The Pharmaceutical Journal
Vol 273 No 7317 p382
18 September 2004

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· Counterfeit drugs
· Packaging
· Simvastatin
· Shipman inquiry
· The register
· Personal control
· The Society
· New contract
· Employee pharmacists
· Tuberculosis
· Retention fee
· Overseas membership
· Onlooker

Letters to the Editor

New contract

Pharmacists should charge for services proffered

From Dr T. J. Benson, MRPharmS

I am in agreement with comments made by earlier correspondents to the PJ with respect to the new contract. Why should the Government pay the profession for services it is providing for free now? I refer to blood glucose monitoring and other tests currently offered by the large multiples. They must be making quite a tidy profit now to offer such things for free and maybe the Government could be thinking that the profession is paid too much.

The whole contract fiasco could be ended overnight. Why does the profession not take the one step needed and charge for services proffered at a realistic rate? Why should the Government dictate to us how much it is willing to pay us?

In other words, leave the NHS. How many lawyers, accountants, architects and banks provide their services free. I am heartily sick and tired of being expected to give of my expertise for a derisory hourly rate and being required to give it without charge many a time. The rest of the profession is too Luddite even to contemplate such a move.

The coup de grâce for all of this is that wretched Royal Pharmaceutical Society suddenly upping its retention fee, saying that what it does is value for money. The only face of the Society that I have seen over the years is its inspectors.

I am pretty sure I have paid my last retainer because I have just finished delivering a host of flyers and calling cards for my new venture — window cleaning.

Timothy Benson
London, W1

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