Average salaried GP rate 'drops by £10 per hour'

The average hourly rate of salaried GPs has dropped by more than £10 since 2012, according to the results of a survey by a primary care recruitment consultancy.

The results of First Practice Management’s (FPM) 2013 GP practice staff salary survey of 200 people show that salaried GPs now earn £44.17 per hour compared with the £54.63 per hour they were earning in 2012.

The findings also show that locum GPs are reported to earn significantly more, at an average of £69.72 per hour.

Dr Richard Fieldhouse, chief executive of the National Association of Sessional GPs, said: ‘These findings do not surprise me. The experience I have is that locums are turning away 50% of all work given to them. In the last 18 months, practices have asked our chambers, which includes 40 locum GPs, to cover 16,000 half-day shifts and we have only been able to take on 9,000 of them.’

On salaried GPs, Dr Fieldhouse added: ‘When GP practice earnings went up, salaried incomes didn’t go up. But now practice incomes are going down, salaries are going down.’