16.02.18
Gender pay gap: Top women doctors earn thousands less than men
A gender pay gap amongst the highest ranks of NHS doctors sees top females earning an average £14,000 a year less than their male colleagues.
Just five out of the 100 top-earning NHS consultants in England are female, despite women making up a third of the total workforce.
Figures obtained by the BBC from health trusts, the government and NHS Digital showed that:
- The top-earning male consultant in England earned £739,460, compared to £281,616 for the best-paid woman;
- On average, full-time male consultants earned £127,683 – almost £14,000 more than full-time women;
- Six-and-a-half times as many men as women in England and Wales get the top platinum award bonus worth £77,000 a year.
But the pay gap shrank from £14,000 to £1,500 when overtime and bonuses were taken out, suggesting that some of the difference could be due to men working longer hours.
Dr Anthea Mowat, the BMA representative body chair, argued that there was still a long way to go to achieve parity.
“Last year the government announced an independent review of how the gender pay gap can be eliminated in medicine and we’d like to see it start as soon as possible,” she said.
“With women making up the majority of medical graduates in recent years, it’s vitally important that we address the root causes of the gender pay gap, and develop a wider programme of work to eliminate it across the medical workforce.”
The Royal College of Physicians' president, Prof Jane Dacre, added: "We all need to do more to support women in the workforce. Ensuring they get the same opportunities for overtime, progression and awards."
The latest figures come just one day after NHE reported a decline in GP numbers towards the end of 2017.
NHS Digital figures showed the number of family doctors fell to 33,872 in December from 34,091 in September.
Prof Helen Stokes-Lampard, RCGP chair, said the workload in general practice had increased by at least 16% over the last seven years, but the number of GPs had not risen in line with this.
“GPs are the cornerstone of our NHS – a system which is the envy of the world – but there is a limit to what we can do and there simply aren’t enough of us to deliver the safe care our patients need and deserve,” she concluded.
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