Medicines and prescriptions
Your medicine, your choice of where to buy it
You can always ask us for a written prescription and buy the medicine from wherever suits you. Here's exactly how that works and what it costs.
How it works
Three simple steps
Ask your vet for a written prescription
At any consultation where a medicine is prescribed, ask us for a written prescription. We will tell you the fee before we write it — you never have to guess.
Receive it and understand the fee
You'll get a written prescription and a clear fee for writing it. There's no charge simply for asking, and we won't refuse a prescription because you intend to buy the medicine elsewhere.
Choose where to buy
Buy from us, from another veterinary practice, from a registered online pharmacy, or from a bricks-and-mortar pharmacy — whichever suits you and your pet best.
Clear fees
What a prescription costs, in full
Every fee includes VAT and is the same whether or not you go on to buy the medicine from us.
Written prescription — first item
£22.00
Each written prescription we issue
Each additional item, same prescription
£8.00
Where more than one medicine is written at once
Repeat prescription
£18.00
Where a vet can safely repeat without a new consultation
Dispensing fee
£6.50
Per item, when we dispense the medicine to you
Administration fee
£14.00
Where a nurse or vet gives the medicine, for example by injection
Why we show a draft fee cap alongside our prices
The draft Order proposes a cap of £10.00 on the fee for each additional prescription item, index-linked over time. Draft cap value held locally for demonstration. The draft Order sets an initial additional prescription fee cap that is index-linked; it is draft, not law, and must be re-verified against the final Order.
The draft Order shows several implementation dates as [X]. These are unsettled placeholders in the official draft and must not be treated as confirmed deadlines.
Your right to buy elsewhere
It's always your choice
- You can ask for a written prescription at any consultation, and we will tell you the fee before we write it.
- We will not refuse a prescription because you intend to buy the medicine elsewhere.
- You may need a repeat examination before a further prescription — we'll always explain when and why.
- Buying elsewhere can be cheaper for long-term medicines, and may not be once a written prescription fee is added for a single short course.
Check the Veterinary Medicines Directorate register of approved online retailers →
Please note: Worked example
A three-month course of a prescription medicine costing £28.00 a month from us comes to £84.00 in total. Bought elsewhere at £19.00 a month, plus our written prescription fee of £22.00, the same course is £79.00. For a single month's course only, buying from us would work out cheaper.