Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain Fee Increase 2007

In July 2007, the Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain (RPSGB) announced a 50% increase in the retention fee for pharmacists, the required payment to practise pharmacy in Great Britain. This announcement has led to widespread condemnation from pharmacists in the United Kingdom.

Announcement

The Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain (RPSGB) announced in a press release [Citation
last = RPSGB
title = Future planning and external pressures lead to fee change
date = 27 July 2007
year = 2007
url = http://www.rpsgb.org/pdfs/pr070727a.pdf
accessdate = 2007-08-14 ] on 27 July 2007 that the annual fee for pharmacists to be retained on the RPSGB register would rise in 2008 from £283 to £425. Pharmacy technicians would see a similar 50% increase in their retention fee. It is a legal requirement for all pharmacists in Great Britain to appear in this register.

The press release details that the RPSGB Council, its governing body, had agreed the new retention fees on the advice of the Society’s Resource Management Committee in order to ensure the long-term financial viability of the Society and to meet external factors which include:
*The increased costs of regulating pharmacists and pharmacy technicians
*The deficit in the Society’s pension scheme
*The costs of the proposed de-merger of RPSGB into two separate organisations—a professional body and a regulatory body for pharmacists.

The press release states that the council sees no option other than to pass these costs on to the membership.

Online petition

An online petition was set up by the pharmacist Mark Cheeseman, using the website [http://www.gopetition.com/online/13615.html Go-Petition] on 31 July 2007. The petition read: "I demand that the RPSGB reconsiders the increase in retention fees". This petition ended on 14 August 2007 having accumulated 10,092 electronic signatures. Some of these signatures were from pharmacy technicians, who also register with RPSGB.

Although initially dismissing the petition [http://www.dotpharmacy.com/news/news1.html Online fee protest by 8,600 falls on deaf ears] , the RPSGB later agreed to analyse the online petition as part of the consultation process, providing it is submitted by 3 October 2007. [ [http://www.pharmj.com/Editorial/20070818/news/p169protestonline.html 10,000 protest online over fee increase ] ] .

Consultation

RPSGB announced a consultation regarding these fees on 2 August 2007 [Citation
last = RPSGB
title = 2008 fees consultation
date = 2 August 2007
year = 2007
url = http://www.rpsgb.org/pdfs/feesconsultationdoc.pdf
accessdate = 2007-08-14 ] .

However this consultation has been termed "incomplete", "a grandiose exercise in self-justification", "patronising" and "fails on all counts" by Sandra Gidley, MP - the only pharmacist in the House of Commons [p16 Chemist and Druggist 11 August 2007] .

Response from other pharmacy organisations

The Guild of Healthcare Pharmacists published a press release on 14 August stating that they were "appalled by the proposed 50% increase in fees" [Citation
last = GHP
title = Royal Pharmaceutical Society: Consultation on Proposed 50% Increase in Members’ Retention Fees: Comments from Guild of Healthcare Pharmacists
date = 14 August 2007
year = 2007
url = http://www.ghp.org.uk/default.asp?cid=477&ed=24752
accessdate = 2007-08-14 ] .

The Pharmacists' Defence Association (PDA) released a press release on 24 August declaring that "The Society will ignore the membership views on registration fees at its peril". The PDA is concerned that an onerous and unnecessary regulatory burden has led to an unacceptable rise in retention fee, that will "only damage further the relationship between the membership and its professional body which has been ravaged of late as a consequence of its infatuation with the regulatory agenda." [Citation
last = PDA
title = RPSGB Membership Fees - the PDA's Position
date = 24 August 2007
year = 2007
url = http://www.the-pda.org/newsviews/nv_press_releases1.html?id=709
accessdate = 2007-08-25 ]

The Company Chemists' Association (CCA) has declared that they "see no justification for an increase of this magnitude". The CCA also agree with the RPSGB that the cost of de-merging the society into two bodies should not be passed on to the membership, but be funded by the Government. [Citation
last = Pharmaceutical Journal
title = News
date = 15 September 2007
year = 2007
url = http://www.pharmj.com/pdf/_donotindex/pj_20070915_news.pdf
accessdate = 2007-09-18 ]

Outcome

On November 6 2007 the RPSGB sent an email to all its members announcing the new fees, and posted the outcome of the consultation on its website. [Citation
last = RPSGB
title = News
date = 6 November 2007
year = 2007
url = http://www.rpsgb.org/registrationandsupport/registration/paymentoffees.html
accessdate = 2007-11-07 ] In the end, the fee for practicing pharmacists was increased to £395, almost the 50% that had been predicted.

References