Trainees are calling for a say in royal college fee setting procedures following a spate of escalating charges which are being enforced on them without consultation.
The JRCPTB (Joint Royal College of Physicians Training Board) recently put up its enrolment fees by 22%; the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists has raised its annual subscription to the trainees’ register from £75 to £120 and the Royal College of Surgeons recently raised its exam fees.
Junior doctors, who will have no pay rise for the next two years following the Emergency Budget, say this unfair as college fees are compulsory.
Dr Shree Datta, chair of the BMA’s junior doctors’ committee, said: “We have heard of increases in three different colleges it’s not just the college fees but also the exam fees that are going up so much. I’ve no doubt that in the next few months we will see a couple more following suit.
“You can’t just squeeze more and more money out of people.”
The JDC and the Academy of Royal Colleges Trainee Doctors Group are both calling for college trainee committees to be consulted on fee setting procedures.
Dr Ollie White, SpR in child and adolescent forensic psychiatry, Oxford, co-chair of the Academy Trainee Doctors Group, said: “The issue has increased in profile recently due to a sharp increase in the JRCPTB trainee fees and the fact that trainee fees are now compulsory due to the mandatory requirement for all trainees to be registered with their college under Modernising Medical Careers.”
He said the Academy Trainee Doctors Group were keen to ensure there was trainee involvement within each colleges’ fee setting procedures, for there to be transparency of fees to ensure that they were cost neutral, and for there to be no more sharp increases in fees in the future.
JDC joint deputy chair Johann Malawana said: “With the introduction of these compulsory fees, we see the introduction of a tax on juniors by royal colleges without any democratic accountability.”
The JDC has written to the Academy of Royal Colleges, NHS Education Scotland and Bill Burr, medical director of the JRCTB but have not yet received any replies.
The JRCPTB and the RCOG both blame a withdrawal of Department of Health support for college training and increased costs involved with developing new aspects of the curricula, particularly workplace based assessments and e-portfolios provided by NHS Education Scotland.
A spokeswoman for NHS Education for Scotland (NES) rejected the accusation that their e-portfolio service was expensive. “We currently charge the colleges who use the NES e-portfolio system £18/trainee/year. Until this year NES have not made a charge for specialist trainees. This charge has been initiated to cover the costs of hosting the portfolio, security checks and ongoing technical support. Deaneries meet the costs of the Foundation e-portfolio.”
She added that the e-portfolios had made a “very significant” improvement in the way in which trainees can record and demonstrate achievement of competences and progression against a curriculum.
