Find Trusted Vets in Bromley

RCVS accreditation

The Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons runs the Practice Standards Scheme. It is voluntary. Practices are assessed every four years, with spot checks in between, and accredited practices display the RCVS Accredited Practice logo.

There are four levels:

Core Standards is the minimum. It covers safety for staff and animals, hygiene and the veterinary services the practice provides.

General Practice is the highest level for first opinion practices. It requires better facilities and equipment, audited procedures and more staff training.

Veterinary Hospital is the top level. It requires nursing care on site 24 hours a day, advanced diagnostics and the ability to treat severely ill animals.

Emergency Service Clinic is a separate level for clinics that only do emergency work.

Practices can also hold additional awards in areas such as client care and dentistry.

You can look up practices and individual vets at findavet.rcvs.org.uk. Every practising vet in the UK must be on the RCVS register. The register is public, so you can check a vet's registration and qualifications by name.

Out of hours and emergency cover

Most Bromley practices use a separate out of hours provider. The nearest is Vets Now Sidcup in Foots Cray, which sees dogs, cats and small animals overnight and in emergencies. It is usually 10 to 15 minutes by car from Bromley town centre, depending on traffic.

Some clinics advertise 24 hour emergency care but pass calls to a Medivet 24 hour centre or a similar partner. Ask which one they use and where it is before you need it.

Blue Cross has animal hospitals in Victoria, in Pimlico, and in Merton, both around 25 to 35 minutes from Bromley. They are for registered clients who meet the charity's eligibility criteria, and are not open to everyone for emergencies.

Out of hours care costs more than a daytime appointment. Commercial providers charge a consultation fee and an out of hours fee before any tests or treatment. Blue Cross publishes an out of hours consultation fee of £80 at its hospitals, which everyone attending pays. Ask your practice what its out of hours provider charges, because the cost is high enough to be worth knowing in advance.

Ownership

The CMA found that six large veterinary groups own almost 60 per cent of first opinion practices in the UK: CVS Group, IVC Evidensia, Linnaeus, Medivet, Pets at Home and VetPartners. Across London, corporate groups own around 63 per cent of practices. Bromley has both group owned and independent practices, but no official figures are published for the borough.

The CMA also found that fewer than half of the people using a practice owned by a large group knew it was part of a chain. Medivet rebrands the practices it buys, so its ownership is easy to see. Other groups keep the original practice name.

Price transparency and the CMA rules

The CMA opened its market investigation into veterinary services in September 2023 and published its final report on 24 March 2026. It found that a lack of information about prices and ownership was weakening competition.

The remedies are being introduced in stages through CMA Orders and RCVS undertakings, and larger groups generally have to comply sooner than smaller practices. They include:

Price lists for standard services.

Disclosure of group ownership on signs, at the practice and online.

Written estimates for any treatment likely to cost £500 or more, except in emergencies.

Itemised bills.

Caps on prescription fees of £21 for the first medicine and £12.50 for each additional medicine in the same consultation.

Ownership and price data supplied to the RCVS, so that the Find a Vet website can be used to compare practices.

You can ask your practice for a written estimate and a written prescription at any time. The CMA found that many owners buy long term medication from their practice when it would be cheaper to get a written prescription and buy it elsewhere.

Low cost and charitable care

PDSA has a pet hospital at 125 Felixstowe Road, Abbey Wood, SE2 9SG. Treatment is means tested, and depends on receiving a qualifying benefit and living in the hospital's catchment area. Qualifying benefits include Housing Benefit, Council Tax Support, Pension Credit, income based JSA or ESA, and some Universal Credit claims.

Blue Cross also provides means tested treatment at its Victoria and Merton hospitals, in two bands. Band A covers Universal Credit with no reduction for work or income, Income Support, income based JSA, income related ESA and Pension Credit. Band B covers Universal Credit with reductions, Working or Child Tax Credit, Housing Benefit on its own and Council Tax Reduction on its own.

Both schemes are limited by postcode, so check yours against the catchment area before assuming you are eligible. The RSPCA does not have a veterinary clinic in Bromley.

Bromley Council does not run its own neutering, microchipping or vaccination scheme. Low cost care in the borough comes from the charities above, for people who qualify.

Microchipping

All dogs in England over 8 weeks old must be microchipped and registered on a DEFRA approved database. This has been the law since 6 April 2016.

All cats in England must be microchipped and registered by the time they are 20 weeks old, under The Microchipping of Cats and Dogs (England) Regulations 2023. This has been enforced since 10 June 2024.

If your pet is not microchipped, an authorised officer can serve a notice requiring you to have it done within 21 days. If you don't, you can be fined up to £500, and a dog can be taken and microchipped at your expense. You must also keep your contact details on the database up to date.