GP Earnings and Expenses Estimates 2019/20

Prior to April 2019, clinical negligence indemnity cover was paid for through subscriptions with Medical Defence Organisations in Wales. These subscriptions were paid either by the GPs themselves or by the practice/provider in which they work. The way in which indemnity subscriptions were paid was a factor in salary/earnings decisions for contractors and salaried GPs.

From April 2019, the General Medical Practice Indemnity Scheme (GMPI), managed by the Legal & Risk Services department of the NHS Wales Shared Services Partnership, was established. This removed the need for GPs or practices/providers to pay for MDO subscriptions for clinical negligence indemnity cover (although practitioners are still expected to pay for personal professional indemnity). As a result, some practice and personal expenses may have reduced, and some earnings might have increased or decreased (depending on the agreed situation before the scheme was introduced).

Given the varied impacts on individual contractor and salaried GP earnings and expenses (due to their individual arrangements pre and post establishment of the GMPI scheme), it is not possible to say with accuracy what the impact is on the national average net earnings of contractor and salaried GPs for 2019/20 in Wales.

Table 3.1: GMS contractor GPs - average earnings and expenses by dispensing status, Wales, 2018/19 and 2019/20

^{Notes: 1.Statistical significance relates only to the fact of a year-on-year change in income before tax. See 'Statistical significance explained'.}

^{2. No PMS contracts exist in Wales, so all results shown relate to GMS GPs only.}

^{3. Income before tax estimates have increased each year since 2014/15, while average total expenses have been increasing since the time series began in 2002/03.}

^{4. Results for dispensing GPs are based on a small sample and so should be treated with caution.}

^{5. Average total expenses for non-dispensing GPs are considerably lower than those of dispensing GPs, which is to be expected since the costs for drugs are included in the total expenses estimates.}

Median gross earnings, total expenses and income before tax

Table 3.2: GPMS contractor GPs - median earnings and expenses, Wales, 2018/19 and 2019/20

^{Note: The median figures are all lower than the mean figures in Table 3.1 which indicates that there is a relatively small number of contractor GPs with high earnings increasing the mean figures.}

Breakdown of expenses for contractor GPs

Table 3.3: GMS contractor GPs - breakdown of mean expenses by dispensing status, Wales, 2019/20

^{Note: Further expenses breakdowns are published in the Excel Time Series, available under Resources on the Overview page.}

Table 3.4: GMS salaried GPs - average earnings and expenses, Wales, 2018/19 and 2019/20

^{Notes: 1. Statistical significance relates only to the fact of a year-on-year change in income before tax. See 'Statistical significance explained'.}

^{2.Though the percentage increases appear large, they are based on a small sample and so should be treated with caution and, in the case of total expenses, equate to a relatively small cash amount}

Median gross earnings, total expenses and income before tax of salaried GPs

Table 3.5: GMS salaried GPs - median earnings and expenses, Wales, 2018/19 and 2019/20

^{Note: The median figures are all lower than the mean figures in Table 3.4, indicating that a small number of salaried GPs on high earnings are increasing the mean estimates.}

Table 3.6: GMS combined GPs - mean earnings and expenses, Wales, 2018/19 and 2019/20

^{Note: 1. Statistical significance relates only to the fact of a year-on-year change in income before tax. See 'Statistical significance explained'.}

Median gross earnings, total expenses and income before tax

Table 3.7: GMS combined GPs - median income before tax, Wales, 2018/19 and 2019/20

^{Note: As was the case for contractor and salaried GPs separately, the median income before tax estimates are lower than the mean for both years for combined GPs in Wales.}