Following a report issued by the NHS Health and Social Care Information Centre outlining changes in GP Earnings and Expenses in 2014/15, much has been made of the salaries of top earning GPs.
A more detailed analysis of the report shows a different picture with average income for all GPs increasing just £400 over the year - to £90,600 from £90,200. GPs have seen a sharp drop in salary in real terms over recent years as shown below.
Contractor GPs (also known as Practice Owners/GP Partners)
- Average pre-tax income increased 1.7% in 2014/15 compared to the previous year:
£101,500 from £99,800
- However, average pre-tax income has gone down 17.5% over the past ten years in real terms (ie. taking into account inflation)
Average pre-tax income in 2004/05 was £100,170 in cash terms, equivalent to £122,982 at today's value.
- There are regional differences with Welsh GP contractors seeing a decrease of 0.3% in average pre-tax income while Northern Irish GP contractors saw a 2.1% increase.
There were 25,618 Contractor GPs in England in 2015, comprising 63% of the workforce.
Salaried GPs
- Average pre-tax income was down 1.7% in 2014/15 compared to the previous year. £53,600 from £54,600
- Average pre-tax income has gone down 14.3% in real terms over the past seven years
- Average pre-tax income in 2006/07 was £62,404 compared to £53,600 in 2014/15.
There are 10,063 salaried GPs in England in 2015, comprising 25% of the workforce.