£12.50 Charge For Perscription From Vet

symikins

hl there

lve been currently getting a perscription form from my vet for my dogs meds , as it is half price on line [ a big saving for me ]

now l find that the vets will charge you £12.50 for this perscription the meds l get for my dog at the vets cost £36 pm which l could get on line for £18.50 the px form the vets was for agreement for 2 lots of meds [ in my case 2mths supply}[ so l could get double the amount on line than from the vets .!!!!!

one of the on line suppliers l use is actually a vetinary surgery !!!! how can this be right !!!

my dog also has to be re-examined for the px to be re-issued at a cost of £30 per visit

l appreciate that some meds must be closely administered for the well being of the amimal

l just cannot understand that a vetinary practice can charge over the top for something that can be purchased cheaper . if they were more competitive l for one would have no problem getting all my animals meds from them
pet care is the biggest rip off going


and before anyone says about pet insurance, yes l did have it but my ex partner decided to ccl it as he was on good money .....yea great till he left now l have 2 dogs too old to insure... which is just when you need it most

snowman2_2

On-line pharmacy can choose just to stock the high value, big selling products. Vets have to stock all the lesser used and emergency drugs so have a much wider range.
On-line pharmacy operates from an industrial unit, vets from the high street with higher rent.
Vets employ more staff to give a higher level of service, individual advice tailored to your pet. Vets are open 6 or 7 days a week and can supply medicines almost immediately, worst case is usually next day compared with several days for on-line pharmacy.
On-line pharmacies rely on bulk sales, generating a low profit on each sale, but making up for it with large numbers of orders. Vets rely on lower number of sales (compared to some of the big on-line sites).
There is no proof that some of these on-line sites are profitable and sustainable businesses, vets are usually reliable to still be trading in 5 / 10 years time.
Some sites are based abroad, don't comply with UK regulations and are obtaining drugs on the black or grey market.
Big on-line pharmacies will make greater sales of common drugs and can get much bigger discounts from suppliers, sometimes upto 30% which smaller vets practices aren't able to get. Size does matter, especially for your smaller vets.

Whilst I can't condone rip-off prices, there are valid reasons why a vets will be more expensive.

BTW - we are not currently charging for prescriptions and have no plans to add a prescription charge. However, we price sensibly and have only been writing a prescription every couple of months.

simontheiceman

symikins wrote: »

hl there

one of the on line suppliers l use is actually a vetinary surgery !!!! how can this be right !!!

Its called business.

I would do it if I felt that I could actually make a profit doing it. I suspect that a lot of the online pharmacies will not last into the long term. They all try to out-do each other on cost and the margins are extremely slim.

A Veterinary surgery is the ideal base business from which to run an online pharmacy as it is already a profitable business and can sustain the low prices within its framework. What would be really interesting to know is whether the regular clients of that practice benefit from the same prices.

simontheiceman

snowman2 wrote: »

Big on-line pharmacies will make greater sales of common drugs and can get much bigger discounts from suppliers, sometimes upto 30% which smaller vets practices aren't able to get.

Join a buying group - we have and the profit increase has been quite impressive and has meant we can keep prices sensible whilst maintaining margins.

We have also managed to write very few prescriptions so I am not bothered about introducing a charge and may not do so. If I do it will be nowhere near £12-50. I will however review this based on demand for scripts.

Dobiesmon

Hi all
I have taken this from Bestpet Pharmacy it might come in handy .

Prescription Charges-

As from the 31st October 2008 Vets will be able to charge for a prescription.
The RCVS Guidelines say:

"VETERINARY SURGEONS SHOULD NOT MAKE UNREASONABLE CHARGES FOR WRITTEN PRESCRIPTIONS THAT COULD BE REGARDED AS A DETERENT BY CLIENTS WHO MIGHT OTHERWISE ASK FOR A PRESCRIPTION.

ALSO, THE VET MUST NOT DISCRIMINATE BETWEEN CLIENTS WHO ARE GIVEN A PRESCRIPTION AND THOSE WHO ARE NOT."

If you think you are being overcharged or discrimated against you may want to inform BOB MACDOWALL at the OFFICE OF FAIR TRADING who is monitoring the situation. His email address is [EMAIL="bob.macdowall@oft.gsi.gov.uk"]bob.macdowall@oft.gsi.gov.uk[/EMAIL]
or call him on 020-7211-8274

simontheiceman

Dobiesmon wrote: »

Hi all
I have taken this from Bestpet Pharmacy it might come in handy .

Prescription Charges-

As from the 31st October 2008 Vets will be able to charge for a prescription.
The RCVS Guidelines say:

"VETERINARY SURGEONS SHOULD NOT MAKE UNREASONABLE CHARGES FOR WRITTEN PRESCRIPTIONS THAT COULD BE REGARDED AS A DETERENT BY CLIENTS WHO MIGHT OTHERWISE ASK FOR A PRESCRIPTION.

ALSO, THE VET MUST NOT DISCRIMINATE BETWEEN CLIENTS WHO ARE GIVEN A PRESCRIPTION AND THOSE WHO ARE NOT."

If you think you are being overcharged or discrimated against you may want to inform BOB MACDOWALL at the OFFICE OF FAIR TRADING who is monitoring the situation. His email address is [EMAIL="bob.macdowall@oft.gsi.gov.uk"]bob.macdowall@oft.gsi.gov.uk[/EMAIL]
or call him on 020-7211-8274

Unfortunately this is wrong and they have only chosen to quote a portion of the text of the Guide to Professional Conduct leaving their statement out of context. The actual text has an addition to the sentence - subtle but important:

A veterinary surgeon must not discriminate between clients who are supplied with a prescription and those who are not in relation to fees charged for other goods or services.

The way forward will be for the OFT to set a fee and I hope they do so, as it will settle the argument.

carlalouise

wish i'd of read this post yesterday , my boxer has just been diagnosed with kennel cough my visit to the vets yesterday cost me £23 consultation fee , £10 for a steriod injection & £26 for antibiotics .... i couldnt believe the price of the antibiotics i bet i could of got them cheaper on line

missbargain

Yes, they are rip off, because, like with the childrens stuff, they play on the fact that we are emotionally attached to our pets, so that we will spend on them even if we can ill afford it.

I have recently bought some wet pouches from my vet that cost 70 pence each, and on closer inspection, I noticed written on them, in several languages: "Not for individual sale. To be sold in the pack only".

So it was obvious that my vet didn't comply with that, they have opened the multipack and are selling the individual pouches at highly inflated prices. And guess what? I checked on the Internet, and if you buy a pack of these pouches, it works out that the pouch only cost about 40 pence. I only noticed this the other day. Next time I go, I am going to point this out to them, especially as they are blatantly doing it to increase the profit, not for any other reason.
The same goes for the medicines. About a month ago, I urgently needed some flea ampules, so I ran to my closest vet, where my cat is not registered. She sold me one (yes, one) ampule out of the pack of 6, for £7 (in words: seven pounds, for one ampule). I almost fainted there and then. But I suspected that my moggy might have had a flea, so I had no choice, I needed it straight away. Just terrible, terrible rip-off! And then the vets have the cheek to say "Don't buy online". Well, don't be so greedy!

I understand that vets have to pay for more staff, rent, etc., but the prices I am witnessing are outrageous and totally unjustified. Pure greed, if you ask me.

snowman2_2

carlalouise wrote: »

wish i'd of read this post yesterday , my boxer has just been diagnosed with kennel cough my visit to the vets yesterday cost me £23 consultation fee , £10 for a steriod injection & £26 for antibiotics .... i couldnt believe the price of the antibiotics i bet i could of got them cheaper on line

But do you want to wait 4 days to get the antibiotics through the post or would you rather treat your dog straight away. You will pay extra for the convenience of the vet dispensing drugs there and then rather than to leave the infection to take hold for another few days. Also £26 for a decent course of antibiotics for a boxer doesn't sound too bad considering the size of your dog. people forget that size matters - I can treat a Yorkie far cheaper than a Labrador

orlao

Just been searching for the cheapest way of sourcing metacam for a dog that is on it for life....I've always bought my pets meds online so I didn't realise how big the price difference is!

This dog is a puppy farmed lab....chronic hip dysplasia since a pup and a front leg elbow problem as well which apparently has ruled out hip replacement as the front leg wouldn't withstand the recovery period from hip surgery. She is meant to be on NSAID all the time as well as limited exercise. A very sad case but I have just discovered that the dog hasn't been getting her meds regularly as they are "too expensive" at £35 a 100ml bottle plus consultation of £29. NOT a good enough excuse as far as I'm concerned and I do hold the owner responsible for this situation but by spending 20 mins checking a few (UK only btw) I've reduced the annual bill from £410 to £210 if you include 6 monthly consultations and 2 x prescription charges of £4.99. This includes switching from Metacam (£21 online) to Meloxidyl (£14.10) but since I am taking the dog to the vets on Monday and I have no problem asking for a repeat prescription despite the "disapproval" it will incur at least this poor dog will have some comfort for the next 6 months. Ok, rant over:o sorry for going off topic but the point is what do some vets expect? That customers will continue to pay such inflated prices forever? What actually happens is that they not only lose an inflated (IMO) profit margin but also the trust and respect of their clients. They do not regain that respect by charging an inflated (again IMO) prescription charge. I honestly think that this kind of behaviour demeans the profession....one that I have held huge respect and admiration over many years but in some cases I now find I'm losing due to the uncomfortable sensation of been milked like a cash cow on too many occasions.

Simon
Your attitude is very rare among vets in my area, sadly but you have proved that a surgery can compete broadly on price with the online pharmacies....do other vets not realise that a small profit in their pockets is better than a large profit that is never received as the business goes elsewhere?


ETA Just seen snowmans post and would like to clarify that I'm referring to ongoing meds that are not required with any urgency!

missbargain

QUOTE "do other vets not realise that a small profit in their pockets is better than a large profit that is never received as the business goes elsewhere?"

This is exactly my point, too.

We all agree that the shop price has to be higher than the Internet price, as you get the instant service and specialist knowledge there.
But higher prices and unjustifiable ripp off prices are something completely different, and that is the point of most of these posts.