The Pharmaceutical Journal
Vol 273 No 7315 p329
4 September 2004

Society summary

Pharmacy technician registration fee structure for 2005 announced

A fee will payable on registration as well as an annual retention fee to remain on the register which will fall due on 1 January each year. The fee payable on initial registration will depend upon whether or not the application requires screening. During 2005 — while registration is still voluntary — the retention fee will depend on the quarter of the year in which the application for registration is submitted to the Society.

Pharmacy technicians will be able to register with the Society as either practising or non-practising. Applicants will be expected to pay the practising fee unless they sign and return a declaration to the Society stating that they are not and will not undertake any work in, or give advice in relation to, the science of medicines or the practice of pharmacy or health care. This reflects the new structure proposed for pharmacists from January 2005.

Continuing professional development will be mandatory for all pharmacy technicians who are registered as practising.

On initial registration, a registration fee will be payable in addition to the retention fee. The registration fee will be £30 for those whose applications do not require screening, whether they are registering under the grandparent clause or as having met the required level of training plus accredited underpinning knowledge. For all applications that require screening, the fee will be £125.

Those registering in the period January to March 2005 will pay an annual retention fee of £85 for practising technicians or £65 for non-practising technicians. Those registering later in the year will pay a reduced retention fee: April to June, £64 or £50; July to September, £43 or £35; October to December, £22 or £20.
Registered pharmacy technicians will receive The Pharmaceutical Journal as part of their registration package.

Janet Flint, head of support staff regulation at the Society, said: “In designing the fee structure for the technicians’ register we have taken account of structures operated by other regulators of healthcare support staff and the fees levied by those bodies. We hope that the inclusion of The Pharmaceutical Journal as part of the package will be welcomed by pharmacy technicians, some of whom already subscribe to this publication.”

Further information can be obtained from Ms Flint at the Society’s headquarters (tel 020 7572 2410; e-mail: janet.flint@rpsgb.org).