GP Earnings and Expenses Estimates 2018/19

The nature of the General Practitioner workforce is changing. Increasing numbers of GPs are now developing portfolio careers, choosing to work in other roles in addition to general practice.

Typical examples of such work areas include:

• Accident and emergency departments or out-of-hours provision
• A special interest such as dermatology, diabetes, or minor surgery in a non-general practice setting
• Working in a hospice or palliative medicine
• Research or teaching

The earnings and expenses estimates published in this series of Official Statistics are calculated by HMRC using self-assessment tax return data. HMRC cannot distinguish between general practice earnings, income from other NHS work and private earnings. 

For three years, we have published some experimental analysis of earnings and expenses estimates by working hours bandings for GPs in England. However, while all earnings are included in the calculations, the working hours used reflect only those worked in general practice which inflates the income figures when considering earnings by working hours bands.  This should be taken into consideration when reviewing the working hours analysis in this release.

Because of the growing numbers of GPs working in additional roles as well as in general practice, we believe that analysis by working hours bands will become increasingly unreliable and therefore we do not plan to produce it in the future.  

Alternative sources of data are being investigated; however, these have not so far proved to be fit for purpose.

Earnings and expenses estimates in previous editions of this publication have been presented at UK level, as well as by the four separate countries. 

However, the general practice contractual arrangements in each country have diverged to the point that comparisons between countries are no longer appropriate. 

Moreover, since England GPs make up the majority of the UK sample, UK estimates could obscure the picture in the other countries.

Therefore, UK level estimates are no longer presented.

Earnings and expenses estimates by age, gender, practice patient list size and practice rurality, which were previously only published for the UK, have for the first time been produced for each country individually. They have been calculated for 2017/18 and 2018/19, and are presented in the Excel Time Series.