Registration Fees!!

[dizzyb23]

I had a quick read through the latest copy of the PJ. I have accepted that no one wants us (Techs) to join any group even though most people in the industry work alongside and rely heavily on us. I have accepted that we won't be sent many more copies of the PJ after December 2010 even though it has been useful to us as a group of professional pharmacy staff as we read the recalls, CPD articles, letters etc that have helped us in our daily work. I have even accepted that some members of the Pharmacy profession view us as little more the GDB's. So now after reading the small article on page 290 of the issue 18/09/2010 that not only says paying by direct debit to the new council means paying an extra £15 and no low paid Pharmacists will be allowed reduced fees but the actual renewal fees this year are:
Pharmacists......£262
Pharmacy Premises.......£217
Techs........£142

Can anyone please explain these amounts??? Is there a reason why Pharmacists are paying substantially less than last year and Techs are paying more??? If there is a valid reason, then fine but when you think what we actually will receive in return for paying more, this sounds utterly unfair.
Most Techs work part time and a fair amount of those work in community where the wages are always disgraceful and few have their fees paid by the company they slave away for.
I would say that we need to contact the APTUK to look into this but as they never reply to any messages sent anyway, that would be a waste of time.
This does not really encourage more people to come into the profession really does it??
I could just imagine the advert now:
Ever wanted to be treated like s**** on a daily basis?
Do you dream of having a new and inexperienced locum to babysit each week?
Are you happy to pay a large amount of money to the representative council just to get a number and a title?
Do you long to be excluded from all organisations and be completely ignored by your own representative body?
Have you ever wondered what it would be like to be paid less than a Tesco shelf stacker?

If you've answered yes to all these questions then the life of a qualified Registered community Pharmacy Tech may be the life for you.........................

[jo-jo66]

Will I bother to register at the end of my second year of training? Mmmm not so sure

[DavidS]

Techs have the edge that they don't have a "functioning" professional body.

Why don't you start one?

[dizzyb23]

I just can't see the point of being registered anymore. Apart from being allowed to use the protected title of Pharmacy Technician!!! Paying £142 for a couple of words that seem to mean less and less each year!! Save a few quid and we'll call ourselves Dispensing Technicians instead. The only problem may be certain employers appear to be insisting on hiring techs that are registered or eligible to be.
As for starting our own organisation, damn good idea but where do you start???

[DavidS]

As for starting our own organisation, damn good idea but where do you start???

With a bad temper!

Off the top of my head I would suggest contacting the PDA and enquire whether they have plans to set up insurance for technicians, together with an associated trade union. They might have some ideas.

There may be some "turf war" mentality, but tbh I think it is in everyone's interest to belong to as big a union as possible.

In answer to your original post, the cost for technicians to register reflects the likely cost of regulation. Because of the lower pay scales and the easy job mobility that goes along with that, I think you lot could take some chasing if you wanted to run and hide!

As things stand, criminal law etc, I wouldn't want to register. Most competant technicians I know could easily get managerial or administrative jobs if they had a mind to, never mind the shelf-stacking (with "occasional" helping out in the pharmacy, at better wages) so I don't think the only-registered-techs-at-current-low-wages is going anywhere.

[dizzyb23]

With a bad temper!

Off the top of my head I would suggest contacting the PDA and enquire whether they have plans to set up insurance for technicians, together with an associated trade union. They might have some ideas.

There may be some "turf war" mentality, but tbh I think it is in everyone's interest to belong to as big a union as possible.

In answer to your original post, the cost for technicians to register reflects the likely cost of regulation. Because of the lower pay scales and the easy job mobility that goes along with that, I think you lot could take some chasing if you wanted to run and hide!

As things stand, criminal law etc, I wouldn't want to register. Most competant technicians I know could easily get managerial or administrative jobs if they had a mind to, never mind the shelf-stacking (with "occasional" helping out in the pharmacy, at better wages) so I don't think the only-registered-techs-at-current-low-wages is going anywhere.

Thanks for explaining some stuff. It's appreciated. I think the registering thing is totally pointless now to be honest.
I do understand why Pharmacists want and need their own organisations. Other groups of healthcare professionals have been doing this for many years. It would just be nice to have one ourselves and it would be helpful to have support, guidance and a voice. We currently have nothing. And before anyone says anything about the APTUK, don't!!!! I've tried everything to get involved and in touch with this group who say they represent us but to date, I haven't had a single reply. The only thing I do get is a reminder to pay a yearly fee. I even spoke to a couple of the so-called higher ups at the Pharmacy Show last year. I was promised emails, information etc. What did I get?? A big fat zero..............what can you do.............

So, if there are any Techs on here that are as fed up as I am with the lack of support, groups, training, recognition blah blah, then make your voice heard here. PM me if you want to. Any dispensers also who are p***** off with the same, join in too. We all do the same thankless job after all.

[El-loco]

dizzyb23 in your job advert above you missed out:

Do you want to make sure you have professional indemnity insurance?
Do you want to spend hours keeping your CPD up to date at your own expense?
Do you want to face being struck off for failing to uphold a new set of standards?

FWIW I think the RPSGB should never have sold technicians the idea that there was anything for them except a weekly magazine. You were seen as a source of easy money by the Lambeth mandarins. Your own body would have been far better.

If it's any consolation (and don't expect sympathy from any pharmacists on this one) the new regulator, the General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC) may - we don't know yet - start introducing standards for community dispensing staff that might include qualifications and registration. Certainly if remote supervision is to go ahead (and, to be honest, like many "Luddite" pharmacists, I'm against that) there is no way that staff with no formal qualifications, no FORMAL (as opposed to company) training and who are not regulated by anyone can be left to get on with things and supervised from afar.

No doubt YOU have the experience to know when you need to confer with a pharmacists via a video link but as things stand you could have a shop full of total numpties with little experience and only the need to have STARTED a training pack.

If some of these changes come about you will be in a much stronger bargaining position than you are now. If the multinationals are required to employ qualified, registered pharmacy technicians they are going to have to pay enough to make it worth someone's while to be one. Of course, they'll fight tooth and nail not to.

Good luck with your revolution!

[dizzyb23]

dizzyb23 in your job advert above you missed out:

Do you want to make sure you have professional indemnity insurance?
Do you want to spend hours keeping your CPD up to date at your own expense?
Do you want to face being struck off for failing to uphold a new set of standards?

FWIW I think the RPSGB should never have sold technicians the idea that there was anything for them except a weekly magazine. You were seen as a source of easy money by the Lambeth mandarins. Your own body would have been far better.

If it's any consolation (and don't expect sympathy from any pharmacists on this one) the new regulator, the General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC) may - we don't know yet - start introducing standards for community dispensing staff that might include qualifications and registration. Certainly if remote supervision is to go ahead (and, to be honest, like many "Luddite" pharmacists, I'm against that) there is no way that staff with no formal qualifications, no FORMAL (as opposed to company) training and who are not regulated by anyone can be left to get on with things and supervised from afar.

No doubt YOU have the experience to know when you need to confer with a pharmacists via a video link but as things stand you could have a shop full of total numpties with little experience and only the need to have STARTED a training pack.

If some of these changes come about you will be in a much stronger bargaining position than you are now. If the multinationals are required to employ qualified, registered pharmacy technicians they are going to have to pay enough to make it worth someone's while to be one. Of course, they'll fight tooth and nail not to.

Good luck with your revolution!

Love what you've written El-Loco. And I agree with you. Believe it or not, i'm a very old fashioned Tech. All the new things that have popped up over the past couple of years have made me uneasy and in some cases, angry. I originally trained back in the 80's with another old fashioned and very experienced Tech. Back then, we looked after the Pharmacist and the patients/customers, shared the workload and ran the store very successfully. In my humble opinion, the person in charge of the pharmacy is the Pharmacist (not some Woolworths reject), the person who makes all the decisions is the Pharmacist and the person who must be helped and supported all day is.......yes the Pharmacist. With the exception of a few nutters, i've worked with and still work with so many amazing people. I believe that the responsibility, respect and authority of the Pharmacist is slowly being eroded away and it makes me very uncomfortable. I may be repeating myself here but when a Pharmacist comes through our door in a morning they have a cuppa and a biccie waiting for them, all the work from the day before is finished and just requires a final check, all walk-ins are prepared, all specials and difficult scripts are sorted as are the scripts for sending off at the end of the month, the many phone calls are dealt with and the Pharmacist can enjoy a whole hour uninterrupted dinner break. I even keep the annoying pharmacy manager out of the way.

Anyway, gone off subject slightly there. To register or not to register....that is the big question now I suppose.
What do other Techs think?? Any student Techs on here with an opinion of all this moaning and whingeing on my part????

[El-loco]

You're not old fashioned dizzyb23, you just want to do a proper job like we used to be able to do.

I don't agree with you that the pharmacist makes all the decisions, nor that they must be helped and supported all the time. You know more about the management and administration of your pharmacy than any locum ever can. The pharmacist is there to do what they were trained for. You are there to support them in that for the benefit of the patient.

When you say

I believe that the responsibility, respect and authority of the Pharmacist is slowly being eroded away and it makes me very uncomfortable

you hit the nail right on the head. We must look to next Monday (27th Sept) to see if there is going to be any change.

When you said

I may be repeating myself here but when a Pharmacist comes through our door in a morning they have a cuppa and a biccie waiting for them, all the work from the day before is finished and just requires a final check, all walk-ins are prepared, all specials and difficult scripts are sorted as are the scripts for sending off at the end of the month, the many phone calls are dealt with and the Pharmacist can enjoy a whole hour uninterrupted dinner break. I even keep the annoying pharmacy manager out of the way.

Your really had me going for a moment there! I was just about to PM you to try to get a few locum bookings. Whole hour uninterrupted dinner break!"

Pull the other one!

[dizzyb23]

I kid you not!!! When i'm there, i make absolutely sure that the pharmacist gets their whole hour or else....even the manager knows not to interrupt them anymore. Of course there are the very few exceptions. I suppose i mother them a little bit but when the poor b****** have to work from 8.30am till 7.00pm, i insist on looking after them and making it as easy as possible. Most seem to be grateful for my efforts.