£ 100 A Year


As a registered nurse, I have to pay an annual fee to our regulating body in order to practice. That fee has recently been upped to £ 100 which is a lot of money when you work part time.....and I must admit that I begrudge paying every single penny of it.
Yesterday I saved the health service a fair amount of money. An elderly villager called me over to have a look at her husband, who was feeling unwell after a fall. The " out of hours" care is complicated for some elderly to utilise easily , so I never mind such requests, and as it turned out It was fortunate that I did go round as the husband needed immediate hospital care, care that might have been too late if he had waited for the GP surgery to open 24 hours later.
I was more than happy to be able to help....I'm not rehashing the story to obtain a list of " what a lovely person I am" kind of comments...that's what neighbours do for each other.....they help each other....

I am just slightly hacked off that I do a job which is generally seen as being a positive to a society
And I have to pay a soddin £ 100 quid a year to do so.



59 comments:

  1. Anonymous1:08 pm

    Not much of a comparison but in the Insurance Industry you have a yearly fee to pay while you are taking the courses to be licenced and afterward as well. Your licence expires if you don't pay the fee. I think it's their way of keeping track of us all and making sure we keep up to date. But yes, you pay to take your courses and you pay to keep your licence and you pay to park your car so you can get to work and ...oh it does go on doesn't it?

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    1. Point taken Delores.... Most people suffer such fees... I shouldn't bitch about it

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  2. Found this if it helps any. http://www.nmc-uk.org/Registration/Staying-on-the-register/Claiming-tax-relief-on-your-registration-fee/

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    1. Yes I knew about this....it's a faff though

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  3. I'm glad I no longer have to pay any fees, I resented them just as much. I wouldn't have minded if they were going to a good cause but it seemed to me the good guys were forking out to keep those who weren't fit to practice in check.
    And the insurance increased yearly to finance the "where there's a blame, there's a claim" fraternity.
    I even have to pay a huge one-off retirement fee to protect me and my family from claims against my estate after I'm dead, which really, really rankles.

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  4. Yes, do bitch about it....it might exist, it might be the way things are...but I'm pretty sure it's not necessary to pay so much.

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  5. So glad the neighbour felt she could call and you were able to help. I'm sure you were a great comfort.

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  6. Keep in mind John, and I am assuming it is the same there as here in Canada, that you are in a nurses 'union' and if they are doing their job they are protecting your job and your rights as a nursing employee.....making sure you are not being taking advantage of by your employer. They may be worth every cent you are paying.If they are not doing their job, then that is a different problem with a different solution.

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    1. The regulating body is not a union jimbo
      We have pay another premium for that

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    2. Oh, I see. A little 'double dipping'....at your expense, John. Hm-m-m.

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  7. it doesn't seem right. give winnie a good scratch from me!

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  8. Anonymous1:52 pm

    I used to resent paying to park outside my office, so I can understand your frustration at having to pay £100.

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  9. I used to have to pay a similar fee to The General Teaching Council and like you I bitterly resented this extra tax. And that pointless organisation never did a single thing for me - not a damned thing.

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  11. My son has exactly the same sentiment about this, I myself just do not understand it.
    Briony

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  12. Might sound a bit naïve, but what would happen if every nurse refused to pay this? They can then sack you, but if they sack every nurse, where would they be?
    This extra tax seems totally unfair and I think unjustified.

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    1. You would not be a registered nurse basically
      And therefore would not be ABLE to practice

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    2. So after 1 year at the most, there would be no registered nurses left to practice?
      Where would the powers-that-be find enough people to replace them all?

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    3. Nurses are so passive when it comes to industrial action

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  13. This is something I knew nothing about John, and I suspect most people don't know it either. Shameful to charge a caring profession in such a way.

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  14. John, I know you're not bitching but I just want to say I would willingly and gladly pay the £100 for you

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  15. You have every right to feel peeved. Peeve away - if that helps to relieve your understandable and justifiable inner pressure.

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  16. You're right there, it seems completely wrong.

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  17. My husband is a qualified social worker specializing in child protection, and they also have to pay for a HCPC license except they have to pay for two years in advance, in one hit. Like you, he gets pretty hacked off about it, particularly in light of the negative press such work often attracts in certain quarters of the British press. It can seem a pretty thankless task at times.

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  18. You're right, of course. I've been watching "Walking Dead" since day one. I've seen oodles of gory deaths and the head-bashing of walkers has actually become boring. Nothing on the series has ever bothered me more than the sacrificing of the little pigs. I could not watch. I wonder what that says about us--the fact that we can see lots of people butchered, tortured and mutilated but freak out when an animal is hurt.

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    1. Oh noooo I have not seen " infected" yet..it airs here on Friday
      No no not the pigs

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    2. Darn! I'm sorry John. I didn't mean to drop a "spoiler" on you!

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  19. John,

    So basically you have to pay a fee to keep your registration as a nurse. Hmmmmm, sounds like another way for government to take in money.

    Thanks for helping your neighbor out !!!

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  20. I was paying £130 a year to my professional body on a part time salary and having taken a year out for family reasons still have to pay £38 a year to retain my chartered status with no salary. Annual subs can amount to £194 a year once you go over £17000 per annum. Frustrating!

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  21. I would begrudge paying it too. As my husband is in teaching he is required to join a union in case a pupil was to make an accusation against him. He joined a few weeks back and had to pay £40.00. He then had to lose a days pay for going on a strike that he didn't want to be on! It seems that every one wants to squeeze a bit more money out of us.

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  22. Evil bastards! I didn't know this. It's unconscionable, wicked, stupid and ungrateful. I could go on in the same vein -- but you get the gist!

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  23. Same throughout all of the systems...nurses, doctors, vets, solicitors, hairdressers, Uncle Tom Cobbly and all.
    Have a little moan, and pay up ;)
    ~Jo

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  24. Don't start me talking about government practices...look where I live.

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  25. Aah, nurse on the street syndrome, I know it well. I'll always look out for elderly neighbours and kids in distress. Some of the parents, however, could benefit from a first aid course.

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  26. Hi
    I'm a nurse practitioner in the USA, specializing in providing HIV care. My wife, Donna, and I live in a resort town, and I practice in what is considered a 'medically underserved area". I pay a fee for my RN license, a fee for my NP license, a fee to be able to prescribe controlled substances (narcotics, benzodiazepines), and a federal fee to the US Drug Enforcement Agency. Arrrggghhh!

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    1. Ouch!! Like the DEA needs more money.

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    2. The charge from the DEA is more than $700

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  27. That's just wrong John xxxx

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  28. Bastards!! I had no idea this existed!
    You've every right to bitch about it! A small fee I could understand, but this sounds like daylight robbery!

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  29. I agree 100%. Those of you in society in the helping professions should be lauded and not charged a fee just to practice. Crazy.

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  30. I don't blame you for feeling hacked off. I'm hacked off on your behalf!

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  31. Anonymous6:50 pm

    I didn't know you guys had to pay this annual fee - as a teacher we were 'made' to pay to the General Teaching Council (taken directly from employer) for a few years, but that has stopped now, and the GTC did nothing at all for teachers. It is up to individuals if they pay into a Union. I think it is appalling that you should have to do this to be registered: we are bloody lucky to have you lot!

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  32. Daylight robbery. So angry on your behalf.

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  33. Well I'm pissed.....off

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  34. They call them fees because it sounds so much better than robbery.

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  35. Presumably the NMC would say that they provide various benefits in return for the £100 fee. And what benefits would those be exactly?

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  36. We have similar hoops to jump through here. Which is so very wrong.

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  37. Governments do have their ways to get their money.
    Have a good week, John. ♥

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  38. That's not right. If it must be paid, then your employer should pay it. The fools who have employed me have always paid for special training I needed and required licenses.

    Love,
    Janie

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  39. Totally agree with you John, im an RN working in Dorset,can i just mention how fab you are looking with your recent weight loss, Daisy x

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  40. Anonymous1:29 am

    I think similar is paid here, maybe to the Nurses Registration Board. It should be part of the costs of employing a nurse, not the nurse paying it.

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  41. You soft heart, you. Helping people is written in your genetic code.

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  42. My partner is a driving instructor and pays the DSA £300 every 3 years for the right to practice her trade. For that she gets a little disc of pink paper to display in her window. I had no idea that registered nurses are also government cash cows. Disgraceful. There is probably a lot of this direct taxation going on.

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  43. It frustrates me too. Especially as it went from three yearly to yearly, but the price never went down.

    I would also like the option of paying £2 less a year and opting out of that stupid bloody pointless newsletter they send us telling us all about their internal politics.

    Bastards

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  44. Preaching to the choir here John...I take x rays and have to pay the state of Ohio to renew my license yearly and national every other year...plus the cost of continuing education...you have to renew on/by your birthday too!

    Yep...had to close my eyes during the pig scene...still watching with no sound...

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  45. That is a lot isn't it? How much do rich bankers have to pat to keep practicing?

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  46. Hubby has to pay his teacher rego every year. Such a pain!

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