Paying for the future

摘要

John Fowler is right in noticing that civil servants are adept at "creating black holes",as he calls them (PJ,10 March,p282).I am struck by Mr Fowler's selective awareness:he notices the black holes created by civil servants but ignores our ever increasing retention fees and the blooming bureaucracy at Lambeth High Street,where large numbers of pharmaceutical mandarins can be found.I think A.Matalia (PJ,3 March,p245)has a valid point.I would go further and argue that,stripped of its regulatory function and its statutory membership requirement,and with a reluctant membership,dissolution of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society is on the cards.So far,pharmacists have paid for their own regulation through retention fees.But regulation for the public benefit should be financed from the public purse.Few pharmacists will agree to the Department of Health telling us how to spend our assets.