The highest paid NHS consultant takes home nearly ?500,000 a year, figures show.
An unidentified senior doctor, who works in the Midlands, earned ?489,500 in 2020, according to NHS data.
Two other highest paid medics, based in the Midlands and London, earned ?386,000 and ?385,500 respectively.
Nearly a tenth of the workforce earned more than ?165,000 ? the prime minister’s salary.
The salary figures, seen by MailOnline, come as consultants are going on a two-day strike this month in a bid for more pay.
The latest healthcare figures for 2022 show that the average annual base salary for full-time equivalent consultants is now ?104,357 (top left image). However, the same data shows that this actually extends to ?126,125 a year, with their base pay supplemented by overtime, medical and geographic allowances (bottom right chart)
Patients face the worst strike break in NHS history after consultants announced a strike right after a strike by junior doctors (Pictured: Strike by junior doctors in Trafalgar Square on April 11)
Consultants, who take home an average of ?128,000 from the NHS, can profit during strikes by doing lucrative private work.
Their walk-out will follow five days of carnage by junior doctors in what will be the longest ever walk-out in the NHS’s 75-year history.
Health leaders fear the ‘double whammy’ will cause disruption to ‘many thousands’ of patients and pose a ‘massive risk’ to hospitals.
Figures released by NHS Digital show that out of 48,000 consultants in England in 2020, a dozen earned more than ?350,000.
About 600 earned over ?200,000 and 7,700 earned ?150,000 or more.
The amounts include the consultant’s base salary plus bonuses and overtime allowances.
Nearly one in 10 (9.4 per cent) earned ?165,000 or more, equivalent to Rishi Sunak’s salary. He earns around ?85,000 as an MP and a further ?80,000 as Prime Minister.
The latest healthcare figures for 2022 show that the average annual base salary for full-time equivalent consultants is now ?104,357.
However, the same data shows that this actually extends to ?126,125 a year, with their basic pay supplemented by overtime, medical and geographic allowances.
High performing consultants, along with dentists and academic GPs in England and Wales, who go ‘above and beyond’ can earn National Clinical Impact Awards, which pay bonuses of ?20,000 to ?40,000 to thousands of medics.
Jonathan Eida, researcher for the TaxPayers’ Alliance, said: ‘Britons will wonder why high-flying doctors are headed for the picket line.
?Consultants enjoy rewards and benefits that most people can only dream of.
“Taxpayers expect well-paid medics to treat patients, not to engage in politics.”
Professor Len Shackleton, editor and research fellow at the Institute of Economic Affairs, told MailOnline that while many consultants are ‘justifiably paid very well’ for their work, now ‘is not the time for the highest paid doctors to pay huge salaries. to pay’. increases’.
He noted that advisors have ‘exceptionally generous pension schemes’ and although their wages have ‘recently dropped’, the same is true for ‘most employees’.
Patients face record waiting lists, some find it ‘impossible’ to get a GP appointment and ‘many’ are not treated for diseases ‘that can kill them’, Professor Shackleton said.
“Very few of these patients will have incomes that keep pace with inflation, let alone rise far above it,” he said.
Professor Shackleton added: ‘Now is not the time for the highest paid doctors to put up with massive pay rises, while nurses have had to accept lower raises. Despite all the hype over 75 years of our great NHS, many taxpayers who depend on it are becoming increasingly dissatisfied.
?We need a comprehensive reform of the NHS to increase productivity and access. Filling advisors’ mouths with gold, as Nye Bevan once said, wouldn’t help.’
The number of people waiting for routine hospital treatment in England rose to a record 7.42 million (red line) in April, figures show. More than 370,000 people lined up for routine surgeries, such as hip replacements, waited more than a year (yellow bars)
NHS data on A&E performance in May shows that three quarters of emergency room attendants (74 per cent) were seen within four hours (red line). Meanwhile, 31,494 patients seeking help in emergency departments had to wait more than 12 hours – equivalent to more than 1,000 patients per day (yellow bars)
Dr. Vishal Sharma, chair of the BMA’s consultants’ committee, said: ‘The average earnings of an NHS consultant in England are based not only on a base rate of between ?42-?57 per hour, but also on numerous overtime hours to be worked. that patients receive the care they deserve.
?Emphasizing a small minority earning more than this out of approximately 54,000 consultants is completely inconsistent with the reality for the profession and what consultants are actually paid.
‘The truth is that consultants in England have seen their take-home pay fall by 35 per cent since 2008/2009 and the NHS is in danger of losing these talented and experienced professionals as a result. The government can avoid this by setting the pay of consultants and committing to meaningful reform of the broken pay review process.?
A spokesperson for the Ministry of Health and Social Care said: ‘This data is out of date. We greatly appreciate the work of NHS advisers and it is disappointing that the BMA advisers have voted to go on strike.
Consultants received a 4.5 per cent pay rise last financial year, taking average earnings to around ?127,000, and they will benefit from generous pension tax changes announced in the spring budget.
?We are already in discussions with the BMA Consultants Committee about its concerns and stand ready to reopen talks ? we are urging them to come to the negotiating table rather than continue with the proposed strike dates. ‘
It comes as up to 34,000 consultants go on strike for 48 hours, starting at 7 a.m. on July 20, claiming their wages have plummeted by 35 percent over the past 15 years. The move had the support of 86 percent of voters.
It comes right after a five-day strike by junior doctors, which is about to run From 07:00 on 13 July to 07:00 on 18 July ? the longest strike since the NHS was founded in 1948.
The combined action is likely to result in the cancellation of more than 300,000 appointments, hampering efforts to clear the record 7.4 million waiting lists.
It is estimated that more than 650,000 routine surgeries and appointments have been postponed since December due to industrial action.
Some consultants covered junior colleagues during recent strikes, reducing their impact – but this cannot happen the other way around.
The British Medical Association (BMA) said it would continue with the strikes unless the government made a “credible” wage offer it could make to its members.
Consultants last took part in a one-day strike over pension changes in 2012. They also staged industrial action in 1975.
Dr. Sharma said: ?It is not too late to avert strikes and the government just needs to come back to us with a credible offer that we can make to our members. But if they refuse, we will take action with a heavy heart.’
The government said consultants received a 4.5 percent pay rise last fiscal year and will benefit from generous pension changes.
It comes after the Mail revealed that consultants are allowed by their unions to continue working in private practice, even if they take industrial action.
When asked last week what Rishi Sunak thought of their behaviour, the prime minister’s official spokesman replied: “If advisers choose to strike, it cannot be right that some continue to treat only their paying private patients and benefit financially while the patient care is being compromised in the NHS.
?We urge those consultants considering this approach to seriously consider the implications for the NHS. It wouldn’t be right to put profit before patients.’
The head of the BMA has warned that all four types of doctors could come into conflict with the government ahead of the election.
Professor Philip Banfield told the Guardian that GPs and specialist doctors are allowed to join the squabble over pay and working conditions.
Specialists say the value of their wages has fallen by 25 per cent since 2008, while GPs are angry about a new contract being imposed on them.
‘You could have a situation where doctors in training, consultants, specialist and specialist doctors and general practitioners enter into discussions with the government in the run-up to general elections. That’s what we intend to do,” said Professor Banfield.