Vets Alarmed By Risk To Pets Posed By Insurance Restrictions
10 years ago 
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Veterinary surgeons have expressed their fears that the health and welfare of pets may be at risk if insurance companies implement restrictions to limit the choice of referral practices used.
Discerning owners may think they are buying comprehensive cover for their pets via well-known high street brands such as MORE TH>N, Tesco Bank, M&S, John Lewis, Argos and Homebase. However Royal Sun Alliance (RSA), underwriter of these policies, is trialling a scheme to direct clients to a network of ‘preferred practices’.
In the same way that GP doctors can refer their patients to a consultant at a hospital, so first opinion vets can refer pets when specialist facilities or expertise are required. Referral practices are currently chosen according to the pet’s condition and the owner’s circumstances and will often involve a Recognised Veterinary Specialist, which in human terms is equivalent to a consultant. Such Specialists are subject to rigorous advanced training and regular re-validation and are not simply those who have an interest in a subject.
However, under RSA’s new proposals insured clients with ‘non-emergency’ cases should contact RSA who would direct them to their list of ‘preferred practices’. RSA say ‘To ensure we chose the best practices to form part of our initial network, we undertook a robust benchmarking process and made sure that we only selected registered vets which already offer referral services to our customers.’ The initial list is not, however, representative of the Recognised Specialist expertise and advanced therapies available within the veterinary profession. The Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons has made it clear that ‘veterinary surgeons must refer cases responsibly. They should be satisfied that the referral veterinary surgeon is competent to carry out the treatment or investigations concerned.’
Clive Elwood, Managing Director of Davies Veterinary Specialists in Hertfordshire, speaking on behalf of veterinary practices who have expressed concern about the proposed restrictions said: “An approach that focuses on cost-cutting rather than quality of patient care and lacks any genuine or objective process to benchmark clinical standards is inappropriate. Many multi-disciplinary centres place enormous value on the importance of Recognised Specialists being involved at every level of care including consultation, anaesthesia and imaging assessment and the proposed restrictions may preclude this level of service in some instances. We understand that balancing high standards of care and affordability for owners and insurance companies is an important issue and we hope insurers will work with all sectors of the profession to find constructive workable long term solutions.”
Mike Martin of the Veterinary Cardiorespiratory Centre in Warwickshire continued: "Owners buy pet insurance to ensure that they can access the best available expertise when their animals are ill. I don’t think any owner wants to have their choice of practice restricted by insurance companies who are primarily concerned with encouraging shortcuts to reduce costs.”
In order to reduce the degree of confusion caused, RSA has been invited to attend a session of the forthcoming meeting of the British College of Veterinary Specialists and discuss issues of concern. To date no response has been received.
In a recent statement RSA (https://news.rsagroup.com/pressrelease/view/1792) clarified that customer claims will continue to be honoured as long as the customer is adequately covered by their existing policy.
For further information on the veterinary referral process visit http://yourvetspecialist.org
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