Fees
The NHS has it's good points, but I think it's at fault for the misconception that "Vets are expensive". There may be some expensive vets, and the growth in the corporate chains, might be taken as evidence that there's money to be made from Veterinary Practice, but there are still a lot of practices who's bottom line isn't purely profit. Fortunately, I'm not just doing it for the money, and whilst the hours on duty aren't really compensated financially, it's uplifting to see the fruits of our labours. Measured in terms of Thank you cards versus complaint letters, our practice is very successful.
Practices that have time on their hands, will phone round their competition to check prices. Most practices want to be competetive with their vaccination and neutering fees- These are the ones that clients are likely to check out and compare. They hope that clients will form an opinion on the basis of a couple of prices, and because those prices were low, they may (sometimes erroneously) assume that the rest of the prices are reasonable too. When there's a growing number of practices in town, we can't all be the cheapest.
I know that my prices on a "basket of goods" are very reasonable. The SPVS does a survey an annual nationwide survey, and I find that I'm always below last years regional average price. In difficult times, we're resigned to losing an odd client who has found a special offer on their annual healthcheck and vaccination, and thinks they're going to save a few quid. In reality this saving may be small in comparison to the ongoing costs of moving to another practice.
Recently a lady brought a dog to us for vaccination. She'd "adopted" this dog, who was already registered with us, but she had previously been using another local practice for her own dog. She showed me a quotation for a half price dental work "Special offer" from her practice. Our normal price was less than this "Half price special offer".
Whilst I wouldn't want our practice to have a reputation for being "cheap", a lot of clients, who've come from other practices, think we offer very good value. Having offered "Free Home Visits" when I started out, I've now stopped trying to win customers with special offers. We concentrate on providing the best service, at a competive price, and let our existing customers spread the word for us.
Prescription only medication
We can only prescribe medication to animals "under our care". This is a legal requirement, it it also common sense. We want to make sure that the medicine is being used effectively, that it is still the right choice for the condition, and that there are no evident side effects. For an animal that appears to be stable on a suitable medication, we say that a 3 monthly interval between checks is sufficient. It will never be longer than this. Please don't argue with the staff when they explain this to you. Persistent offenders will be asked to find another practice.
Prescriptions
I'm perfectly happy (excuse the sigh, and rather hurt expression) to provide prescriptions for customers who would like to buy their expensive medication, from somewhere less expensive. Our prices for medications are perfectly reasonable- we don't benefit from the large discounts that internet pharmacies get from manufacturers. We're a corner shop, not a supermarket. We like to keep a full range of medication in stock, but if it goes out of date, not only do we lose out, but we then have to pay for it's disposal.
We make a charge of £8.33+VAT for writing a single item prescription, or £12.50+VAT for a more complicated one.
*** Top (red) Tape - All injectables once opened now have an arbitrary shelf life of 28 days. They must then be disposed of, at our expense! Expect to pay more for rarely used hormone injections and frequently used but tiny guinea pig mite treatments which come out or a rather large and expensive bottle. Thank the VMD ***
Payment
We're open with our fees, and will discuss likely costs in advance, and where available cheaper alternatives, but we do insist on payment at the time of treatment. Unfortunately we've had too many broken promises.
We take cash, cheque and most common payment cards.
Insurance
At present we don't charge for filling in insurance forms (and they say vets are more intelligent than Doctors!), despite the extra work it creates. We like the client to pay for treatment direct though and then reclaim the money from the insurance company.
We broadly support the idea of insurance, as it takes cost out of an already complicated equation, when deciding on how to approach a case. It's a must if you're ever considering referral to a specialist.
We can't recommend a specific company, but like any type of insurance be aware of excesses and exclusions. The main consideration is whether to pay extra for a lifelong policy, or to choose a cheaper one that will only pay for 12 months treatment.
****Top tip It's probably sensible to start with a lifelong policy, and that way if it turns out that you've chosen a problem pet, at least you're covered. A lot of lifelong problems ie skin allergy, epilepsy, lameness, will become apparent in the first couple of years. If your pet hasn't had many problems you might then want to downgrade to a cheaper 12 month policy.****
If your insurance is with E&L and they want us to waste our time sending lots of additional information in triplicate, because they've had a fire at their office (again), then we reserve the right to charge for this.