Except you have as close as possible guaranteed customer base.
Doctors and the 7 Day Week
- Thread starter Nitefly
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Except you have as close as possible guaranteed customer base.
Well yes they have the same stresses of any business, as well as the clinical stresses. Their equivalent of sales is the clinical targets. They are also limited in income based on the imposed contract from monopoly employer. There are many practices facing significant financial pressures and many have closed. They are then responsible for a redundancy etc and essentially bankruptcy for the partners. There aren't the options of structuring the business to minimise personal liabilities. You may think that looking in it all looks Rosey, but I assure you the reality is very different. As minstadave said many GPs are turning their backs on partnership.
Remember the flip side of that is your "guaranteed customer base" are eating at an all you can eat buffet. If a business sells you something or provides a service you wouldn't normally expect to then provide every other service they provide for free forever more either. The contract states that we must see anyone in our geographic area who is ill or believes themselves to be ill. The costs associated with that can be huge.
I had a lady on my list for 2 years who saw me or my colleagues more than 600 times in 2 years. Yes that averaged more than once a day, when you allow for weekends. she also regularly accessed the out of hours service and was under consultant care at hospital as well. However she still only provided payment of around £60 per year (none of her illnesses provided extra income beyond what is termed the global sum) so a guaranteed customer base is not always a good thing
Was she actually ill or just a hypochondriac.
I know a few hypochondriac who abuse the nhs. Nhs should have a right to treat the actual issue and if needed forced rehab. From an outside perspective, seems to be a resist to actually treating mental issues and instead just treating symptoms.
I know a few hypochondriac who abuse the nhs. Nhs should have a right to treat the actual issue and if needed forced rehab. From an outside perspective, seems to be a resist to actually treating mental issues and instead just treating symptoms.
Granted there are winners and losers but overall on average, the partner gp makes £108k profit per annum and a salaried gp got paid £56k according to the latest statistics for 2012-2013.
So you get an extra £52k per annum for the additional issues for running your business.
Caporegime
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Those figures are highly skewed by most salaried GPs working less sessions than partners.
Soldato
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A full time equivalent salaried GP working 8 or 9 sessions per week will actually earn a very similar salary to partner. I know lots of recently qualified GPs who just aren't interested in partnership, it's just not work the extra hassle and stresses. Not to mention the advantages of salaried posts can quicky rack up for example maternity leave, better flexibility, professional medical indemnity insurance, pension contributions etc).
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Caporegime
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Absolutely, my wife had turned down a partnership at her current practice.
Soldato
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Same, my wife's actually turned downed several partnership opportunities. As a relatively recently qualified GP the stresses even as a salaried are incredible (plus she's doing a masters in medical science) so wouldn't even entertain the idea of partnership.
But isnt that down to how the partnership works and the loan repayments?
I would imagine its the same as Veterinary practices, you pay between £250,000 and £1m for your partnership and then your take home salary after deduction of the practice loan repayment is just the same as when your were salaried.
Therefore you only really gain any money once you have paid off your loan or you retire and your partnership is then bought out?
But as Moses says, there are good and bad people running partnerships, some will little or zero business acumen. They may be great doctors/vets but running a business they dont have a clue.
And that's why it is reasonable that if you want to take on some extra responsibility you are rewarded. Also the 108k profit is not a take home salary as a partner you pay employer and employee pension contributions which is a very large percentage. Daily mail headlines are far from the reality.
As I've said before however it is not simply about finances. The attack on the profession and suggestion we are no longer professional or feel a sense of vocation is something that has hugely angered all doctors as well as the lies about there not being a 7 day service already and misrepresentation of statistics to justify the governments unrealistic agenda is ridiculous
As I've said before however it is not simply about finances. The attack on the profession and suggestion we are no longer professional or feel a sense of vocation is something that has hugely angered all doctors as well as the lies about there not being a 7 day service already and misrepresentation of statistics to justify the governments unrealistic agenda is ridiculous
The recruitment crisis is for doctors that work in the hospital environment (Pediatrics, Geriatrics, Surgeons, and so forth), not GP's.
And, due to the working conditions in hospitals, there are a number of doctors moving from hospital work to GP practice because the conditions and benefits are more favorable. This is not even accounting for people who leave NHS all together for work abroad.
eh wut?
I beg to differ. That £108k average is from the NHS annual stats each year and is after all costs of the partnerships but before tax. So that should be after pension contributions.
Of course there is tax and NI to pay on that and I appreciate that there is then much less taken home but thats the same with any wage.
The way i see it, is that if £108k per year for a partnership or £56k for an employee for a 9 to 5 job isnt enough then I am not sure what the answer is.
Certainly much better income and shorter hours than working in hospitals.
Google 'lack of gps', lots of articles seem to suggest otherwise.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/nhs...thousands-of-patients-due-to-lack-of-GPs.html
There is a lack of GP's but not due to recruitment process. Many graduates from medicine, who once after had experience in hospitals turn to GP practices for work. Many women in medicine change their career path to become a GP because of the more favorable hours.
If they want to claim a shortage of GP's then this is definitely due to owners of the GP offices. They will decide how they want to manage their finances and how many GP physicians to take on.
The true shortage is actually within the hospital itself. Physicians are imported from Singapore, India, China, and other Asian countries in large numbers to fill the gap because either UK doctors are switching to become a GP or they decide to leave the NHS all together. I've seen this first hand.
Now, for many of these doctors (from India, China, etc), moving to and working in the UK is a huge step up in standard of living. They are more than happy to work the same wage as a "Pret A Manger" manager and living in a studio or one bedroom apartment.
If the NHS has no problems filling in the gaps, then what is the incentive to change the standards of working conditions for the existing physicians? Nothing.
People can complain all they want about how doctors already have or good, or how they can go and find another job if they're so unhappy.
But when more people go to the hospital because something has gone wrong and are unable to communicate to the doctor because English is not their first language, they'll understand why working conditions should've been better for locally trained physicians.
It is always to the nation's advantage and benefit to keep their own talent, at home.