The vets from Heritage Vets performing keyhole surgery.
This View has been written by Midlothian Dog Trainer Nick McMechan.
The Competition and Markets Authority recently announced an investigation into the Veterinary industry. Following a survey of pet owners and veterinary surgeons in the UK. They have found multiple concerns in the industry which include being overcharged for medicines, reduction of choice and poor competition in some areas with pricing being unclear to the pet owner.
Many people may not be aware but there are six large chains in the UK which own 60% of practices. The proportion of independent practices has halved in ten years. When I look at my local practices in Dalkeith, who my own clients do rate highly, both practices are owned by large chains yet it took a bit of digging around on their websites to find this. As is often the case, its not obvious that your local practice is part of a big chain.
I do feel well placed to comment here. Having previously been an Area Manager with a large pharmacy chain, involved with healthcare professionals & supply of medicines and now a Dog Trainer, owning Esk Valley Dog Training. I also understand the the pricing and supply of medicines is not as straightforward as it seems. At the same time I have wondered at being charged in the region of £40 for medicine for my dog which can be supplied at a pharmacy for a couple of quid.
However, its more complicated than that. In particular medicines which have an animal licence will be priced differently to similar (or the same) medicines that are licensed for humans. Indeed, it is illegal for a vet to prescribe a human medication if there is a version licensed for animals, and the animal licensed options are usually far more expensive. These prices are set by the pharmaceutical companies, not the vets. Many factors go into pharmaceutical production and supply and economies of scale are indeed a factor as well as many others.
One of the actions we can take is to request a veterinary prescription from our practice and take that elsewhere to an online veterinary pharmacy to supply or you can take your veterinary prescription to your local pharmacy (note that in that case the pharmacist will have to make a professional judgement to supply and can refuse; please don’t be offended if they do as it won’t be personal). Your practice will charge you for the supply of the private prescription so you should take that into account as well as it may not necessarily be cheaper in the long run.
What you may also wish to consider is that your vet is a private healthcare provider. This means they are a business and have a responsibility to make a profit in order that they continue to provide their invaluable service and to invest in the advancements in veterinary healthcare that come along in the future. If we all take our veterinary prescriptions elsewhere those businesses will have to make up those lost profits somehow.
So, as I sit in the middle of this, what’s my choice. Its to move to an independent practice. My belief is that, whilst there are advantages to the large chains, I want somewhere local and personal that has the freedom to make decisions for the care of my animals that we need and want. I recently asked the new team at Heritage Vets about the recent media coverage:
“We will never be able to price our medications as low as the online pharmacies, and written prescriptions can be offered where appropriate for the client to source their own medications. At Heritage Vets we are in a privileged position due to being an independent vet practice.
“We have full control over our pricing, and we will be able to strike a balance between medication pricing and pricing for our services to be as accommodating as we can. The costs of veterinary care are increasing and will continue to do so though, so we would encourage all pet owners to take out pet insurance where possible to help cover unexpected costs.”
Heritage Vets will open in Thornybank, Dalkeith on 22nd April 2024. I’ve already registered to move my animals across and my family has too. We’ve had excellent service over the years with our previous vet but the attraction of a local independent vet and people who I respect have recommended them highly, means I have made the decision to have their care looked after there.
Nick specialises in Loose Leash Walking and Reactivity as well as everything you would expect from a great Dog Trainer. You can find out more here: eskvalleydogtraining.co.uk
East Links Family Park is moving to a new site under current proposals.
Campaigners battling plans to move a popular East Lothian family park to a new site have claimed a ‘secret’ council report on the plans is ‘utter nonsense’.
Plans to relocate East Links Family Park from its current home outside Dunbar to East Fortune in the county are described by the council’s economic development advisers as supported by local business and good for food production, campaigners say.
But they claim describing the move as a ‘relocation’ is misleading because the owners of the Dunbar site could bring a new operator in to continue the park once its current team move to the new site.
Stop the Theme Park spokesman David Johnston said East Lothian Council’s economic development officials have based their report on the new park on it having the same number of workers and visitors as the current one.
But he said: “Everyone can see that claim is nonsense. You won’t suddenly find double the number of people wanting to go to an East Lothian Theme Park. All that will happen is that neither park will thrive and the future of East Links, a key part of the area’s tourism offering, will be in doubt.”
Agents for Grant Bell who has applied for planning permission to move the family park to East Fortune, insist the claim is not misleading and have told the council what happens to the former site is not their concern.
They said: “East Links Family Park is the physical and intellectual property of Grant Bell, East Links Family Park is relocating, it is his brand.
“If Boots moves from North Berwick or Haddington, that shop unit won’t still be called Boots. If a new business moves in to Hedderwick Hill it cannot be called East Links Family Park.
“East Links Family Park is moving – this is not misleading nor have we tried to mislead anyone at any time.”
Mr Johnston said the economic development report on the move to East Fortune was not published publicly and an initial request for it to be released through Freedom of Information was turned down by the council before it was released on appeal.
He said: “Now we have got our hands on this report from economic development, we can see why they are trying to keep it under wraps.
“They say the theme park would be good for local businesses despite the two nearest and biggest businesses in the area submitting formal objections.
“They say covering fields with a theme park will boost food production which is nothing short of bizarre unless they are anticipating candy floss machines and ice cream stalls.
“The truth is two theme parks operating within six miles of each other will just carve up the visitor market leading to them both potentially failing.”
An East Lothian Council spokesperson said: “The economic development consultation response was released as part of an FOI request.
“There is no legislation that requires planning authorities to make consultation responses public, and it is therefore for each planning authority to decide whether or not to do so.
“East Lothian Council does not make consultation responses public on our Planning Portal. The planning case officer will however sometimes forward on consultation responses to the applicant. Other than this, the consultation responses will be summarised in our report of handling on the application or will be released as appropriate as a result of a Freedom of Information request.”
The holiday let is in block on Springfield Place, Roslin.
The owner of a holiday flat in a Midlothian village has won an appeal to keep operating after councillors ruled it was not going to become a ‘party venue’.
The owner of the property on Springfield Place, Roslin, had been refused a change of use to turn it into a short term holiday let, despite having operated it for seven years and welcomed visitors from around the world.
Planners ruled the short term letting would create more noise and impact on neighbours as well as raising concerns about the loss of a long term property in the midst of a housing crisis.
However a meeting of Midlothian’s Local Review Body, saw councillors side with the applicant.
Councillor Peter Smaill told the meeting he did not believe the property, which has its own access and two bedrooms, would not become a problem for local residents.
He said: “My own feeling is that a small site like this with two inhabitants, obviously in an area of tourist interest with an external stair would be a reasonable position for permitting a short term let.
“We have had no objections from neighbours and I don’t see that a property of this sort will end of being some sort of party venue.”
The owner of the property appealed stating that she had been operating since 2017 without any issues.
She said: “As well as tourists from around the world, I have hosted friends/relatives of local families as well as new-comers to Roslin, whose new builds were not completed in time or they were in-between properties.
“I have also hosted temporary staff working at the Vet School, Bush Estate.”
She added: ” I believe I have supported tourism, local businesses and transport services in Midlothian.”
Councillor Smaill moved a motion upholding the appeal against the planners decision to refuse the change of use.
He was seconded by Councillor David Virgo who questioned how much difference there was between a longer term holiday let and short term one.
The appeal was upheld unanimously.
