Noel Fitzpatrick discussing issues with vet care

Vet and TV personality Noel Fitzpatrick has questioned the profession’s “humanity” during his latest screen appearance.

In an interview during Channel 4’s coverage of Crufts on Sunday 12 March, Prof Fitzpatrick highlighted the case of a dog with a broken back that he operated on while its owner was in a coma following a car crash.

He claimed that, while the case was raised with several other referral centres, none of them were able to operate.

‘Three big issues’

Prof Fitzpatrick said: “This isn’t about me. It’s about the fact that no one could see her because there wasn’t a deposit.

“There wasn’t money guaranteed and that’s an issue because I think we’re losing our humanity, and I think there are three big issues, commercially, in veterinary medicine right now.

“One is the increased corporatisation of my profession. I’ve tried to stay independent as much as I can to give people all of the options.”

‘Independent regulation’

Prof Fitzpatrick added: “The second is that I do think we need independent regulation of the types of procedures that are done, who’s doing them and the costs that are charged.

“And the third thing is people think it’s because insurance companies are driving up costs. That’s not the case.

“The reality is the costs are going up because a new level of care is being provided and (…) I think there needs to be central governance of many different companies who are not giving the correct amount of choice to the public, and that’s really important going forward.”

Key concerns

The remarks follow the raising of similar concerns in Prof Fitzpatrick’s latest book and allude to a number of key issues facing the veterinary profession.

The sector has seen several recent interventions from competition regulators against large care companies, while leading bodies are continuing to press the case for legislative reform.

Both the BVA and the RCVS declined to respond directly to Prof Fitzpatrick’s comments; although, the college highlighted that its recommendations for future veterinary legislation, which its council approved two years ago, included a call for it to be given the power to regulate veterinary businesses, as well as individual practitioners.