How much do NHS consultants (senior doctors) earn in UK?
£94,000-126,000 per year. Quite a lot actually. But the average is £143,000 (with bonuses and other payments). Here is more information on UK doctors salaries from the Nuffield Trust (2023).
The most senior doctors in a hospital are called hospital consultants in the UK. In this article we will describe how much senior doctors get paid in the UK. The answer depends on whether you are looking at their basic or actual salary.
Basic salary
These are the current salary levels for a hospital consultant in England.
1 (starting salary) – £93,666
2 (after 1 year completed as consultant) – £96,599
3 (after 2 years completed) – £99,532
4 (after 3 years completed) – £102,465
5 (after 4 years completed) – £105,390
6 (after 9 years completed) – £112,356
7 (after 14 years completed) – £119,323
8 (after 19 years completed) – £126,281.
Actual salary
But. Because of bonuses – called Clinical Excellence Awards (CEAs) and extra pay for being oncall or living in London – consultants’ average earnings are about £143,000 per year.
Other additional pay
They can be a hospital consultant for over 30 years. Also, as seniors, they can supplement their NHS salaries considerably with private practice and/or medicolegal work. This can quite easily amount to an extra £200,000 a year. They also retire on very generous NHS pensions.
Summary
We have described how much do senior doctors get paid in the UK. Answer = quite alot. We hope it has been helpful.
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Last Reviewed on 4 April 2024