Vet call out charges

[ollie989898]

My biggest gripe with the vets is TB testing . We used to get clinical work done during the TBTest ...pd, castrating etc .
Now you can't do that cos the TB vets can't do it . A pre movement test is expensive . I appreciate the TB test is not of the vets making but their decision to employ 'vets' that can only do TB testing and nothing else works out expensive .
When doing health work I shudder every time the vet opens his little box and pulls out another bottle and fills up yet another syringe of something or other . Every time the put something in a syringe it seems to cost £25 or more ! (Well it seems like it)

You can look at this both ways.

Do large animal vets really want to be blowing £100,000 of debt at vet school to be TB testing day after day? It is tedious, dull as fudge, invariably upsets farmers (law of averages says that you will find at least one reactor per 1000 beasts tested I'm sure) and it's dangerous. I detest my wife doing any of it. It's acceptable on farms with head yokes or a decent race but you get Steptoe and Son farms where they wanted you do to them in the parlour or something stupid and it takes 3 hours to do 100 beasts. It's dangerous as fudge and I wish the ministry would put a complete stop to testing purely for that reason. I'd like to know how many vets and farmers are injured annually just from TB testing as in my mind the risk to public health from TB in cattle is probably modest.

So it's no surprise lay testers are used a lot. Can't think of a more tedious way to earn a living but it obviously suits some people. You can't possibly be charged any different for TB testing regardless who turns up to do it?

 

[Farmer Fin]

As I pointed out earlier, the last vet salary survey had wages reduced in the face of an apparent vet shortage. The increased corporate charges seem to be going in directors'/shareholders' pockets IMO.

Believe it or not the corporates are not actually making much money at the moments. They are all owned by either equity funds or the likes of Mars the confectioner. They are all in a growth phase at the moment where they are trying to buy up as much of the market as possible, then sell the chain on. I’m not aware of anyone actually in a consolidation phase yet where they are focusing on profit as being the pure driver of a return. The veterinary world is actually a very inefficient / fragmented industry, hence why it appears so attractive to equity funds.

 

[Farmer Fin]

One of the local practices got taken over by a chain and callout doubled. Worked out at 96 quid for one injection in normal hours. They don't want to dispense a bottle of antibiotics to long standing clients. Same practice won't go out to an emergency without a 90 pound payment over the phone. The other practice has a habit of charging for callouts you didn't authorise or sending out other people's bill's in with yours. The one who has been taken over by the chain has been through more vets than hot dinners recently and put their prices right up, reduced the length of their prescriptions and are losing clients left right and centre. It's sad that people are now having to use a vet from 2 counties away to be able to get a decent service

I think that’s just examples of really badly run practices that are not interested in farm work, be it private or corporate practice.

 

[ollie989898]

Believe it or not the corporates are not actually making much money at the moments. They are all owned by either equity funds or the likes of Mars the confectioner. They are all in a growth phase at the moment where they are trying to buy up as much of the market as possible, then sell the chain on. I’m not aware of anyone actually in a consolidation phase yet where they are focusing on profit as being the pure driver of a return. The veterinary world is actually a very inefficient / fragmented industry, hence why it appears so attractive to equity funds.

And this is the American model of fudge-you capitalism. Invest monies in a sector and just keep buying out the competition, don't try to compete. Just buy them out. Grow it, flash it around and flog it on again. They are attempting to take chunks out of NHS services as well but there is obviously political opposition.

 

[ollie989898]

I think that’s just examples of really badly run practices that are not interested in farm work, be it private or corporate practice.

Probably a lot of truth in that in many areas where it just doesn't stack up. I can imagine in some parts of the country where it's only beef and sheep people don't see their vet from one year to the next until it was mandated by Red Tractor.

 

[Plain steer]

You can look at this both ways.

Do large animal vets really want to be blowing £100,000 of debt at vet school to be TB testing day after day? It is tedious, dull as fudge, invariably upsets farmers (law of averages says that you will find at least one reactor per 1000 beasts tested I'm sure) and it's dangerous. I detest my wife doing any of it. It's acceptable on farms with head yokes or a decent race but you get Steptoe and Son farms where they wanted you do to them in the parlour or something stupid and it takes 3 hours to do 100 beasts. It's dangerous as fudge and I wish the ministry would put a complete stop to testing purely for that reason. I'd like to know how many vets and farmers are injured annually just from TB testing as in my mind the risk to public health from TB in cattle is probably modest.

So it's no surprise lay testers are used a lot. Can't think of a more tedious way to earn a living but it obviously suits some people. You can't possibly be charged any different for TB testing regardless who turns up to do it?

Also to add to your point, they just seem to be going round in circles with tb testing and getting nowhere correct me if I’m wrong but when a vet finds tb in a abattoir does the meat still go in the food chain

 

[Farmer Fin]

And this is the American model of fudge-you capitalism. Invest monies in a sector and just keep buying out the competition, don't try to compete. Just buy them out. Grow it, flash it around and flog it on again. They are attempting to take chunks out of NHS services as well but there is obviously political opposition.

I know and the bubble has to burst at some point. Low interest rates mean that it’s easy for the equity funds to operate like this. At some point the money had to be paid back.

 

[Farmer Fin]

Also to add to your point, they just seem to be going round in circles with tb testing and getting nowhere correct me if I’m wrong but when a vet finds tb in a abattoir does the meat still go in the food chain

Yes most of the time.

 

[Farmer Fin]

Also to add to your point, they just seem to be going round in circles with tb testing and getting nowhere correct me if I’m wrong but when a vet finds tb in a abattoir does the meat still go in the food chain

Controlling TB was traditionally a public health issue due to raw milk drinking. It more of a trade / political issue nowadays. There is a school of thought that says f**k it and stop testing. If a farmer wants to test then he can privately.

 

[neilo]

How much are you paying for taking bloods? I had funding up to £250 to take bloods , yet I had to pay a bit on top it worked out £24 per sample + £35 call out and vet time @ £35

I assume that’s the Farming Connect funded testing? Whenever we’ve taken it up, we usually do half a dozen or so of a group for as much as we can, and the total bill for the job always seems to come to exactly £250.

 

[Woolless]

Also to add to your point, they just seem to be going round in circles with tb testing and getting nowhere correct me if I’m wrong but when a vet finds tb in a abattoir does the meat still go in the food chain

The affected part is condemned, unless the lesions are generalised when it is a total rejection. In localised TB e.g. small lesions in lung lymph nodes, the rest of the carcase is perfectly safe to eat.

 

[gwi1890]

I assume that’s the Farming Connect funded testing? Whenever we’ve taken it up, we usually do half a dozen or so of a group for as much as we can, and the total bill for the job always seems to come to exactly £250.

Yes throughout farming connect, mine was £36 over , If it wasn’t funded it would be rather expensive in all fairness.

 

[neilo]

Yes throughout farming connect, mine was £36 over , If it wasn’t funded it would be rather expensive in all fairness.

That’s the idea though, to encourage farmers to test when they wouldn’t otherwise consider it. A good idea imo.

 

[capfits]

The big problem I see these days is corporations buying up vet practices, the staff get better pay and conditions with less on call etc but the trade off for this is higher fees. The independent practices find it hard to recruit staff when they can’t afford the same conditions as the corps..... the corps are all about milking the customer and their insurance company.....

Currently the corps are actually trying to reduce pay for clinical staff.
Some are so borrowed that their is a real risk some of them moving to CVAs.
The hours for a vet be they large or small are shite. Clinical staff turnover are also fairly high.
My wife worked part time for a privately owned vets, not unusual to be consulting an hour after doors are supposed to be closed, and a number of clients are knobends.
She went full time during Covid to cover gaps due to Isolaters, those with childcare, and those that suffered stress issues due to other both work and personal related issues, has consistently done 50+ hours a week and is knackered. Thankfully she is back to part time next week.
Call out fees, It is cheaper to get a vet than a taxi to mine make of that what you wish.

 

[gwi1890]

That’s the idea though, to encourage farmers to test when they wouldn’t otherwise consider it. A good idea imo.

It is a good idea, but I used to test before the scheme and never remember it costing that much, sure my vet used to do it for about £80

 

[Tarw Coch]

Also to add to your point, they just seem to be going round in circles with tb testing and getting nowhere correct me if I’m wrong but when a vet finds tb in a abattoir does the meat still go in the food chain

Not only ones found in the abbatour, many of the reactors found at farm Tb tests end up in the food chain too

 

[ollie989898]

That’s the idea though, to encourage farmers to test when they wouldn’t otherwise consider it. A good idea imo.

Given that animals are inspected at slaughter anyway, for farms that don't buy or sell stock, with stuff either going on the lorry or by way of knacker man, I would say don't bother testing. Perhaps the ministry can pay (and carry out) a few sample tests of herds over a few years to get a feel for disease incidence.

Dairy farms, well most dairy products are pasturised anyway.

I do question the public health angle of TB given that the UK has been hosting refugees for some years now yet has totally dropped mass TB vaccination of children.

Farmers who wish to sell stock can pay privately for pre-movement tests of the individual animals concerned. Job done.

 

[ollie989898]

Not only ones found in the abbatour, many of the reactors found at farm Tb tests end up in the food chain too

As I have said before, if this is the case, what is the fudging point of testing beef farms for TB? Maybe test their breeding stock annually? Of course it's become a whipping boy for APHA and the powers that be I guess as they can plead for tax payer money for it.

 

[Tarw Coch]

As I have said before, if this is the case, what is the fudging point of testing beef farms for TB? Maybe test their breeding stock annually? Of course it's become a whipping boy for APHA and the powers that be I guess as they can plead for tax payer money for it.

Well, there’s certainly a lot of jobs attached to it.

 

[Highland Mule]

As I have said before, if this is the case, what is the fudging point of testing beef farms for TB? Maybe test their breeding stock annually? Of course it's become a whipping boy for APHA and the powers that be I guess as they can plead for tax payer money for it.

Not all beef herds are tested. There are a number of criteria that can result in no testing - from memory it's connected to percentage going direct to abattoir and a few other things. I haven't tested in 12 years and I get a letter every so often from AH to explain why I don't need to.