I had a bit of a grumble on twitter yesterday as I had received my letter from the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) asking for my annual fee of £76 to remain on the live register of nurses. I got lots of interesting discussion from some people on twitter about professional fees.
I understand the definite need professional regulation, it is in the interests of the public and offers protection and a framework in which to work. But there are a couple of things that really annoy me about professional fees…
I know the cost of everything has gone up, but fees have done so ridiculously. My initial registration was about £75 for the first 3 years (I think), but during that time the NMC made it an annual fee which has over the last 7 years that I have been qualified it has crept up to that amount every year. Surely the NMC costs haven’t risen that much?
The point I really want to discuss is, should we pay annual professional fees? Should any professionals? I know many professions do, doctors, vets, teachers, solicitors, I’m sure there are many more. It is not the regulation I object to, but I do think that those people on a fixed salary which is decided by the government (and it not particularly great) shouldn’t have to pay a fee to continue to do the job they do for the public sector.
The private sector is a different matter. Of course it is only my opinion, but in the private sector where salaries can be much better and the goals are more related to profit, then they should pay fees for the protection of government run bodies to regulate their work. There is a point in the public sector where I think this principle applies, the point at which they are not stuck on a national pay scale. For example if a GP is a partner in a practice, or a vet owns their own, they have the potential to make/invest money, the point at which their role becomes potentially more driven by money they should pay for the protection of such organisations.
I don’t think it is about the actual money, or the amount, but rather the principle of it. You don’t have to pay a fee every year to carry on doing your job in a supermarket or an office, why should you to look after/help/teach the public? Why doesn’t the government pay it for us? Why don’t we charge those who make a profit out of the public needs more to cover the cost of this?
It makes sense to me anyway. Thoughts anyone?
As someone who's involved in two out of three of my professional orgs I'm slightly biased here. It seems to me if your reg body is proactive, supportive and informative to their membership then that both costs money and is worth paying for.
ReplyDeleteWho pays is more complex but if reg bodies are self funding they have greater scope to be independent and act in the best interest of their members. Argument about private sector is slightly unfair in that generally they have far fewer rights & protections than public sector workers. Also pay rates are often surprisingly low.
Cheers,
Tim
@Tim
ReplyDeleteThanks for the comment. I am not disputing that the organisations are needed and cost money, the questions is more why the cost has risen so much in the last few years and the who should pay question.
It is a good point about the bodies being self funding meaning they are more independent.
I'm still not sure I agree about the private sector workers, I understand they don't have our pensions and policies etc and that in some places the money pay can be low. But still the people who start private sector businesses do it in order to make a profit, those people with the purse strings should be the ones who pay for the regulation of their low paid staff.
I guess the bodies being independent is why we all have to pay our fees, rather than public sector being paid for by the government and the private sector by the compay owners.
It still feels wrong that I have to pay to do what I do, and I can't imagine this costs staying at it's current level for long, it will continue to rise.
True, missed the point about rising costs. Usually registration bodies etc have to produce transparent accounts showing where your money went. I know the orgs I'm a part of take great pains to be financially responsible in an effort to keep members costs low.
ReplyDeleteI agree there seems a sense it which we are locked into paying these fees in order to be able to practice but have limited control over what those fees are.
Pensions are a very big extra in the NHS and are looked at with great envy by the private sector. It would be interesting to see the costs of a comparable 'package' in the private sector. I've always assumed you need to add about 10K/year to be obtaining the same benefits in the private sector (could be way off though).
Cheers,
Tim
Fees for teaching for 3 years in NZ are $230. Luckily, out Board of Trustees has paid half (in the past - they used to be $160). I don't actually know what these people do except keep our names on file as being registered to teach and occasionally audit beginning teachers. They put out our professional standards and ethics, and that's about it. Our pension is the same as any other NZer, we don't get a teacher's pension. We don't get health insurance out of it. I don't know what we get out of it...
ReplyDelete