Is it just me or is the renewal fee structure strange-there is no low income fee or non-practising fee although the renewal fee is much lower then it used to be. It seems to me that if you go on maternity leave or a career break -the only options are to pay a renewal fee same as everyone else that is working or not register and pay a restoration fee when planning to return to work.
I really dont know what to make of this. It seems a bit unfair as I will be going on maternity leave this november and not returning to work until next november-maybe even till january yet it looks like I will be paying the same fees as everyone else whilst not even working for the whole year. what exactly would i be paying for ?! Does anyone on here have any information on this issue. I am just assuming for now that I will have to pay the standard renewal fee.
I would have thought it was better to stay on the register for pharmacists, then come off and pay the renewal fee. It may depend on which area of work, community is always short of locums on Saturdays and this would pay for the fees and keep you up to date?
Speaking of fees, I have just had the pleasure of reading my journal from last week and can't help but chuckle to myself (sarcastically, as I don't actually find it funny!) that the GPhC are going to charge £15 for the priveledge of paying by direct debit. Surely, when you consider the ease of this service to the GPhC (i.e. set it up once, and no more hassles), compared to manually having to record and bank a paper cheque, it makes my mind boggle that they are going to charge for it. Let me think, do I a) pay £15 to make their lives easier, or b) send them a manky old cheque, and get one of the crew to walk down to the bank to pay it in, Mmmmm, where's my cheque book, and more importantly can I remember how to write a cheque?
