How to Change Vets in the UK: Moving Your Pet’s Records

To change vets in the UK, register your pet with the new practice and give your consent for your old practice to send your pet’s clinical history. You are free to move at any time, and you don’t have to give the old practice a reason.

If your pet is well, you have time to get registered and arrange the records without the pressure of an appointment. If they need care before that is finished, tell the vet you contact that you are changing practice and take along any information you already have. Their health comes before paperwork.

Register with the new practice

If you are still choosing, ask each practice the price of the things your pet has regularly, such as vaccinations or repeat medicine, and how it handles out-of-hours care. Under the Competition and Markets Authority’s Order on vet services, businesses with 15 or more practices must publish a standard price list from 23 December 2026, and smaller businesses from 23 March 2027. From 23 March 2027, practices that are part of a group must also show the name of the business that owns them.

Once you have chosen, ask how the practice registers new clients. Tell the team what type of pet you have, and mention anything that may matter straight away, such as recent treatment, a planned follow-up appointment or regular medicine.

Ask how the practice prefers to receive records. Some may ask you to contact your previous vet yourself. Others may ask for your permission, then request the relevant history directly. The RCVS says that a practice should obtain your consent before sharing a clinical history containing your personal data with another practice, unless the information has been fully anonymised.

Give the new practice the correct name and contact details for your old vet, along with your current phone number and email address. Check your pet’s details too. Their name, species, breed, age or date of birth, and microchip number where relevant help the practice match the right record to the right animal.

If you have moved house, update your address with the database your pet’s microchip is registered on. All dogs in the UK, and cats in England, must be microchipped and registered, and you are responsible for keeping the details up to date. The database may charge for the change.

If you pay for a pet care plan at the old practice, read its cancellation terms before stopping the direct debit, as notice periods and any charges for leaving early vary between practices.

Ask for the relevant clinical history

Your previous practice must provide copies of relevant clinical records when you ask for them. The RCVS also says that relevant clinical information should be provided promptly to a vet who is taking over responsibility for a case. You can ask for the records to be sent to the new practice, or ask for a copy yourself if that is more useful.

Keep the request simple and give the practice enough detail to find the right file. You could write: “Please send the relevant clinical history for [pet’s name] to [new practice name and contact details]. I consent to this transfer.” Include your own name and contact details as well. The old practice may need to check who you are or ask you to use its consent form.

Clinical records are more than a list of appointments. They can include details of examinations, treatment, test results, ongoing or proposed investigations, the care given and advice you have received, which is what a new vet needs to understand a recent illness or continue a plan already in place.

Sometimes a pet has had more than one owner. If the records contain personal information about a previous owner, the RCVS says that information should be anonymised before the records are sent.

A new practice may not need every piece of older information for a routine first appointment. Let the team decide what is relevant to your pet’s current care. If there is a particular result, operation or diagnosis you are worried about, mention it when you register so it is less likely to be missed.

Take useful information to the first visit

Records may be sent electronically, but bring the paperwork you already have at home. A vaccination card, recent discharge paperwork, laboratory or imaging reports, and medicine packaging can all help the new team see important details while it waits for the full history.

If your pet takes regular medicine, tell the new practice its name, strength, dose and how much you have left. Mention when the next dose is due and any treatment dates that are already booked. Do not alter a prescribed treatment plan on your own because you are changing vets. Instead, give the new team the details it needs to advise you about the next step.

The same applies to a treatment plan that is under way. Your pet may have a check-up due, a wound that needs looking at, a test already planned or a referral in progress. Explain this when you register, then take any letters or reports you have to the appointment. The vet can then use the history and their own examination to decide what should happen next.

If you have pet insurance, tell the new practice that your pet is insured and keep your policy documents and invoices together. Your insurer may ask for your pet’s full clinical history when you claim, which is easier if the records have already moved. Changing practice does not change what your policy covers, but check the policy wording if you are unsure.

Avoid a gap when care is needed

A record transfer should not hold up care for an unwell pet. Contact a veterinary practice if you are worried about your pet and explain that you are between practices or that the history has not arrived yet. Give a short, accurate account of what has happened, what medicine your pet has had and any recent care you know about.

Take medicine packets, a vaccination card and any recent paperwork with you if you can do so without delaying the visit. The vet treating your pet can then see the most useful information straight away. If that vet takes over responsibility for the case, your old practice should send the relevant clinical information promptly.

Once you have registered, ask the new practice how it handles care outside normal opening hours. Keep the phone number and address it gives you somewhere easy to find. Sorting that out while your pet is well saves a frantic search later.

When you want your own personal information

For most moves, consent for the old practice to share relevant clinical records with the new one is all that is needed. A subject access request, usually called a SAR, is different. It is a request for personal information held about you by an organisation, along with other information that the law says it must provide.

You can make a SAR verbally or in writing, and you do not need to quote a law or use a special form of words. The practice may ask for proof of identity before it releases personal information. In most cases, it must respond without undue delay and within one month of receiving the request. It can take up to a further two months where a request is complex or where the same person has made a number of requests, but it must tell you about the extension and why it needs it.

A SAR may be useful if you want to see the personal information a practice holds about you. It is not usually the quickest route when the immediate aim is simply for a new vet to receive the relevant clinical history. In that situation, a direct request to share the records is likely to be clearer for both practices.

A few details to have ready

Having the main details in one place can save time when you call or write. Keep your pet’s name, species, age or date of birth and microchip number, if they have one, with the contact details for both practices. Add a note of current medicines, how much remains, upcoming appointments and any recent treatment. If your pet is insured, keep the policy number with these papers too.

After the transfer, a routine appointment can be a good chance to meet the new team while there is no immediate worry. You can check that it has the information it needs, talk through any ongoing care and ask how to contact the practice outside normal hours.