CVS buying up vets practices

[puntabrava]

My vets practice of Endell vets in Salisbury has been bought out by this lot https://www.cvsukltd.co.uk/
for me they have flogged 200 years of history for the pound note, I was looking through the CVS Facebook page and going back several months there was no mention of farm livestock just kittens and dogs and all sorts of stuff attached to insurance policies. Has anyone got a vets practice owned by this company and have they continued to serve you well on farm work years into the takeover. To be honest the level of ability of the farm vets has been decreasing year on year up to the takeover and we are left with lots of quite newly qualified vets. I feel that within a period of time this lot will shut the farm department down.

 

[Pan mixer]

I don't know anything about that lot but I have one of the big companies vets here (won't name it but W point - if you see what I mean, maybe CVS own them too for all I know)

They are much better at large animal knowledge than the 2 or 3 practises we had before - all who stopped doing large animal, that is why we left them.

The vet has all the kit in his or her car, never been longer than 30 minutes even on Sunday night (only actually called them out 4 time in 7 years for emergencies like calving.

They are proactive with things like BVD free, cattle race design and animal health generally.

All round I feel that i am getting a better service although it is more money too.

 

[AlfM]

Westpoint were owned by Origin which have now been taken over by VetPartners. My memory let’s me down but the story goes something along the lines that the woman at the top of VetPartners was fairly senior in one of practices that Origin had previously taken over. She went off and found her own backers and then takes the lot of them over (very simplified version) It’s all swings and roundabouts in the vet world with big money investors willing to back the right person. We have CVS, IVC, and VetPartners around us now, possibly more.

 

[Six Dogs]

Also an Endell client here and totally agree with@puntabrava ,I feel it only a matter of time before the senior partner steps down then large animal services will either be extremely expensive or non existent

 

[Briar]

Several vet practises in our area being bought out for "life changing sums of money". One vet I spoke with now "retired" doing locum work out with the area. Got tired of all the admin and hassle involved basically getting in the way of him actually being a vet. The practise now appears to have lost all people skills and carry very little medicines in their vehicles having to return to the office or place a special order for them. Also appear to focus now on the small animal aspect at the expense of horses and cattle.

 

[Pan mixer]

Also an Endell client here and totally agree with@puntabrava ,I feel it only a matter of time before the senior partner steps down then large animal services will either be extremely expensive or non existent

When I said that the service was more pricey I think that it is still affordable, what do other vets charge?

My vet has a standard price for a Caesar for instance - £500, no matter how long it takes, all drugs and consumables and a follow up visit, I am comfortable with that.

They charge me £150 per hour I think when they visit and don't get a cup of tea without turning the clock off.

My lawyer and accountant are more expensive per hour.

 

[puntabrava]

When I said that the service was more pricey I think that it is still affordable, what do other vets charge?

My vet has a standard price for a Caesar for instance - £500, no matter how long it takes, all drugs and consumables and a follow up visit, I am comfortable with that.

They charge me £150 per hour I think when they visit and don't get a cup of tea without turning the clock off.

My lawyer and accountant are more expensive per hour.

I think that’s a lot of money for a c section. Vets are on £2 something a minute, they wrote a few weeks ago saying it needs to rise to be able to attract vets.

 

[Pan mixer]

La

I think that’s a lot of money for a c section. Vets are on £2 something a minute, they wrote a few weeks ago saying it needs to rise to be able to attract vets.

last C section I had was a bit awkward - a seized joint calf, took 2 vets nearly all night, I wouldn't have wanted the bill at £2 per minute each.

 

[traineefarmer]

CVS are bad news. Every practice that they have taken over round here, which is pretty much all of them ended large animal services shortly after.

We have a handful of independents, but Norfolk being mostly arable most aren't interested in large animals.

We currently use a small chain with IVS as their parent. They seem committed to large animal services with investment in facilities, etc.

 

[John Chance]

When corporates buy a private practice, they generally make the partners stay on for a period of time and then stick them with a time limited non compete clause if they leave. Let them take the cash, do the time and then set up again, hopefully financially secure and able to work for fun, for interest and for very reasonable rates. They might of course refuse to take some customers back on who p*ssed them off in the past.

 

[Dry Rot]

This has been discussed on here before.

I use a good firm of equine vets because I have horses. They have been taken over and there are several small animal practices owned by the same group.

The fee for a castration has gone up 40% in two years and I felt the bill was padded. I challenged a charge for "assistance" on top of the castration fee, but this was knocked off 'as a good will gesture'. No reply to my query about extra (and probably unnecessary) medication.

But what annoyed me most was no acknowledgement of photographs of a condition the attending vet had never seen before that I sent him after our discussion for his interest. A 'thanks' would have been nice. The castration took about 30 minutes and cost about £350, including VAT and the visit. Next time I will be shopping around.

I suspect big business sees practice take overs as a very good money earner. Take over all the practices in an area, then increase fees. We have no option but to pay whatever they ask.

 

[It was already broken.]

I have a son who works for an american investment bank in London who specialises in the sale of vets and medical businesses. In the last 12 months his firm alone have been involved in the sale of 100's of millions of pounds worth of vet businesses to an american investor and he told me last week that he was at work till 3am the previous Saturday morning working on an another sale, he thinks probably to the same investor, who intends to dominate the markets of the UK, Sweden and Germany. Because this investor is privately owned they can take a 50 year view on the return to their investment.

And while you are worrying about the vets. My boy also sells hospitals, medical practices and IVF clinics to city investors.

 

[le bon paysan]

I have a son who works for an american investment bank in London who specialises in the sale of vets and medical businesses. In the last 12 months his firm alone have been involved in the sale of 100's of millions of pounds worth of vet businesses to an american investor and he told me last week that he was at work till 3am the previous Saturday morning working on an another sale, he thinks probably to the same investor, who intends to dominate the markets of the UK, Sweden and Germany. Because this investor is privately owned they can take a 50 year view on the return to their investment.

And while you are worrying about the vets. My boy also sells hospitals, medical practices and IVF clinics to city investors.

Can't really like that as it's the shape of things to come

 

[ilyria]

This has been discussed on here before.

I use a good firm of equine vets because I have horses. They have been taken over and there are several small animal practices owned by the same group.

The fee for a castration has gone up 40% in two years and I felt the bill was padded. I challenged a charge for "assistance" on top of the castration fee, but this was knocked off 'as a good will gesture'. No reply to my query about extra (and probably unnecessary) medication.

But what annoyed me most was no acknowledgement of photographs of a condition the attending vet had never seen before that I sent him after our discussion for his interest. A 'thanks' would have been nice. The castration took about 30 minutes and cost about £350, including VAT and the visit. Next time I will be shopping around.

I suspect big business sees practice take overs as a very good money earner. Take over all the practices in an area, then increase fees. We have no option but to pay whatever they ask.

This has already happened in our area. Two practices who do large animal practice and prices have gone through the roof while knowledge and customer service has gone down. The other closest large animal practice won't come passed a certain town as one of the two threatened to sue him and cause him trouble if he did. Price variations between the two big practices seem to be more about how expensive they can they make it. Its a captive audience so they know we don't have a choice. One practice won't come out to an emergency call out without a payment of around £100 up front.
The difference between the two big boys and the independent practice who won't come up passed a certain point is astounding. PG and call out from the independent £28 and from one of the big boys £48. Castration from the independent on a small pony £130, from one of the big boys £317. Penstrep £14 from one £22.37 from one of thge bigger ones

 

[Daniel]

This has already happened in our area. Two practices who do large animal practice and prices have gone through the roof while knowledge and customer service has gone down. The other closest large animal practice won't come passed a certain town as one of the two threatened to sue him and cause him trouble if he did. Price variations between the two big practices seem to be more about how expensive they can they make it. Its a captive audience so they know we don't have a choice. One practice won't come out to an emergency call out without a payment of around £100 up front.
The difference between the two big boys and the independent practice who won't come up passed a certain point is astounding. PG and call out from the independent £28 and from one of the big boys £48. Castration from the independent on a small pony £130, from one of the big boys £317. Penstrep £14 from one £22.37 from one of thge bigger ones

On what grounds could the larger practice sue?

 

[ilyria]

On what grounds could the larger practice sue?

No idea what they threatened them with. Its one of those things that everyone supposedly knows but no one seems to know the details. I tried to ask them once and all they said was they'd had to make an agreement not too cover an area

 

[Dry Rot]

On what grounds could the larger practice sue?

If the smaller practice was set up by a vet who was previously under contract to the bigger practice, I assume they could sue for breach of contract.

In a dispute with The Kennel Club, I found a lawyer to act for me, pro bono (free), and the Office of Fair Trading did the rest. They were very fair to the point of the girl handling my case making a personal call to wish me luck as she was moving to another department!

These (below) are the present day equivalents and the people to report monopoly practices to. The more who do so, the better:

https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/competition-and-markets-authority

 

[Dry Rot]

No idea what they threatened them with. Its one of those things that everyone supposedly knows but no one seems to know the details. I tried to ask them once and all they said was they'd had to make an agreement not too cover an area

Cross posted.

It sounds as if the above is a case that needs too be reported as splitting up an area smacks of creating monopolies and a doubt whether it is lawful. It is certainly uncompetitive and against the customer's interests.

 

[ollie989898]

The vet world is extremely small. Everyone knows everyone. Actively poaching customers is just not the done thing. You cant go after Jims customers from his practice 30 miles away because you probably trained alongside him yourself and the conversations that local Golf club or outside Private school when you bump into him could get awkward.

I reckon the larger farms will eventually club together and pay enough to employ a vet and his assistant if corporations intend to rob the job.

As for private hospitals, IVF clinics and the like the majority of them are privately owned anyway.

 

[VMD100]

Perhaps a more positive outlook is whilst it may be the owners/senior partners that sell a practice to corporate they still have plenty of eager farm vets beneath them that won't be best pleased at their chance of partnership being sold out - it gives rise for what I have heard some vets refer to as 'phoenix practices' where staff leave and set up their own rival competition, typically clients follow and the corporate goes bust pretty quick and closes down - and you still get your vets you always used just under a different name