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Letters to the Editor
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Retention fees
Overseas fee should be reduced as PJ is available online
From Mr P. B. Buckley, MRPharmS
At this time of the year many of us have just paid our annual retention
fees and may even have pondered a little as to how our fees relate to
costs and benefits.
Retired or non-practising overseas members may particularly wonder why
they are required to pay twice as much as their non-practising UK colleagues
(£112 vs £58) for essentially the same the privileges of
retaining membership and receiving the printed PJ by post. Overseas air
mail is, admittedly, expensive and no doubt previously justified the
difference in rates.
Nowadays, however, all members have free internet access to PJ Online and can print out selected parts at will on the nearest printer. I am
sure that many overseas members would prefer to read the PJ online
on the day it is published rather than pay double membership fees for
the
doubtful privilege of receiving the printed version a week later by post.
In the noble interests of environmental concern and economy, why not
therefore offer overseas members the option of membership without postal
distribution of the printed PJ at the same lower £58 rate
which currently applies to our non-practising colleagues in Britain?
Such a
measure would attune well with the non-discriminatory and environmental
goals of our society and in this digital age there should be no significant
differences in administration costs between UK and overseas members — indeed
UK members who now receive the printed PJ at the £58 rate
would have much higher administration and postage costs than retired
overseas
members who simply access PJ Online.
Hopefully such a simple and rational reform can be introduced before
fees are set for 2008 to enable retired overseas members to retain membership
and contact with our colleagues in the UK without the onus of financial
discrimination.
Peter Buckley
Uppsala, Sweden
| |
ANN LEWIS, Secretary and Registrar, Royal Pharmaceutical Society,
responds:
Online access to the PJ is currently free to anyone, whether
members of the Society or not, by going to www.pjonline.com.
Although there are plans to restrict access later this year, members
will
still be able to access it free of charge. There are, however,
no plans to reduce the retention fee for overseas members who choose
to access the PJ online. |
Comparison with nurses
From Mr D. R. Kaye, MRPharmS
I recently discussed the issues of supplementary prescribing with my nursing
colleagues. Their disbelief at the requirements for additional training
for pharmacists to move from supplementary prescribing to full independent
prescribing turned to incredulity at the retention fees being charged.
In comparison with pharmacists paying £35 each year to be a supplementary
prescriber, nurses pay a one-off fee of £25 for a recordable qualification.
For supplementary prescribing this was paid for them by the education provider.
I cannot see how the Royal Pharmaceutical Society can justify the annual
fee at these levels. If the Society has a role in advancing the pharmacy
profession it should be doing everything within its power to encourage
professional development and undertaking new roles rather than penalising
it. No wonder the nursing profession has adapted more readily to changing
roles.
As nursing registration with the Nursing and Midwifery Council costs £43
per annum compared with the Society fee of £318. perhaps it is time
that the regulatory side of the Society is separated from the remainder.
David Kaye
Haematology Pharmacist
Christie Hospital
Manchester |
The
Pharmaceutical Journal