish prices of common treatments in government plans

Veterinary practices will be required to publish prices of common treatments so pet owners can shop around and choose the best value option, according to government proposals.

They will also need to have an official operating licence to help drive up standards, under plans from the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (Defra) -in the first reforms in 60 years.

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) watchdog has found that vet prices have risen at nearly twice the rate of inflation.

The British Veterinary Association, which represents 19,000 members, said it broadly supported the proposals, but these were “very unlikely to dramatically alter the cost of veterinary care”.

More than half of all UK households are thought to own a pet.

A File on 4 investigation in April last year found vets bills had skyrocketed. Hundreds of pet owners got in touch with the BBC with concerns.

Vets and animal charities have said pet owners were increasingly having their sick animals put down or are delaying taking them for treatment to avoid spiralling vet bills.

Mounting concerns over whether pet owners are receiving a fair deal prompted the CMA to launch a formal investigation near the end of last year. It has estimated problems in the veterinary market could be costing households up to £1bn over five years.

There are no standardised prices for treatments, and the CMA found 84% of vet practice websites had no pricing information at all.

While that investigation is continuing, with final proposals not due until March, the government has now announced its plans to update the way the system is regulated.

Under government proposals, vet practices would also need to be transparent around pet owners’ options and any changes, which the government said would allow them “to choose the best treatment for their animals”.

Knowing key prices beforehand would help them “to choose the best value”, it said.

It said 60% of vet practices are owned by non-vets. Practices would be required to disclose who owns them.

This knowledge plus price transparency would help owners decide which practice to use which “increases competition and brings down cost”.

Among its other proposals are:

• Every vet practice to have an official operating licence – similar to GP surgeries and care homes – helping customers have “greater confidence in care”
• An “easier and more effective” complaints route
• Legal recognition for veterinary nurses to “strengthen professional identity, helping improve job satisfaction and boosting retention rates”

It is launching an eight-week public consultation, closing on 25 March.

Helene Svinos, from Manchester, got in touch with BBC Your Voice earlier this month about her experience when her dog Rowan had an emergency admission while away in Suffolk last summer.

She was unhappy about the treatment, which cost £1,600, and although she has repeatedly complained, she said her experience has not been investigated.

The cost of the treatment pushed her over her insurance limit and meant she could not cover the English springer spaniel’s cancer treatment via her policy when he was diagnosed in October 2025, she said.

She said she ended up taking out a £10,000 loan “because I didn’t want him to go without anything”. Rowan died last month.

She told the BBC: “As a doctor it’s shocking because we have a very good complaints procedure.

“Our pets are family, my life revolves around my pets, and to have awful treatment, and also not be able to complain and then the vet bill on top of that, it’s just appalling – it feels like a real kick in the teeth actually.”

There is “no protection of your consumer rights at all when you take your dog to a vet”, she added.

Dr Rob Williams, president of the British Veterinary Association, said it was too simplistic to think that legislative reform would “somehow massively reduce the cost of veterinary care”.

“There’s far too many factors at play,” he said. “The cost of living is something that affects vet practices. It is very expensive to deliver the care.”

Williams said: “As a profession we can do an awful lot more today than we could do even 10 years ago. We have a much better understanding of diagnostics and treatment options… and quite rightly in my view the animal-owning public have a much higher expectation of my profession and what we can deliver in terms of the care we provide for their animals. So all of those things together account for why the cost is the cost.”

He added the reforms would increase transparency and “may go a long way” to increasing competition, but “of themselves they are very unlikely to dramatically alter the cost of veterinary care”.

Dr Christine Middlemiss, UK Chief Veterinary Officer, told the BBC that while currently it is just individual veterinary surgeons who are regulated, the proposals would bring whole businesses into scope.

It would broaden the availability of services, she said, as veterinary nurses would come under regulation, meaning they would be able to undertake certain standard procedures, whereas currently “they have to do everything under the supervision of a veterinary surgeon”.

Martin Coleman, chair of the CMA Inquiry Group, welcomed the consultation.

He added: “Our vets investigation is ongoing, but we have already set out our strong concern that the current rules are not fit for purpose and need reforming to keep pace with commercial practice and further build pet owner trust in veterinary businesses.”