Contractor GP Earnings Dip To £107,667, Says Report From The NHS Information Centre, UK

Main Category: Primary Care / General Practice
Article Date: 15 Oct 2008 - 6:00 PDT

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The average earnings before tax of contractor GPs dipped to £107,667 during 2006/07, according to figures published today (15 October 2008) by The NHS Information Centre (The NHS IC).

An analysis of tax returns for contractor GPs - the majority of GPs in the UK - found that their gross income increased by one per cent to £247,362 during the year.

However, the rise was more than offset by the 3.5 per cent increase in the cost of running their practice, with their expenses rising to £139,694 during the year.

As a result, average income before tax fell by 2.1 per cent, from £110,004 the previous year.

The report presents the initial results of the 2006/07 GP Earnings and Expenses Enquiry and has been agreed by the Technical Steering Committee which includes representatives from the four UK health departments, NHS Employers and the British Medical Association.

Because it reflects earnings reported on tax returns, it includes private as well as NHS work and covers both full and part-time contractor GPs.

The report shows the average pre-tax income of contractor GPs in 2006/07 varied in the different countries of the UK:

• £111,566 in England (a decrease of 1.8 per cent)
• £93,316 in Northern Ireland (a decrease of 5.4 per cent)
• £89,468 in Scotland (a decrease of 1.3 per cent)
• £97,772 in Wales (a decrease of 4.3 per cent)

Contractor GPs working in practices that dispense prescriptions had an average pre-tax income of £126,996 (a decrease of 0.1 per cent on 2005/06) while non-dispensing GPs had an average pre-tax income of £104,093 (a decrease of 2.4 per cent on 2005/06).

The report showed a wide distribution of pre-tax income among contractor GPs.

At the lowest end of the scale, six per cent of GPs earned less than £50,000, while at the highest end of the scale, 0.8 per cent earned more than £250,000.

The report is at http://www.ic.nhs.uk/pubs/gpearnex0607

Also published today is Investment in General Practice, 2003/04 to 2006/07, England, Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland. It is at: http://www.ic.nhs.uk/pubs/investgpreport03-07

A more detailed report containing information on earnings and expenses of contractor and salaried GPs by age of GP, practice size and location will be published in early 2009, together with final earnings figures for salaried GPs.

Notes:

The NHS Information Centre is England's authoritative, independent source of health and social care information. It works with more than 300 health and social care providers nationwide to provide the facts and figures that help the NHS and social services run effectively. Its role is to collect data, analyse it and convert it into useful information which helps providers improve their services and supports academics, researchers, regulators and policymakers in their work.

The NHS Information Centre also produces a wide range of statistical publications each year across a number of areas including: primary care, health and lifestyles, screening, hospital care, population and geography, social care and workforce and pay statistics.

The data source for the survey is HM Revenue and Customers' (HMRC) tax self assessment database, which covers earnings and expenses from all self-employed professional earnings sources.

The report contains information on contractor GPs - ie GP partners - who form the majority of the workforce. The results for contractor GPs have been adjusted to exclude employer's superannuation contributions.

The report also contains provisional results for salaried GPs as the effect of employee superannuation contributions on the gross earnings and income before tax of salaried GPs requires further investigation.

Source:
Fraser Woodward
The NHS Information Centre