How much do NHS doctors in general earn?

Anton123

Yes, a full time doctor's job is very stressful indeed. The unsociable hours, dealing with horrific injuries, always on the feet. Not for everyone, but can be very rewarding in other ways when a patient goes away fully healed and a genuine heartfelt thank you that comes with it.

fawd1

Shocked and saddened that anyone would object to doctors salaries. If you want what they get, then study 6+ years, work 70 hours etc a week for another 2-3 years, and then get told they're the route of all evil for most of their careers. If you think it's so easy, then go and do it.

whitelabel

I think junior dr are underpaid but for the above dont forget that even as employees by doing a self asseanent form, professional memberships can be deducted from their tax, which is why most are made to pay for it themselvesrather than the nhs. They also get paid the "death charge" a fee for signing a death certificate each time too.

LazyDoc

niktheguru wrote: »

What people fail to realise is that doctors train for 5-6 years racking up student loans and now even ridiculous tuition fees. (granted the nhs does pay for tuition fees for the final two years, so medical students pay the fees for 3 years, just like non-medical graduates)

The starting basic salary for a FY1 doctor is around the £21k mark, most doctors get a percentage extra on top of that (called banding) depending on the unsociable hours (i.e. weekends and nights) included in their contract, this varies from 20% to 50% on top of basic pay. If you work in london you get an extra 1-2k due to higher costs.

So in reality a first year doctor earns around 30-34k.
Once you take off income tax, national insurance, pension contribution etc the real figure that you get in your hand is around 22k.

This seems ok, but don't forget there are a barrage of professional fees that are paid. They pay the GMC £500 just to be registered. If you have a professional membership qualification you pay around £300 annually just for it to stay valid. They have to pay for membership to the BMA and the various defence unions. All the professional education and courses that are compulsory to attend have to come out of their own pocket. e.g. advanced life support training (you would want your doctor to have that wouldn't you!) costs around £500, every course they go on varies in cost between £700 and £1500 a pop, and comes out of their own pocket. The postgraduate exams they sit cost well over £1000 each. You cannot progress in your career without these courses and exams and can easily spend thousands of pounds for these.

Yes, the hours have reduced to 40 hours a week, but in reality the majority of doctors work more than this but unpaid, whether it be that you have unwell patients that you can't just get up and leave when it is time to "clock off", and also sometimes we stay just so we can get trained.

Doctors have had a pay freeze for the last few years, so salaries haven't gone up with inflation and with the introduction of the european working time directive causing them to work less hours (i.e. up to 40 hrs a week) this has actually caused the pay to decrease.

Don't get me wrong, doctors enjoy their jobs. You cant imagine how satisfying it is treating patients. They are not on the breadline, and work hard for what they earn, but there is a very false opinion by the general public that doctors earn loads of money, the harsh reality is quite the opposite....at least for the hospital doctor. (yes GPs earn a lot for comparatively much less work, but that's another argument)

A hospital consultant can earn six figures, but just remember it usually takes around 10 years training after university (on salaries ranging from 20 to 60k), travel to work in hospitals all over the country, significant expenses etc to reach that stage.

Very good post. Doctors really do not make as much as people think. For example this month after tax my wife was paid £1900 as she is on a unbanded post so only works 8 to 5.30pm. However we had to pay for 2 exams. One was 900 and the other 1500. Plus her mps membership was paid at. 1500.

niktheguru

whitelabel wrote: »

I think junior dr are underpaid but for the above dont forget that even as employees by doing a self asseanent form, professional memberships can be deducted from their tax, which is why most are made to pay for it themselvesrather than the nhs. They also get paid the "death charge" a fee for signing a death certificate each time too.

It is true that you can claim the tax back from professional expenses you'll find quite a few don't and you can only claim from the organisations listed on the inland revenue site, and doesn't include courses or exam fees.

Also you'll find the death certificate fees are only if a person is cremated and for fy1 doctors and gp's who fill out these forms (more senior doctors can do it too but only if they are selfish as its an unwritten rule that the house officers should do it) this income is frequen in people who do care of the elderly jobs, and not exactly an income that is wanted due to its very nature!

teendude

I'm a med student

I am very lucky as I still live in my parents home and am Scottish studying in Scotland so I get my tuition fees paid for me for the full five years.

Now the wealthy far outweigh the working class in med school still but for those that can't rely on their parents for help through the course I know of some that have to access the emergency university crisis funds to get through. I imagine this is the same on most courses.

However to give an idea of med student costs (obviously we like to have fun to so you can imagine whatever you manage to scrape together at the end of a month still gets spent):
Rent: for a decent flat in Glasgow the region of 375-450 a month excluding bills.
Travel: We don't get any help towards travel expenses and as you progress through the years you are expected to travel more and more to peripheral hospitals. I probably spent around £100 last year (second year) on travel. This year I have to travel out at least once a week which for me is going to be a £7 return train ticket and I think followed by a bus. Others have to go further. In 4th/5th year you can be placed for most of the week.
Textbooks: My first year textbooks costed me about 250£ (this is for three.) Luckily I work in a charity shop and the rest of them have only cost me in the region of a total of £30 ( about 7). I regularly make a list and offer them to my friends when I see them come in.
Equipment: You must have: lab coats, a stethoscope ( 65-100£), a sphyg (60£), a tendon hammer. Also the obvious paper/pens/pencils etc. A laptop is also invaluable if you want to be able to work outside of the library.

ANYWAY that's just a fraction of the costs we face! I mystery shop quite successfully, I am a lifeguard five hours a week and a shop assistant five hours a week. I live at home and I struggle to stay afloat! In first year I was in my overdraft for the whole year.

It must be much more difficult for post-grads who have many more bills to pay, those with families and those who have to pay the £thousands a year of fees. They will rack up massive debt and the starting salary of a doctor at least helps clear it a bit. Like many above have said the salary sounds nice and big but the backlog of costs equal it out a bit.

That said we are in a much safer position as we are nearly guaranteed a job after uni. So many courses are oversaturated with a lack of real job prospects now.