GPs earning over £150,000 shouldn’t have to declare their income because it would be ‘harmful to their morale’, doctors moan

• British Medical Association says move could lead to GPs reducing their hours
• Union says it is unfair to single out family doctors for the pay transparency rules 
• Only GP partners who own practices and locums will have to declare earnings 

Plans to force GPs earning more than £150,000 per year to declare their income are ‘harmful to morale’, doctors say.

The British Medical Association, which represents 160,000 doctors, is calling for the proposals by NHS England to be ditched.

It claims the move would be disruptive and could lead to GPs reducing their hours or retiring early.

NHS England announced the plan in October last year but it was halted to shrink doctors’ paperwork and allow them to focus on Covid efforts in winter.

It is now due to come into effect in April 2023.

The BMA’s GP committee wrote to practices in the country last month, saying it will ‘continue to request further suspension of the requirement to declare earnings’.

It claimed it is not fair to single out family doctors with the new pay transparency rules.

The move only applies to GP partners — who part-own practices —  and locums, who do temporarily work, with salaried doctors who make an average of £100,000 a year exempt.

Plans to force GPs earning more than £150,000 per year to declare their income should be ditched because they may be ‘harmful to morale’, the British Medical Association has claimed

GPs have resisted calls to update their patient lists after suggestions practices may be including dead people and getting more cash.  

The health service has restarted its investigations into so-called ‘ghost patients’ after they were paused to allow GPs to cope with the increased workload of Covid.

It comes after MailOnline last month revealed more than 5.2million patients who do not exist are registered at GP surgeries in England. 

Surgeries are paid roughly £150 per year for every individual on their books, regardless of whether they see them. 

NHS England has now asked outsourcing firm Capita to restart its checks to ensure practices are not being given money for patients who have died or are registered elsewhere.

But the British Medical Association (BMA) — which represents around 160,000 doctors — has hit back at the requests to update the lists.

The union said it is ‘a bureaucratic burden’ that ‘will detract from practices’ and doctors ability to provide care. Its request to delay checks has been rejected.

Yesterday, it was revealed the union is also resisting calls for GPs to update their patient lists amid concerns practices are getting extra funds for dead patients. 

The NHS transparency plan will see GPs and clinical staff who make more than £150,000 report the income on an online system that will be published on NHS Digital’s website.

It will include their name, title, earnings and the name of their NHS employer. 

Announcing the move in October, NHS England said it would help ‘safeguard public trust in the GP partnership model’.

But pushing back against the plans, the BMA said in a statement: ‘We continue to request further suspension of the requirement to declare earnings.

‘We believe this is harmful to morale in the profession and could lead colleagues to reduce their working commitments or retire.

‘We also believe that it is inequitable to single out general practice for this requirement.’ 

The statement, seen by GP Online, adds the pay transparency agreement made last year was based ‘on the clear understanding that GPs were not being singled out’.

It said it believed pharmacists and dentists would also have to declare incomes above a certain level as well at the time. 

The dispute comes after the NHS restarted its investigations into so-called ‘ghost patients’ after they were paused to allow GPs to cope with the increased workload of Covid.

MailOnline last month revealed more than 5.2million patients who do not exist are registered at GP surgeries in England. 

Surgeries are paid roughly £150 per year for every individual on their books, regardless of whether they see them. 

NHS England has now asked outsourcing firm Capita to restart its checks to ensure practices are not being given money for patients who have died or are registered elsewhere.

But the BMA has hit back at the requests to update the lists.

The union said it is ‘a bureaucratic burden’ that ‘will detract from practices’ and doctors ability to provide care. Its request to delay checks has been rejected.

The notional cost of ‘ghost patients’ — many of whom have either died, moved abroad or are duplicates — is in the region of £750million a year. 

Patients’ rights campaigners suggested that practices could be deliberately letting their patient lists become overinflated to get extra cash.

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