What should a GP's income be? It's a question that's been bothering me recently for three reasons. First, by reading Polly Toynbee's excellent book, Hard Work, which explores the lives of those on the minimum wage, I have been forced to confront and question my own income and lifestyle. Second, post new contract, our practice is negotiating with the PCT over out-of-hours cover, from which, being an island practice, there is no escape. The local LMC has suggested that we should cost our time at some more or less arbitrary figure — let's say £50/hour — and multiply this by the number of hours to be covered, charging extra for bank holidays. The sum arrived at is in the region of £230 000 — to be shared between two doctors in the four winter months and three for the rest of the year. Not bad as a bonus to the day job. Finally, I have just received an email from an ex-trainee of mine who has taken up a post in New Zealand. He works a 12-hour day, earns about £40 000 gross and pays tax at 40%, and believes that the cost of living is only slightly lower than in the UK.
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