The Pharmaceutical Journal
Vol 272 No 7281 p17-18
3/10 January 2004

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Letters to the Editor

Retention fee

A totalitarian and bureaucratic Society

From Mr R. Blyth, FRPharmS

Any pharmacist who thinks that the Save Our Society campaign is unnecessarily alarmist should think again after reading the following statement that accompanied the retention fee form for 2004.

It reads: “Late payers will not be treated as leniently as they have been in the past. Members who do not settle their fees on time risk erasure from the Register.”

This is the language, not of a professional body, but of George Orwell’s prophetic book ‘Nineteen eighty four’: “Authority, totalitarian and bureaucratic, has you under its observation from which there is no escape.”

Robert Blyth
Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire

Is this a plot to trim down the register?

From Mr C. J. Richardson, MRPharmS

I have received my annual retention fee form for 2004. I noted with interest the inclusion of many stern warnings that the law requires payment by 1 January 2004 and that failure to pay promptly will be treated less leniently than in previous years.

The warnings would have been more effective if the form had not arrived on 3 January.

My hope is that this is run-of-the-mill inefficiency rather than a sinister plot to trim down the register.

Chris Richardson
Raynes Park, London

If the form is late how can we pay in time?

From Mr N. K. K. Aling, MRPharmS

I received the Royal Pharmaceutical Society’s letter to inform me that I should pay the 2004 annual retention fee, which is due by 1 January 2004, on 3 January.

In the letter, it says: “Under the Pharmacy Act 1954, section 2(3), payment is due by 01 January 2004. Failure to make payment by this date will be treated less leniently than in previous years. Members who do not make payment on time risk erasure from the register, and those who continue to practise following erasure risk prosecution.”

If we receive the annual retention fee form late, how can we possibly pay in time?

Lucky for me, I am not at risk because I pay by direct debit.

Nicholas Aling
London SW4

Demand could have been less patronising

From Mr C. Smith, MRPharmS

It is rare indeed for me to voice my feelings towards the Royal Pharmaceutical Society. I have just returned from holiday to find the “Pharmacist’s Annual Retention Form 2004” informing me that under the Pharmacy Act 1954, section 2(3), “payment is due by 01 January 2004. Failure to make payment by this date will be treated less leniently than in previous years. Members who do not make payment on time risk erasure.”

I do understand the answers that, no doubt, justify issuing such a demand for payment. However, perhaps a less patronising use of “less lenient” might have been less disagreeable.

I would hope future letters sent out by the Society may be written in a more acceptable style. I would add that threatening people with immediate erasure and then asking for charity is not usually the best way to get money out of them.

Chris Smith
London E4

Musings

From Mr D. C. Shenton, MRPharmS

Musings followed receipt of the retention fee papers on Christmas Eve, with their intimidating approach requiring my attention within the hour so as to have a small hope of not contravening the law.

1. Lambeth must have data showing that no members are away from home during December or, nowadays, up to their eyes in work.

2. The threat in paragraph three of the covering letter is empty.

3. If (2) is mistaken (in which case, woe is me), what series of events will commence on 2 January? What will they cost?

4. Presumably the Council gave approval to this debt-collector’s approach.

5. The exacting provisions of the Pharmacy Act can only justly be used to beat us if the mailing arrives each year in late November, if not sooner.

David Shenton
Staines, Middlesex

Stop treating us like naughty children!

From Mr P. J. Sealey, MRPharmS

If I were the Royal Pharmaceutical Society’s Registrar, I would be going out today to buy a large eraser and some canes: the former to perform erasure of all those pharmacists’ names who have not paid their retention fees by 1 January, and the latter to “apply less leniency to late payers”, in the form of spanked bottoms presumably, if the tone of the letter is anything to go by.

Few pharmacists of my acquaintance pay their fees quickly, and I know of one or two who do not get their cheque books out until February or March. At Christmastime, I rarely open post which looks as though it might not contain glad tidings. Such envelopes are usually consigned to the sideboard drawer, at least until after Epiphany, apart from credit card statements, which have an absolute cut-off date, and those bills offering a discount for prompt payment.

So, here are some ideas: give us an absolute date after which we will surely be struck off (but not 1 January — have a heart), offer a modest discount for early payment or monthly direct debit (you will be surprised how tempting the odd pound or two off will be), and, if you want results, stop treating us like naughty children.

Philip J. Sealey
Warwick

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