Daylight robbery, just my vets or widespread practice?

Nikiya

My vets recommended a new product for my cat, combining flea and worm control, called "advocate". I buy my supplies from "VetUK" (highly recommendable), where the three dose package costs 12.90 and the six one, 23.90. BUT I need a prescription.
Now, my vets charge me 10 pounds to write a prescription. This is apparently endorsed by a law passed in 2008 (who are the MPs who pass these laws to skim pet owners even more?).
These vets could, of course, sell me the same product without prescription, but THEIR price is 27.65 for the smaller pack and 50.90 for the bigger. That is more than TWICE the price you pay at a company which of course also makes a profit.
So these people charge more than a 100% ON TOP of a selling price. What a bunch of thieves! Unfortunately, I have not been able to find any decent ones in the area and since I am not on benefits, I can't resort to animal groups where I would be paying less and dealing with people more commited to helping animals than to milk their owners.

Sagz_2

£10 per script? Lucky you!
Mine charges £15 per item on a prescription and the advocate I buy (2 sizes of dog plus a cat one)still works out cheaper than what my Vet charges.

I know the Vets have to cover their overheads but I would have thought the £26 consultation fee every time you walk through their door would have helped.

Tropez

Yes, it is a standard practice but it is also a necessity for Vets. Medications account for a large proportion of a veterinary practices income (note that is income, not profit) and for every person preferring to buy their meds from websites rather than the vet is more money going out of the practice, hence vets do need to recoup the funds from somewhere, and charging for writing prescriptions is one of the ways that they can do this.

Of course, some will argue they could just drop the prices of their medication, but it isn't that simple. Websites have very little overheads and can basically be run from a small warehouse with a couple of lackeys organising and shipping orders while delivery is left to a third party (DPD in the case of VetUK). Vets on the other hand have to have a lot more equipment and pay a lot more bills and thus require a significantly higher source of income than the average website requires just to stay in existence. It is better that a vet charges for a prescription than ceases to trade after all.

My vets employs four nurses (actually it may be five, I forgot about the night nurses), offering a free nurses drop-in clinic and three veterinary surgeons. I have absolutely no problem supporting them by paying for prescriptions (£15 in my case) because the next closest vet is 20 miles away and in an emergency I'd be in serious trouble. And to be fair, while I'm unsure whether this is common practice, my vet also gives free worming and flea treatment meds for every three you buy from them, which works out very convenient when you have three dogs (which may or may not become four soon).

cyberbob

Advocate isn't new it's been around for years. It may be worth looking at other products that do the same thing such as stronghold or Frontline. Even with products such as these you still need to separately worm your cat as Advocate/Stronghold etc do not cover all types of worms

pigeonpie

vets are allowed to charge a 'reasonable' fee for prescriptions. My ex vet (who loves money..) charged £10 too. You could say ok, but please put a repeat or 2 on the prescription and point out the huge discrepancy between the drug via him and online. That much more for an essential med is a bit rough!

DogsBody

pigeonpie wrote: »

vets are allowed to charge a 'reasonable' fee for prescriptions. My ex vet (who loves money..) charged £10 too. You could say ok, but please put a repeat or 2 on the prescription and point out the huge discrepancy between the drug via him and online. That much more for an essential med is a bit rough!

At which point he'd be at liberty to say something like, ok, but when your dog needs an X-ray, why don't you get that online too?;)

Fully agree with Tropez. Think our vet charges £11.50, and if it's pay that or have the place close down/sack staff/not have up to date equipment, then hey, where's my cheque book!:D

spike7451

Orbit's meds (Fortekor) cost me £25 a pop each time,on average £35 a visit to the vet's including check up.

paddypaws101

This is indeed a thorny issue.....and I think some vet practices are rather unfair in the charges they levy for prescriptions...However, another point to make is that 'time is money'...they need to check doses and match it up to medical history, time to write the prescription....sometimes the pharmacy will want to call and check things with the vet etc etc

paddypaws101

Oh, and just to confuse the issue.....do you really NEED to worm/flea every month???? I certainly dont.

becky4131

cyberbob wrote: »

Advocate isn't new it's been around for years. It may be worth looking at other products that do the same thing such as stronghold or Frontline. Even with products such as these you still need to separately worm your cat as Advocate/Stronghold etc do not cover all types of worms

Advocate prevents lungworm where as frontline and stronghold do not. The only worm advocate doesn't cover is tapeworm so treating for this every six months is recommended (droncit tablet approx 1.50). Advocate is proven to be much more effective than frontline as it stays under the skin for 5 weeks unlike frontline which goes into the blood stream.

I am a veterinary nurse so it is a subject i obviously have an opinion on. Vets charge for prescriptions because it covers cost of ink to print the prescripton and time for the vet to fill one in, why should this be done free of charge at no benefit to the practice?

People moan about costs of vets but as practices there are alot of overheads so cannot compete with online prices. All the staff employed at vets are highly qualified and at the end of a phone to offer free advice, if practices were to close then this would not be available. I am proud to work in an environment that cares about the animals, im not sure you could say the same about online retailers who sell you meds at reduced price.

snowman2_2

If the prices for Advocate listed by the OP include delivery, I am going to buy some as it is cheaper than I can get wholesale. There are a few issues here.

1. It is not a level playing field. Some of these internet pharmacies are bigger than my 3-vet practice and get much bigger discounts from manufacturers meaning they can sell drugs to you cheaper than I can buy them. I can't get close. If I could get the same price as an internet pharmacy, I could reduce my prices

2. I have a much wider stock of drugs and dont just cherry pick the big sellers. I have over £20,000 of stock on my shelves available for IMMEDIATE sale, not reliant on the postal service. If you need your heart tablets urgently because you have dropped them in the toilet, an internet pharmacy is no use. Vets are delivering a quicker, more personal service than the internet pharmacies

3. It takes time to write a prescription, review the records and at the end of the day, my signature on the prescription is a legal device that makes me responsible for the drugs and a mistake could cost me my livelihood. Not something to take lightly. Just because yours is a flea treatment doesn't make it any easier. Plenty of cats have died from the wrong flea treatment and we charge the same for a prescription whether it is a wormer or advanced chemotherapy. I will charge for my time accordingly and £10 is a reasonable cost for 5 minutes of my time compared to an average 10 minute consultation

4. Why should I give 5 minutes of my time for free so you can give business to a competitor? Do Tesco's or ASDA tell you that Cornflakes are cheaper at Morrisons this week? I still have bills to pay.

5. Vets are actually excellent value compared to the NHS. The NHS budget for 2010/11 is approx £110 billion or £1830 per person. The average bill at a vets is about £250 per year. Try getting a private prescription from a doctor for less than £30.

6. The government, through the Competition Commission and Office of Fair Trading has been persuading vets over the past 5 years to reduce the charges for drugs and increase the charges for our professional time. When we try to charge for our professional time through a prescription charge we get accused of daylight robbery. We can't win.

7. There are many thousands of hard working nurses and receptionists who are on a very poor wage, close to minimum wage. I would love to put my prices up by 25% to give all my staff a 50% pay rise which is only what they deserve for the hard work and dedication they put in to a stressful job. Without these nurses and receptionists, we wouldn't have such excellent veterinary care in this country and I am proud to work with all my staff.

8. Vets get paid half of what doctors do for a very similar job (barring the species). If I wanted a job for the money, I would have become a GP but I sacrificed a huge extra income over a lifetime to become a vet. Yes, I do well financially but I could have done much better. Maybe vets aren't that intelligent after all

9. I have spent the last 20 years of my life helping animals and for 99% of everyone in vets practices, this is why we do the job. Don't you dare accuse us of being thieves, milking you or not caring about animals. I have been kept awake at nights thinking about cases and most of us have cried when we have just put to sleep a favourite patient. I can remember cases right back to my first month in practice, cases that mean something to me, be it the animal or the owner. Some owners are not just clients, they become friends. I love this job and wouldn't do anything else which is why you have to remember, it is not about the COST of veterinary care, it is the overall VALUE that you and your pets receive back.