The GPhC yesterday (January 30) announced that it is “seeking views” about a proposed 6% increase in the annual registration fees for pharmacists, pharmacy technicians and pharmacy owners from September 2025 – plus a further 6% increase the following year.
But just hours after the announcement, the sector reacted furiously to the plans, describing them as “insensitive” and a “disgrace”.
An Independent Pharmacies Association (IPA) spokesperson told C+D that the move is “very disappointing and unfortunately comes across as a very out of touch move by the regulator”.
Read more: IN FULL: GPhC proposes two-year 6% fee hike amid ‘rising costs’
“At a time when community pharmacies are struggling severely financially, the rise in employer’s national insurance (NI) and national minimum wage is looming and many are at the brink of going under, to raise registration fees is an insensitive move,” they said.
“We are asking the GPhC to seriously reconsider this and instead support this important sector to get back on its feet by helping the network put a robust case forward for a fair funding deal and fulfil its potential in [delivering] great patient care,” they added.
“Kick in the teeth”
National Pharmacy Association (NPA) director of corporate affairs Gareth Jones said that “it is a kick in the teeth that the GPhC is considering piling yet more costs on hard pressed pharmacies”.
“It is disappointing that pharmacies have been asked to pick up the regulator’s increasing costs at a time when they have seen not a single penny of additional investment from central government in the last decade and are closing in record numbers,” he added.
And Jones stressed that the NPA will respond to the consultation “in due course”, also urging the GPhC to “reconsider”.
Read more: GPhC rubberstamps plans to hike registration fees by 7.5%
Royal Pharmaceutical Society (RPS) chief executive Paul Bennett highlighted that the proposed fee increase is “well above the current rate of inflation of 2.5%”, stressing that the membership body is “concerned about the significant increase proposed”.
“We are mindful of the financial pressures faced by pharmacists and pharmacy technicians, and we will engage constructively with the consultation process to ensure the views of our members are heard,” he said.
But he added that the RPS “fully [recognises] the importance of effective regulation to uphold public confidence in the profession”.
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Company Chemists’ Association (CCA) chief executive Malcom Harrison said that “while it’s understandable that [the] GPhC wishes to increase fees to cover the rising costs of doing business and increased workload, it’s unfortunate that these costs must be passed on to registrants and contractors”.
And a Pharmacists’ Defence Association (PDA) spokesperson said that the body will be “consulting with members” to inform its response to the GPhC’s proposal.
“Registrants need to feel...that feedback and evidence will be considered before any decisions are made,” they added.
“How is this fair?”
Commenting on X, pharmacist Ben Merriman said that “inflation hasn’t been 6% for over a year - my costs as husband/father have gone up but salary hasn’t this last year”.
“Contractors have had a 40% real-terms cut in funding since 2016 but massive rises in nearly all outgoings,” he said, adding that “we have no choice but to pay GPhC fees – how is this fair?”
Read more: ‘Pure greed’: Fury over ‘unjustified’ GPhC fee hike proposal
Merriman called for the pharmacy regulator to “release detailed accounts of these increased costs” as well as “details of the savings that have been proposed and made” and of “increases in remuneration and benefits for staff”.
“As one of the people who have no choice to pay this increase, surely I, alongside the tens of thousands of others in the same position, have a right to know what has been done to improve efficiency and what our money is being used to pay for,” he said.
Read more: ‘Spending spree’: PDA queries GPhC HQ costs ahead of fee hike decision
Other social media reactions to the news included calls on X for the regulator to “read the room”, while one poster quipped that the news “smells of someone at the GPhC wanting a new car”.
One commenter on Facebook said that the regulator should “stop paying for a building in Canary Wharf and move somewhere cheaper”.
While another said that “it’s a disgrace and I have responded to their consultation telling them so”, calling for others to “make sure you all do too”.
Read more: GPhC council members voted to give themselves 20% pay rise in May meeting
The regulator yesterday said that it is “making cost savings where possible but fee increases are still needed to cover rising operational costs”, adding that it has “no alternative” but to raise fees”.
It also revealed plans to reintroduce “multi-year fee cycles” with “regular and moderate fee increases in the future” and to consider changes to fees for independent prescribers.
The consultation is open from January 30 to April 24 – the Council will then consider making the fee increase a rule in the summer and if approved, it will apply from this September.
