10,000 protest online over fee increase
More than 10,000 people have supported an online petition against the proposed 50 per cent increase in Royal Pharmaceutical Society retention fees.
Launched on 31 July 2007, the petition gained the support of 10,092 people,
including pharmacists, pharmacy technicians and some members of the public
before it closed on 14 August. Some so-called signatories were anonymous
and it was possible for false entries to be made.
However, having said last week that it would not take the petition into
account in its consultation on the planned increase, the Society has
now agreed to include it. Ann Lewis, the Society’s Secretary and
Registrar said this week: “The Society has asked that, to ensure
that the petition is taken into account by the Council, it should be
submitted to the fees
consultation e-mail address, or to the Secretary
and Registrar’s Office by 3 October 2007. This will ensure that
the petition is analysed as part of the consultation process and that
the
analysis will reflect the complete picture.”
Suffolk pharmacist Mark Cheeseman, who instigated the petition, said
that the electronic petition could be printed out and submitted to the
Society. Mr Cheeseman said that he hoped the petition and the consultation
would be used to highlight pharmacists’ concerns about the planned
increase. Commenting on the level of support elicited by the petition,
he said: “I was staggered by the number. I thought I’d be
lucky to get 100 signatures.”
Guild view The
Guild of Healthcare Pharmacists is to submit a response to the
Society’s fees consultation exercise on behalf of its 4,000 members.
This
week the guild said that it expected any organisation facing financial difficulties
to review and make significant financial and organisational changes to make
itself viable. This review should include the cost of running the
Society’s Council.
The guild added that many NHS organisations had gone through such exercises in
2006–07, but that there was little evidence of such a review within the
Society. |
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The
Pharmaceutical Journal
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