Secrecy row over GPs on £150,000
Doctors’ union wants to sink plans to name the top earners — because list could ‘harm morale’
A DOCTORS’ union has claimed plans to name GPs who are paid more than £150,000 a year should not go ahead because they may ‘harm morale’.
The proposal to force highearning GPs to declare their salaries was previously delayed for a year, with infuriated doctors claiming they felt ‘singled out’.
Now, with a deadline of April next year looming, and further discussions on the issue understood to be planned between the union and Government, the British Medical Association is lashing out again.
In an update, the Left-wing group said: ‘We continue to request further suspension of the requirement to declare earnings as we believe this is harmful to morale in the profession and could lead colparticipate leagues to reduce their working commitments or retire.
‘We also believe that it is inequitable to single out general practice for this requirement.’
Last year the Daily Mail revealed the highest paid NHS GP was pocketing £700,000 a year, with hundreds earning more than the Prime Minister.
The revelations, disclosed under a Freedom of Information request, related to the financial year 2018 to 2019. GPs can benefit from a contract which allows them to run several surgeries and earn money for providing extra treatments.
The requirement for high-earning GPs to be named would bring their pay transparency in line with that of civil servants.
But last year, as BMA members voted on whether they would support industrial action, they were also asked if they would refuse to in the ‘ naming and shaming’. The union has claimed the rules over pay declarations could expose GPs to abuse from the public.
In the run-up to the planned introduction last autumn, it also said doctors were slashing their hours to remain under the earning limit so that they did not need to declare their income.
The row over pay transparency, reported on the website GP Online, is the latest dispute between the union and ministers, following a disagreement over proposals to improve patient access and give everyone the right to demand an in-person appointment.
In its update to members, the BMA said: ‘ The individuals in scope of the regulations introduced in October 2021 will need to make a declaration of their 2021 to 2022 earnings in April 2023 as the provision remains in the GP contract.
‘We also believe that it is inequitable to single out general practice for this requirement.’ The union’s website states, in regard to the policy: ‘It provides no benefit to GPs or their patients, but will potentially increase acts of aggression and abuse toward GPs and practices.’
The row over pay transparency comes after the annual GP Patient Survey last month revealed declining satisfaction with family doctors, and that patients had given up booking appointments because they were too hard to get.
Fewer than three in four said they have had a good experience with their GP practice this year – down from 83 per cent in 2021. Only 72 per cent were satisfied with the appointment they were offered the last time they tried to book one – down from 82 per cent.
The Royal College of GPs has said surgeries are ‘overstretched’ and are battling workload pressures and staffing issues.
‘Will increase acts of aggression’