06.06.12
Unions attack NMC plans to hike registration fees by 58%
The Nursery & Midwifery Council has proposed to increase its registration fee from £76 to £120, and potentially link future fees to inflation.
The plans, which are out to public consultation, were immediately criticised by health unions the RCM, RCN, UNISON and Unite, which said that although they understand that the NMC is in a difficult financial position, it should be the Government who step in. They said: “It should not be the hard pressed registrants who pay for the financial failings of the organisation.”
Professor Judith Ellis MBE, interim chair of the NMC, said: “The NMC exists to protect the public, setting standards for education and practice, maintaining a register of nurses and midwives and taking action when an individual’s fitness to practise is called into question. Our current fixed annual income of £53m simply cannot keep pace with the additional fitness to practise activity that is now needed to manage the increase in referrals that we have seen in recent years.
“In order to manage the fitness to practise caseload in 2012-2013 our forecast expenditure will be £43m. This, together with the costs of delivering our other core regulatory and support functions will increase total expenditure to £73m.
“If our income were to remain at the current level we would have no choice but to scale back our fitness to practise activity so that we could live within our means. This would, however, mean that we would be failing in our duty to protect the public.
“We have significant efficiency savings built in to the budget, which will realise cost savings in fitness to practise and also annualised savings resulting from an organisational restructure. We have implemented a pay freeze for all but the lowest paid of our staff and we have also reduced activity in a number of areas to allow us to focus on core regulatory activities. However, none of this will bridge the funding gap that we face.”
The unions have said the proposed 58% is “unacceptable”, adding: “We believe it is inappropriate to seek such an increase when nurses and midwives are already seeing multiple assaults on their pay packets. They are two years into a pay freeze, are experiencing significant increases in their pension payments for what will be smaller pensions and, the cost of living is increasing. This is an initiative that is both badly timed and poorly thought through.”
The consultation closes at midday on August 24. Have your say here: www.nmc-uk.org/Get-involved/Consultations/NMC-fee-increase/
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