Analysis of consultants' NHS and private incomes in England in 2003/4

Morris, S., Elliott, B., Ma, A., McConnachie, A. , Rice, N., Skatun, D. and Sutton, M. (2008) Analysis of consultants' NHS and private incomes in England in 2003/4. Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine, 101(7), pp. 372-380. (doi: 10.1258/jrsm.2008.080004)

Abstract

<p>Objective: Consultants employed by the NHS in England are allowed to undertake private practice to supplement their NHS income. Until the introduction of a new contract from October 2003, those employed on full-time contracts were allowed to earn private incomes no greater than 10% of their NHS income. In this paper we investigate the magnitude and determinants of consultants' NHS and private incomes.</p> <p>Design: Quantitative analysis of financial data.</p> <p>Setting: A unique, anonymized, non-disclosive dataset derived from tax returns for a sample of 24,407 consultants (92.3% of the total) in England for the financial year 2003/4.</p> <p>Main outcome methods: The conditional mean total, NHS and private incomes earned by age group, type of contract, specialty and region of place of work.</p> <p>Results: The mean annual total, NHS and private incomes across all consultants in 2003/4 were £110,773, £76,628 and £34,144, respectively. Incomes varied by age, type of contract, specialty and region of place of work. The ratio of mean private to NHS income for consultants employed on a full-time contract was 0.26. The mean private income across specialties ranged from £5,144 (for paediatric neurology) to £142,723 (plastic surgery). There was a positive association between mean private income and NHS waiting lists across specialties.</p> <p>Conclusions: Consultants employed on full-time contracts on average exceeded the limits on private income stipulated by the 10% rule. Specialty is a more important determinant of income than the region in which the consultant works. Further work is required to explore the association between mean private income and waiting lists.</p>

• Item Type: Articles
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: McConnachie, Professor Alex
• Authors: Morris, S., Elliott, B., Ma, A., McConnachie, A., Rice, N., Skatun, D., and Sutton, M.
• Subjects: R Medicine > R Medicine (General)
• College/School: College of Medical Veterinary and Life Sciences > School of Health & Wellbeing > Robertson Centre; ?? 20206000 ??
• Journal Name: Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine
• ISSN: 0141-0768