10.09.15
GP salaries drop for fourth year in a row despite ‘growing pressures’
Salaries for combined GPs working in either general or primary service practices (GPMS) fell for the fourth year in a row by almost 3%, new data from Health & Social Care Information Centre (HSCIC) shows.
In 2013-14, their average income was of £90,200 – 2.9% less than the amount in 2012-12, which HSCIC deemed “statistically significant”.
Contractor GPs working under a GPMS contract saw a drop of 2.2% to £99,800 in their incomes during the same time frame.
When broken down into contract type, salary cuts to GPs working under a primary medical services contract were particularly significant: a fall of 3.7%, compared to 1.4% within the general medical services contracts.
For salaried GPs as opposed to contractor, incomes dropped by 3.3% to £54,600 – nearly half of the cash total paid to contractor GPs.
The new figures represent the fourth year in a row that GP earnings have dropped.
Richard Vautrey, BMA GP committee deputy chair, said: “These figures provide yet more evidence of the growing financial pressures faced by general practice, with funding continuing to be squeezed by rising expenses that have reached record levels. With two-thirds of a practice’s income being used on the basics of keeping a practice afloat, including paying for rising costs for utilities, building upkeep and vital staff such as receptionists and nurses, there is nothing left to develop effective patient services that meet patient’s growing needs.
“The decline in average GP pay by a further 3% means that GP now have had to cope with a fourth successive year of real term cuts, leading to an overall 20% cut since 2004-5 despite working harder than ever to deliver rising numbers of appointment.
“It’s no wonder young doctors are shunning becoming a GP and practices cannot recruit new GPs as a result. The government has to take action to stem the expenses pressure on GP practices as we are rapidly reaching a stage where many GP practices will struggle to remain financially viable.”
It is also the first time figures have been published since the Department of Health set out changes to medical services contracts in 2012, which had suggested average pay would increase up to 1%.
However the BMA said at the time that an increase to the overall investment in the GP contract could actually lead to a pay cut for many doctors.
It said the changes would have “huge” implications for their workloads and income and added: “These changes seem to be more about ill-conceived quick fixes rather than solid, evidence-based improvements.”