CMA ends vet services probe – key findings and what to look out for next

The UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) recently concluded its 2-year investigation into the veterinary services industry. We take a look at the CMA’s findings, what comes next for veterinary businesses and regulators, and why this investigation matters to other consumer-facing industries.

Why the CMA is mandating change 

During its investigation, the CMA identified three key areas of concern:

• Lack of information: Vets have a ‘gateway role’, as pet owners rely on their expert advice and can only access prescriptions or referrals via vets. However, vets do not always provide pet owners with the information they need to choose between practices, treatment options or medicines.
• Barriers in the market: Pet owners face barriers in acting on information. For example, consumers may be uncertain about the quality of online pharmacy medicines, or concerned about high prescription fees and delays in obtaining a prescription. They may also be unsure how to complain.
• An outdated regulatory framework: The CMA has described current regulation as “wholly unfit for purpose”. It is particularly critical of the fact that only individual veterinary practitioners are covered by existing regulation, while the majority of veterinary businesses are now run by non-vets.

Veterinary businesses must implement wide-ranging remedies

The CMA has announced a comprehensive remedies package, including measures regarding:

• Service, price and ownership transparency. Veterinary businesses will need to provide pet owners with more information, including about:
  • Out-of-hours care and qualifications held by staff.
  • Prices for a standard list of services (e.g. microchipping, vaccinations, common surgical procedures).
  • Prices for commonly sold parasiticides.
  • Pet care plans, including a list of services covered and their frequency, plus an explanation of how savings are calculated compared to standalone purchases.

Where a group of veterinary businesses is controlled by a single entity, that entity has to be clearly identified on signage, at vet practices and online. The CMA has labelled the above measures “pet owner empowerment remedies”, intending that better access to information will encourage veterinary businesses to compete on price and quality of service. 

• Changes to billing. Vets will be required to provide written cost estimates for treatment pathways exceeding £500 and to provide itemised bills. The CMA is imposing a price cap on written prescriptions of £21 for ‘first medications’ and £12.50 per ‘additional prescription’ prescribed during the same consultation. This represents an increase from the £16 cap previously proposed by the CMA.
• Medicines. Vets will be required to provide consumers with information highlighting consumers ability to obtain a written prescription from the vet and then buy medicines via online pharmacies. This option may be cheaper than buying medicines directly from the veterinary practice. To encourage use of online pharmacies, written prescriptions must be provided promptly to pet owners either in hard copy by the end of the consultation, or digitally within 48 hours.
• Complaints and redress. The CMA is requiring veterinary businesses to implement and follow a written complaints procedure. Veterinary businesses will also be required to engage in mediation to resolve disputes where a pet owner is unsatisfied with the result of the in-house complaints process.

• Enhanced role for Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons (RCVS). The CMA intends the RCVS to take on a new monitoring role, e.g. assessing compliance of veterinary businesses with remedies being imposed by CMA, and sharing practice information with third parties who can then create tools to compare veterinary practices. Additionally, the CMA is recommending the RCVS to amend its Codes and Guidance to reflect the CMA’s remedies, and to enhance its ‘Find a Pet’ service.

  The RCVS’ expanded activities will be funded via a levy on veterinary businesses. 

Urgent call for regulatory reform

The CMA has recommended that government establish a new statutory regime to regulate veterinary services. The watchdog considers reform is “urgently needed”, and that new legislation could:

• Include veterinary businesses within the scope of regulation (currently, only individual practitioners are regulated).
• Introduce a statutory duty to promote competition and to advance pet owners’ interests (the CMA considers that current regulation fails to address the inherent information asymmetry between vets and pet owners).
• Restructure veterinary regulation such that it is independent from any professional leadership role (the CMA is concerned that the RCVS both leads the veterinary profession and regulates it).

What comes next

Key next steps following the CMA’s investigation are:

• End of July 2026: Funding will be in place for the RCVS’ additional activities.
• 23 September 2026: The CMA is to put in place a statutory order by this date at the latest enacting its remedies and also to accept undertakings from the RCVS regarding its expanded remit. In the run-up to this, the CMA will consult with interested parties on the draft order and undertakings.
• 2026 – 2027: Veterinary businesses are expected to implement the CMA’s remedies, with ‘large providers’ (i.e. those running at least 15 practices) being given shorter deadlines for implementation.
• Ongoing: The CMA has flagged that it will continue to actively monitor merger activity in the veterinary sector. 

The fundamental regulatory reform which the CMA is advocating for will take longer. However, the CMA’s recommendation coincides with the Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs’ (Defra) recently concluded consultation on reforms to the existing Veterinary Surgeons Act, and the CMA has indicated that many of Defra’s proposals align with the CMA’s own position. 

Consumer-facing markets remain a CMA priority

The CMA’s vet services probe represents an interesting case study not just for veterinary businesses, but for consumer-facing industries more broadly. We can expect the CMA to prioritise intervention in consumer-facing markets over coming months, particularly in areas of “consumer need and spend”, and those involving consumer vulnerability (see the CMA’s 2026 – 2027 Annual Plan here). 

In keeping with this focus, the CMA has recently launched a market study into the supply of private dental services. Interestingly, the watchdog is studying whether to investigate issues similar to those considered in the vet services probe, e.g.

• How treatment prices have changed compared to inflation, and profitability of service providers.
• Consumers’ access to information to make informed choices.
• Availability of complaint and redress options. 

The CMA is willing to take action in areas involving essential consumer spend, and such markets can expect continued scrutiny.