Panorama on Vet Costs in UK

[Alex]

I didn't see this programme, I copied this from Facebook it's a bit long

Get ready! If you can't watch this Panorama program, Why Are Vets Bills So High, on Monday 12th January 2026, at 8 pm on BBC 1, set your recorder. From what we have heard this is factual and hard hitting and definitely not 'vet bashing'. 
BBC Panorama have  investigated rising vet fees, finding they've increased by nearly 50% since 2020, with the program highlighting concerns about high costs for treatments, extensive tests, and lack of price transparency in the industry, showing examples from both large chains and independent vets, all impacting pet owners.
Until a change in the law in 1999, only qualified veterinary surgeons could own vet clinics. This meant most practices were small businesses run by partners who knew their patients and played an important role in the community, just as in the cosy 1980s TV series All Creatures Great and Small. In the last few decades, though, big businesses have been buying up practices at a furious pace, drawn by their often healthy profit margins, which could be increased by consolidating services under a big corporate umbrella. Vets are also regarded as "recession-proof", as Britons will cut back on just about everything else to prioritise their pets.
The "Big Six" corporate groups dominating UK veterinary care are IVC Evidensia, CVS Group, Medivet, Pets at Home, Linnaeus, and VetPartners, together owning nearly 60% of practices, leading to scrutiny from the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) over rising prices and market dominance, with concerns about private equity influence.
The "Big Six" in Detail:
IVC Evidensia: The largest group, backed by private equity and Nestlé, with over 1,000 practices and emergency services.
CVS Group: Owns hundreds of practices, diagnostic labs, and crematoriums.
Medivet: A large multinational group controlling hundreds of UK centres, including famous locations like Skeldale Veterinary Centre.
Pets at Home: A major retailer also owning numerous vet practices, often through joint ventures.
Linnaeus: Another significant corporate player in the market.
VetPartners: One of the major consolidators, also facing regulatory attention.
Please also note than many large online pet pharmacies are also owned by these groups, leading to more concerns about competition, hidden ownership, and potentially higher prices for pet owners.
 These six companies have acquired around 1,500 independent practices since 2013, fundamentally changing the UK landscape. Pet owners have seen significant price hikes, almost doubling inflation, prompting Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) investigations into potential lack of competition.
Several of these groups (like IVC and Medivet) are heavily backed by private equity firms, aiming for profits, which adds to industry concerns.
The overall UK veterinary services market is estimated to be worth approximately £7.2 billion to £7.3 billion in 2025.
While a precise market value for just the corporate-owned portion is not readily available, their ownership of the majority of practices means they account for a significant portion of the total market revenue.
IVC one of the major care providers is already warning that the BBC risks sharing a "biased and inaccurate view" of the sector in a forthcoming broadcast: https://www.vettimes.com/.../fears-raised-over-panorama...
BBC News: Vets have told BBC Panorama they feel under increasing pressure to make money for the big companies that employ them - and worry about the costly financial impact on pet owners.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c8j3020kl04o
There is a debate in the Welsh Government on Tuesday, 20th January 2026: Prompted  by the tireless work of Welsh campaigner Dr Linda Joyce-Jones, who has already uncovered widespread problems: no price transparency, huge hikes in fees, overcharging for medicines and treatment, and little to no recourse when things go wrong. More information coming soon. Linda's petition link: https://you.38degrees.org.uk/.../we-want-an-independent...

[Mups]

Good post Alex, and sadly,  its all true.  This is a big reason why so pets are given in to rescues (or dumped),  too.
There has been a lot about all this in my dog magazine I have each month.

These chain store companies - who are not even vets themselves - are also buying up all the pet cremation places and pet cemeteries too.   
They get drugs cheaper because of the pure buying power of such  large organisations,  but then don't pass any savings on to the customers,  so  even more goes in their bank!  Greedy buggers. 
I have read elsewhere that they also put pressure on the vet surgeries to charge more,  so they can  make even more profit!

My vet charges more than enough,  but at least they are still one of the very few independent practice left  and won't join the big groups, thank goodness.

[Michael Rolls]

Sadly, being now pet less, this doesn't affect me any more, but it does infuriate me

[Raven]

Sadly, being now pet less, this doesn't affect me any more, but it does infuriate me

Same for me, I actually choked when I got Dageus's final bill, it was horrendous 
But a few weeks later I got a wee packet in the mail from them, it was a seed pack of "Forget Me Nots" to plant to remember him, I didn't touch them for around 18 months but finally I put them in a shallow-ish bowl and left them on the garden table, they're in the greenhouse for the winter now and they will be planted in the flower bed in the Spring. I thought it was really nice of them but it doesn't excuse the huge bill.

[Michael Rolls]

So sad

[Raven]

I'll have to take great care of them, don't want anything to happen to them.

[CHF]

Sadly, being now pet less, this doesn't affect me any more, but it does infuriate me

I am also without a cat now, but my son has a Huskie, and the vet he uses 
is the same one I used to. I think they are still private. But the bill for having 
her neutered made me glad that I preferred cats. 
It is both shocking and sad because it means, as you say, some pets are abandoned.
Or, treatment may be delayed due to the cost, so the pet suffers.

[Mups]

I'll have to take great care of them, don't want anything to happen to them.

I bet they will be fine, Raven.  They grow and spread like wildfire.

When one of my GSD's died years back,  I didn't have him cremated, I buried him at home.
I bought a beautiful Rhododenderon to plant on his grave, and also sowed some Forget Me Not seeds all around it too.   
Everything was growing beautifully until one day I moved house.   I couldn't bear to leave it all there, so dug the Rhododenderon up and took with me to plant in my new house.   I also took a clump of Forget Me Nots to transplant too,  plus sowed more seeds incase the clump didn't 'take.'

To this day,  I still have a garden full of Forget Me Nots come up everywhere every spring.  I still have his Rhodenderon too, and I love it when its blooms again every spring.

Elmo was a very special dog.  You could trust him with newborn lambs, baby chicks,  my little goat kids - anything.
My gentle giant he was,  with a heart of pure gold, yet would have defended me with his life.

[Michael Rolls]

Lovely dog

[Raven]

He's a lovely lad, we had several of them at the obedience side of the dog club but none at the agility side.

[Alex]

Beautiful dog ! 
That's a lovely thought with the seeds, I got a sympathy card from the vet when my George died.

[Michael Rolls]

So did I. They had always been there for Fleur, so I sent them a bit of monas a thank you and they used it to by a bench in their gardefor folks waiting which I found very touching