Your Rights to a Vet Prescription

Asking for a Written Prescription

RCVS supporting guidance requires a large, prominent sign in the waiting room or another appropriate area. It must say that prescriptions are available, that you may obtain medicines from the practice or ask for a prescription and obtain them from another veterinary surgeon or a pharmacy, and that a veterinary surgeon may prescribe a POM-V medicine only after a clinical assessment of an animal under their care. Where there is no physical building, for example ambulatory or remote services, the same information should be shown clearly on the practice website and given by another appropriate means.

A written prescription may not be appropriate if your pet is an in-patient or needs medicine immediately. The same guidance allows a reasonable charge for the written prescription.

Buying the Medicine Somewhere Else

GOV.UK guidance says you do not always have to buy the medicine from the prescribing practice. There is usually a fee for the prescription, and even including that fee it can still be cheaper elsewhere. Prescription fees are not fixed.

RCVS guidance says a veterinary surgeon should not prevent you from using the retailer you choose, and should not put a specific retailer recommendation on the written prescription. It also says the practice must not charge you differently for other goods and services just because you take the prescription elsewhere. If you are considering an online seller, RCVS points to the VMD Register of Online Retailers.

When the Vet Needs to Assess or Examine Your Pet

RCVS medicines guidance says a POM-V medicine must be prescribed by a veterinary surgeon who has first carried out a clinical assessment of the animal under their care. A clinical assessment is any assessment that gives the vet enough information to diagnose and prescribe safely. It may include a physical examination, but the RCVS says that is not necessary in every case.

Whether a hands-on examination is needed is a matter for the veterinary surgeon's judgement. The RCVS lists extra caution for some medicines. For companion animals, a physical examination is required at the time of prescription in all but exceptional circumstances when prescribing antibiotics, antifungals, antiparasitics, or antivirals. A first prescription of a controlled drug should also involve a physical examination except in exceptional circumstances. Repeat supply is not automatic. The same notice should tell you the practice's usual interval for re-examination and the standard charge for that visit.

What the CMA Has Decided but Not Yet Made Binding

As of 30 August 2026, the CMA business explainer records decided remedies that become binding only after a separate Order is made, then after later implementation dates: extra prompts that a written prescription is available and that medicines may be cheaper elsewhere, and fee caps of £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 cap to March 2027 for larger businesses. Those figures are not a current legal cap on every practice.

The wider timetable sits in what the CMA vet decision means. If a practice will not issue a written prescription and you cannot resolve it locally, how to complain about a vet explains the next organisations.

If Prescription Fees Are Part of Why You Are Looking Around

Ask the practice for the current written-prescription fee and the re-examination interval before you decide where to buy the medicine. If you are also comparing another practice for ongoing care, you can request quotes.