What the CMA Vet Decision Means

What the CMA Has Decided

The Competition and Markets Authority published its final report on 24 March 2026 after investigating veterinary services for household pets. The report found competition problems and set out remedies for veterinary businesses, plus supporting work for the RCVS.

A published decision is not the same as a duty that already binds every practice. The CMA still has to make a separate legal Order to put most of the consumer-facing remedies into force. The case page recorded, as of 30 August 2026, a Funding Order published on 20 August 2026 and a draft substantive Order whose consultation closed the same day. The statutory deadline to implement remedial action is 23 September 2026, subject to the Enterprise Act power to extend that deadline by up to four months if there are special reasons.

The Funding Order is a levy so the RCVS can be paid for implementation work. It is not the package that requires price lists, written estimates, or prescription-fee caps.

What You Can Already Rely On

RCVS supporting guidance already tells veterinary surgeons to offer a range of reasonable treatment options and costs, not to obstruct a change of practice, to give realistic estimates before treatment starts, and to itemise invoices. GOV.UK guidance already treats the choice of practice, and of treatments, as yours, and notes that different practices can charge different prices for the same treatment.

This is current RCVS professional guidance and GOV.UK consumer guidance. It is not a set of duties created by the forthcoming CMA Order.

What Is Decided but Not Yet Binding

The CMA business explainer sets out an intended timetable once the Order is made. Use it as the CMA's published plan, not as a list of duties that every practice must already meet. Smaller businesses, those with fewer than 15 first-opinion practices, generally have longer than larger businesses, those with 15 or more. The explainer says the remedies will not apply to charitable organisations providing small-animal veterinary services.

Price Lists, Services and Ownership

After the Order, relevant first-opinion practices (ordinary practices that provide first-contact care) are expected to publish standard price lists, basic service information including out-of-hours arrangements, and, for groups, ownership information. The explainer's overview is September 2026 for the Order, December 2026 for larger businesses on many of those transparency duties, and March 2027 for smaller businesses and group ownership transparency.

Written Estimates and Itemised Bills

The decided estimate remedy is a written estimate when recommended treatment is reasonably likely to cost £500 or more including VAT, then a written update if the total is reasonably likely to rise by 20% or £500 including VAT, whichever is lower. The £500 figure is to be adjusted for CPI inflation. Itemised bills would also become an Order duty. The explainer times those two remedies to June 2027 for larger businesses and September 2027 for smaller ones.

Prescriptions and Buying Medicines Elsewhere

The CMA has also decided that practices should tell owners a written prescription is available and that medicines may be cheaper elsewhere, and that prescription fees should be capped at £21 including VAT for the first medicine in a consultation and £12.50 including VAT for each extra medicine in the same consultation, later adjusted for CPI inflation. The explainer times the fee cap to March 2027 for larger businesses. Current RCVS guidance already requires practices to tell clients that prescriptions are available, by a large prominent sign in the waiting room or another appropriate area. Your rights to a vet prescription covers that process.

What You Can Do Now

• Ask for a written estimate before you agree treatment.
• Ask for an itemised bill.
• Ask who owns the practice if that is not clear.
• Ask for a written prescription if you want to buy a medicine elsewhere.
• Compare common items such as consultations, vaccinations, and prescriptions if you are choosing a practice.

If a concern is about care, fees, or how a complaint was handled, start with the practice and then see how to complain about a vet. If you want to see what other practices would charge for a specific procedure, you can request quotes.