The Pharmaceutical Journal Vol 267 No 7162 p261-263
25 August 2001

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Statutory fees

Rises driven by outside pressures

From Mrs C. Glover, FRPharmS

Peter Robinson (PJ, 18 August), in suggesting that the Royal Pharmaceutical Society is responsible for the need to increase the retention fees, fails to understand some of the wider principles that guide the profession.

Pharmacists, like all health care professionals, must ensure they act in the public interest. This is inherent in the Society’s Byelaws.

During the previous term of this Government, the protection of the public from professionals who are incompetent and who are not sufficiently regulated has become a major political issue (the position of the General Medical Council, the Bristol inquiry, the Ledward case, etc). Almost all the health professions have been seeking parliamentary time to overhaul their regulatory frameworks to reflect modern demands for greater governance and transparency. Along with this it has become increasingly clear that fitness to practise and how we assess this is the key to keeping the public’s confidence.

The NHS plan for England spelt out that health authorities would hold lists of competent practitioners to ensure that the public is put at minimum risk. The formalisation of continuing professional development will be key to this, for both established and new roles. How the Society develops CPD for all its members in every field of work is a huge undertaking, which cannot be undertaken without further resource.

I hope that this helps Mr Robinson understand that, with or without “Pharmacy in the New Age”, the pressures outside Lambeth are the drivers for the new fees, not the Society.

Christine Glover
Immediate Past-President
Royal Pharmaceutical Society

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