Vet prescription drug costs

“It takes about 15 minutes max for a check up and cost 40 quid.”

Add in the 10mins after that for cleaning/sanitising the consulting room, writing up notes, etc. Staff costs for the vet, plus the vet nurse, plus reception staff. Then add in liability insurances, etc.

As for using human medication on an animal- say something goes wrong, do you reckon any liability cover would still be in place?

It looks like it’s being looked into.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cx00dl5gwp8o

I don’t get the complaint.

When you go to McDonalds, would you expect them to tell you that  chips , also made from potatoes like theirs are, could be obtained in a larger volume for less cost down at Dave’s Plaice fish and chip shop just down the road ?  No.

Or get a new TV from Currys and expect them to tell you you can buy the new TV stand from John Lewis or new  cables down at Potts ? No.

So why is it different for vets ?

Its different as the large vet groups have bought out the majority of independent vets so there is very little competition in the market. In an market, lack of competition is a bad thing.

Rather like the large cooperation restaurants holding the market or electrical giants on TVs.

I got a human medicine first and then a dog one later for my cat over the last couple of weeks 🙂

I’m not paying, it’s a rescue animal, so I don’t even know the cost (they don’t seem unreasonable as vets go, and work very well with the rescue, so no complaints from me).

Well it’s in the news that we are paying too much due to lack of competition so it must be true. Vets costs in Europe are so much less in my experience. My pets have all passed away in the last couple of years and I’m really not sure about getting another with the costs in the UK. My local independent was bought by one of the big companies and the costs went up and the service and attitude went down.

We have had pets over 20yrs and for us vets have always been expensive it took a few years and advice from a friend, how cheaper we could get medication.

The £40 the OP paid was for a veterinary consultation and medication so to compare this cost to an online pharmacy supplying only the medication for £12 isn’t a fair comparison.

The online pharmacy can’t supply the medication without a veterinary prescription. In order to get a veterinary prescription you need to take the animal to a vet for a consultation. So to make it a fair comparison you would need to add the cost of a veterinary consultation and prescription charge onto the £12 for obtaining the medication online.

I think the total cost would likely be very similar whether the medication was obtained directly from the vets or from an online pharmacy.

I got a human medicine first and then a dog one later for my cat over the last couple of weeks

Be very carefull if using human medicine for pets, and pay close attention to any additives or ‘filler’ ingredients, as well as the active drug dosage…xylitol for example is a sweetner used in some human medications and can be very toxic for pets.

https://sunnyview-vet.com/2016/03/14/xylitol-toxicity-in-cats-dogs/

Last time I went to the dentist’s I was in there 10 minutes and it cost £50. I’m going to the vets next time.

The £40 the OP paid was for a veterinary consultation and medication so to compare this cost to an online pharmacy supplying only the medication for £12 isn’t a fair comparison

nope, it was 40 quid for the 15 minute consultation and an additional 40 quid for the medication.

How much would they have charged to write a prescription? Its usually around £20 so you would only have saved around £8 by getting it online – assuming the £12 cost for the medication from the online pharmacy includes VAT and delivery.

Yeah tbh I hadn’t appreciated they charge you 20 quid for a prescription (I’ve not confirmed that with the surgery but it seems the norm) . I suppose my gripe is still well why is the 1 min to issue the prescription not part of the consultation fee? I’ve previously seen them enter the medication requirement into the computer at the end of the consultation and it literally takes them 30 seconds.  I struggle to see how they can justify that costing 20 quid

but as it transpires in that report, they can do pretty much what ever they like given it’s a monopoly.

nope, it was 40 quid for the 15 minute consultation and an additional 40 quid for the medication.

and 8 years of university to gain the qualifications (without earning) that allows someone to perform the consultation and prescribe. That outlay needs to be paid back somehow.

The online pharmacy doesn’t have that outlay to take into account.

If you get the medication from the vets they don’t have to write out a prescription – they can just charge out the medication and print a label from the computer so this is a relatively quick process. If you want a written prescription the vet has to ensure that all the correct information as required by the Veterinary Medicines Regulations is present on the prescription and the correct wording has been used. If this is incorrect the prescription will likely be rejected by the pharmacist. It takes considerably more time for the vet to do this and check all information is correct then print out and sign the prescription. As it takes more time most vets will charge for issuing a written prescription and I think that is fair.

Whether there is a monopoly or not, people generally massively underestimate / don’t understand the level of costs associated with running something properly medical. They often compare costs to using other services which have a much lower costs.

The built in overhead is massive in comparison to running a shop / plumbers / even an opticians I’d suggest. The overhead costs involved in running a vets room for 10 minutes of patient time when you factor in staying the right side of regulation / indemnity / cross-infection / contaminated waste disposal etc and the staff costs involved in this on top of the actual face to face time are almost certainly much higher than you realise.

^^^This is so true. OP thinks it only takes 30 seconds to type up so is valuing the service on that alone without regard to all the other associated costs and time.