The Pharmaceutical Journal
Vol 279 No 7472 p372
6 October 2007

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Retention fees 2008

CCA criticises lack of transparency in fees rationale

The Company Chemists' Association believes that the Royal Pharmaceutical Society's powers to increase pharmacist retention fees should come with a “responsibility to act reasonably and proportionately”.

In its response to the Society’s consultation on the matter, the CCA also says that the Society needs to “provide more information about how it intends the fee increase to be used so that its members, and other bodies who may reimburse members’ personal retention fees, see how the calculated increase has been derived”.

Consistent with this, transparency is a recurring theme in the CCA response: “The CCA accepts that the Council has a duty to act in the best interests of the Society, and that some parts of the budget, especially those that concern the RPSGB’s commercial activities, must remain confidential, but it considers the level of detail provided to support the fee increases proposed remains inadequate.”

It adds: “The CCA believes the case for increased membership fees would have been considerably helped if members had been able to share in a vision for the future of professional leadership, so they might understand how any proposed new body will provide real support to them in the future in the development of their role as clinical practitioners.

“Instead, more than six months on from the Government’s decision to create a new General Pharmaceutical Council to regulate the profession, the case for a new professional leadership body consists of little more than a suggestion that new income streams will be needed and new membership services provided.”

The CCA also challenges the suggestion that personal retention fees subsidise in some way the premises fees paid by pharmacy owners. The Society has come back with figures suggesting that members provided a subsidy of £78 per pharmacy premises in 2007.

“To summarise,” the Society says, “in 2007 the full cost recovery of the premises fee per pharmacy should be £234. The actual fee recovered has been £156, implying a subsidy, per pharmacy premises, of £78 — equating to approximately £21 per member.”

Society treasurer, Andrew Gush, said: “Although sadly, their response is somewhat predictable, it will not get in the way of the Society’s commitment to open and positive dialogue with the CCA.”