GPhC consultation proposes cuts to fees for pharmacists and pharmacy technicians

 

A new consultation launched by the General Pharmaceutical Council proposes a ten per cent reduction to renewal fees for pharmacists and pharmacy technicians.

This would mean a reduction in the renewal fee of £27 for pharmacists, to £240, and of £12 for pharmacy technicians, to £108, from 15 October 2012.

The consultation proposes to hold most other fees at the current level, including the renewal fee for premises.  This is because the GPhC is still developing the approach to regulating registered pharmacies and so is not yet in a position to establish the future costs of this work.

Under the proposals, the GPhC will continue to charge 2% fees for payments by credit card, to help to cover the costs levied by the credit card companies. 

Duncan Rudkin, Chief Executive of the General Pharmaceutical Council, said:

“We recognise pharmacists and pharmacy technicians are experiencing a challenging economic situation.  We have a responsibility to make sure that we set reasonable and proportionate fees, but we also need to have sufficient funds to protect the public through effective regulation. Council has carefully considered our current financial position and has decided we can propose this reduction for all individual registrants.

“It is important that we make the best possible decision on fees, and so we would like to hear as many views as possible on our proposals through the consultation.”

The consultation will run for 12 weeks until 8 May.  The Council will then consider the outcomes of the consultation at its meeting in June and make a final decision on the new levels of fees that will apply from 15 October 2012.