No To Top Up Bonuses For GP’s
Monday 21st February
2011
GMB CALLS ON PARLIAMENT TO
INSERT WORDING INTO THE HEALTH AND
SOCIAL CARE BILL
TO STOP ADDITIONAL BONUSES FOR ALREADY
WELL PAID GPs
GMB can find no wording
anywhere in the Bill that prevents additional money that will be
paid to consortia under clause 223L being used to pay top up
bonuses to GPs
The Health and Social Care Bill before
Parliament which scraps Primary Care Trusts and Strategic Health
Authorities and replaces them with GP consortia as currently worded
will allow GP consortia to be paid additional bonuses on top of
already high salaries when responsibility for £80 billion of NHS
money is handed over to GP's.
Public Health Minister Anne Milton MP
last week confirmed that "High performing consortiums may be
awarded a quality premium by the NHS Commissioning Board, based on
the outcomes they deliver for patients and good financial
performance". The Bill as written in clause 223L Payments in
Respect of Performance section 7 says "A commissioning
consortium may distribute any payments received under this section
amongst its members in such proportions as it considers
appropriate."
GMB, the union for health service
staff, can find no wording anywhere in the Bill that prevents this
money being used to pay bonuses to GPs. GMB is calling on
Parliament to amend the Health and Social Care Bill with a specific
clause to stop these additional payments being used to pay bonuses
to GP's.
GP incomes are already between 2.61
and 3.36 times average earnings for all full time workers in
regions. This is according to new data published last month by
Department of Heath. The Income data for GP practices for each
region in England compared with average earnings in that region are
set out in this table below. See notes to Editors for definitions
and sources.
|
Table 1d: Earnings and
Expenses - General Medical Practitioners 2008/09
|
|
|
Strategic Health
Authorities
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Gross Earnings
|
Total expenses
|
Income of individual GP before tax
|
Average UK full-time gross
earnings
|
GP's salary times larger than UK
average
|
|
|
North East
|
£207,300
|
£112,300
|
£95,000
|
£31,900
|
2.98
|
|
|
North West
|
£223,400
|
£125,700
|
£97,700
|
£31,900
|
3.06
|
|
|
Yorkshire & Humber
|
£252,300
|
£147,500
|
£104,800
|
£31,900
|
3.29
|
|
|
East Midlands
|
£256,700
|
£149,500
|
£107,100
|
£31,900
|
3.36
|
|
|
West Midlands
|
£236,400
|
£131,900
|
£104,600
|
£31,900
|
3.28
|
|
|
Eastern
|
£254,500
|
£149,300
|
£105,200
|
£31,900
|
3.30
|
|
|
London
|
£236,100
|
£136,300
|
£99,800
|
£31,900
|
3.13
|
|
|
South East Coast
|
£241,100
|
£138,100
|
£103,000
|
£31,900
|
3.23
|
|
|
South Central
|
£228,500
|
£132,400
|
£96,100
|
£31,900
|
3.01
|
|
|
South West
|
£205,900
|
£122,800
|
£83,100
|
£31,900
|
2.61
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Rehana Azam, GMB National Officer
said, "GMB can find no wording anywhere in the Health and
Social Care Bill that prevents additional money that will be paid
to consortia under clause 223L being used to pay bonuses to
GPs.
The Government has already
squeezed NHS funding, now it wants to divert more of the remaining
money to pay for GP bonuses.
Clause 223L in layman's terms
reads: Lansley will funnel more taxpayers' money to GPs,
allowing GPs to profit while the health service
declines.
GMB is calling on Parliament
to amend the Health and Social Care Bill with a specific clause to
stop these additional payments being used to pay bonuses to
GP's. Any spare cash should be put back into
the NHS for treatment and outcomes.
The Government has got
its whole NHS policy wrong and its Bill is meeting serious
opposition. GMB among others is challenging areas of the Bill. If
health service staff has any say in the matter the Bill will not go
through in its entirety. GMB members prefer to retain the
accountability structures rather than see GP Consortia being put in
charge."
Ends
Contact: Rehana
Azam, GMB National Officer on 07841 181656 or Paul Maloney on 07801
343 839 GMB Press Office: Steve Pryle on 07921 289880 or Rose
Conroy on 07974 251823.
Notes To editors:
Source and definitions:
1 Copyright 2011, The Health and
Social Care Information Centre. All rights reserved. The figures
are for the incomes of GPs who are contractors to the NHS and the
incomes of salaried GPs employed by the NHS.
2 GP Earnings and Expenses 2008/09
Final Report, Publication date: January 12, 2011. The latest GP
Earnings and Expenses Enquiry provide a detailed study of the
earnings and expenses of both contractor and salaried GPs in the UK
in 2008/09. Results are based on data from HM Revenue and Customs'
tax self assessment database. The figures are for those GP's
working in the NHS under a General Medical Services (GMS) or
Personal Medical Services (PMS) contract.
A GMS practice is one that has a
standard, nationally negotiated contract. Within this there is some
local flexibility for GPs to 'opt out' of certain services or 'opt
in' to the provision of other services. The PMS contract was
introduced in 1998 in England and Scotland (as the section 17c
agreement) as a local alternative to the national GMS contract. PMS
contracts are voluntary, locally negotiated contracts between
Primary Care Organisations (PCOs) and the PMS Provider, enabling,
for example, flexible provision of services in accordance with
specific local circumstances.
Earnings and expenses information are
based on a sample from HM Revenue and Customs' (HMRC's) tax
self-assessment database, as at April 2010.
GPs can perform both NHS and private
work which can be done both inside and outside the practice,
including the NHS Out of Hours service. GPs will usually submit a
self assessment return which contains information on all of their
self-employment earnings, including both NHS and private earnings
while practising as a GP, with the accounting year ending in the
tax year covered by the return. Therefore, the results include
earnings and expenses relating to both NHS and private work.
Gross earnings include income before
the deduction of expenses (i.e. turnover); expenses are business
expenses allowable for tax purposes, e.g. premises and staff costs;
income before tax is taxable (or net) income, made up of gross
earnings less expenses.