Scottish GPs are paid by the NHS, which allocates funding every financial quarter and pays out monthly. £950.5m was paid to Scottish GP practices in 2020-21.
There are three types of general practice which are funded in slightly different ways due to the type of contract they work under.
Most of the money comes from a fund called the global sum. This pool of money is allocated to GP practices by estimating potential workloads due to patients’ age and sex, together with weightings to recognise the areas’ deprivation and life circumstances.
Global sum payments are described as a contribution towards costs in delivering the core parts of the contract, including staff costs, as well as additional unavoidable costs.
In 2020-21, £643.8m was paid to GP practices from global sum payments.
Read more: Scottish GPs at 'tipping point' as patient numbers rise dramatically
Other payments to GPs include Covid-19 support payments, covering costs of premises, payments for GP practices run directly by NHS boards, and various other costs which relate to specific GP practices’ contracts.
How much are GPs paid?
A GPs salary depends on a few different things, including the type of doctor they are.
Partner GPs run the practices they work in, which means they earn more than regular salaried GPs, due to the extra responsibility and workload.
There are also locum GPs, who provide temporary help to short staffed practices. This can be more flexible and paid more.
In 2020-21, the estimated average income before tax for GPs in Scotland – calculated using both partner and salaried GPs earnings – was £107,700. This does not include locum GPs, who work with more flexibility and often do not work full time.
Read more: Stress and soaring lists: On the front lines with Scottish doctors and patients
SCOTLAND'S GPs IN NUMBERS
912
Number of GP practices in Scotland.
(Source: Public Health Scotland GP Practice Contact Details and List Sizes, October 2022)
5,117
Number of GPs contracted to work across GP practices in Scotland.
(Source: Public Health Scotland General Practitioner Contact Details)
29%
Percent of GP practices in which the number of patients registered with a single GP increased in the last three years.
(Source: Public Health Scotland General Practitioner Contact Details, Public Health Scotland GP Practice Contact Details and List Sizes)
33
Number of GP practices with a single GP is responsible for more than 3,000 patients.
(Source: Public Health Scotland General Practitioner Contact Details, Public Health Scotland GP Practice Contact Details and List Sizes)
11
Number of failed GP practices taken over by the NHS health boards in 2022.
(Source: Public Health Scotland GP Practice Contact Details and List Sizes)
56,004
The number of patients registered with Scotland’s biggest GP practice.
(Source: Public Health Scotland GP Practice Contact Details and List Sizes)
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