Shropshire GP is earning £300,000 from the NHS
Tuesday 7th September 2010, 8:17AM BST.
A Shropshire GP is earning more than £300,000 a year from the NHS, health bosses have confirmed. The figure has been described as “astronomical” by a doctors’ leader in the county.
Freedom of Information requests have revealed that nationally 161 GPs had annual earnings of £200,000 or more in the tax year 2008-09, the most recent for which figures are available.
The highest-paid GP was found to be a senior partner and owner of two practices in the London borough of Hillingdon, who declared annual earnings from the NHS of £507,241.
But six other doctors – including one from Shropshire – earned £300,000 a year or more.
Stuart Rees, Shropshire County Primary Care Trust’s director of finance, said: “Payments are made by the PCT to GP practices through nationally determined contracts.
“Individual GP earnings are determined through agreements within the practices themselves, with which the PCT has no involvement.
“The PCT can confirm that in 2008-09 there was one GP in Shropshire who declared NHS pensionable earnings of more than £300,000.”
The identity of the doctor is not known.
The earnings have surprised other GPs in the county.
Dr Mary McCarthy of Shrewsbury,chairman of the Shropshire Local Medical Committee (LMC) which represents family doctors, said: “I am not aware of anyone in Shropshire earning that much.”
She said the doctor could be an “entrepreneurial GP” who ran other services for which the NHS paid.
Dr Ian Rummens of Oswestry, LMC secretary, said: “It is a huge amount of money. Astronomical.
“It is way more than the vast majority of GPs are earning, in excess of double of what they earn.”
Salaried GPs earn up to about £81,000 but the figure can rise to more than £110,000 depending on the doctor’s contract. And extra can be earned by carrying out vaccinations or testing and monitoring.
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What is the point of this story exactly?
Why the shock and horror of someone earning £300k with out any analysis of how they’ve earned it? It’s not likely they’ve earned this from a cosy 9-5, Monday to Friday stint at the surgery desk. It seems more likely they’ve taken on additional work, such as working anti-social hours nights and weekends, when the rest of the population is with their family, or asleep.
When the likes of Wayne Rooney earn a basic salary of £5 million, before sponsorship deals, I think it would be more helpful if the shropshire star had carried out more research before describing one individual’s income as
“astronomical”.
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The Star was simply quoting a local doctors’ representative who described the payment as “astronomical”.
I don’t agree with this or Wayne Rooney’s ridiculous income – but at least I can choose not to spend money on football.
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honestly, who cares? Lets just hope that they deserve this pay by saving lives by diagnosing issues early.
I am proud to be british and have the NHS, without them i would be dead by now.
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Could`nt agree more!
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A few years ago, I worked for ShropDoc. I worked in the same room as doctors who triaged the calls. It gave me a very good insight into many of the GP’s in Shropshire. About 50% of which are worth every penny they earn. Sadly, the other 50% were lazy good-for-nothing dinosaurs, whinging about “stupid callers” and would brag about how much they were getting for their shiftm. I remember it was roughly 10 times more than I got, just for telling people to take some ibuprofen and call the surgery in the morning……..
If the GP in question is working over and above their normal working hours, then they are quite entitled to the extra “overtime”.
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My brother and sister are both doctors, one a GP. I have seen how the job has changed over the years. Now to be able to get a place at Medical School and qualify in that profession you need to have a lot of financial support.
It is a shame to be seeing the end of young people from not well off and ordinary working class families becoming doctors because they are more willing and able to empathise with the majority of the population.
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