OxBowBusiness

How much our Quacks get paid

I watched the BBC early morning news on the telly this morning and learned that some of our GPs are earning as much as £250,000 a year and that over the last year or so the pay of all GPs has increased on average by around 25%. The average GP now earns £100,000 a year they said.

I then listened to most of a report on the same issue on BBC Radio 4, the Today programme; and listened to an introduction and then to half of the interview they had with the Secretary of State for Health (erm, what's her name?).

I thought that James Naughty's (that's pronounced nokhtie for some reason), the interviewer, stance was negative from the very beginning and I also thought that the Secretary of State was being a bit, how shall we say, blind to possible problems. Still, between them they provided a lot more information than the television equivalent and they provided a lot more balance.

Your mission, should you wish to accept it, is to look at this story and provide a balanced report for your colleagues on the real meaning behind today's story on GP pay.


Duncan Williamson

PS I used the word Quack in the title of this piece ... where does that come from and what is it a contraction of ie, what is the full version of the word quack in this context. No prizes for menetioning ducks. Absolutely none whatsoever!

posted by Duncan Williamson @ 7:43 AM