Emergency doctors paid £2000 per day

Recently used a solicitor- £210/hr + VAT, for writing 2 letters and sending 3 emails

Ana it doesn't work out to £200 an hour. It is ALMOST £2000 a shift so probably around £1800, which for a 10 hour shift is £180 before tax etc, a 12 hour shift-not unusual on nights- is £150 an hour. And there is the possibility that only 1 or 2 shifts might be available in one week. It may still sound a lot but look how much a solicitor or barrister charges per hour- an equivalent position.

The problem with charging patients for A& E services is the cost involved. It probably costs more to take the money with all of the administrative gobbledygook than to let patients have the services for free. I do agree that something has to be done.

ethel I started in 1979 and was told the same reason for low pay as you. In order to reach Nurse Specialist and then Nurse Consultant stage I had to finance my own BSc(Hons) and then my MSc I also carried a great deal more responsibility for patients, premises, staff and prescribing medication so I thought my salary rises were justified especially as I earned so much less than non clinically qualified managers who got all their training (such as it was - lots of management gobbledegook)paid for them and didn't have to be on-call and work shifts.

'why not make a charge for A and E services, there are so many time wasters that our local hospital has a permanent police presence, the druggies go into the loo and shout and swear etc. Surely a small charge would deter these thugs. Also people with mental health problems tend to sit around the waiting area, probably as they've nothing else to do.

a small charge would be willingly paid by those who are genuine.

I once saw a known drunk sitting in a cubicle vomiting into a bucket, he should have been thrown out into the street, he has a home to go to and should have been left to his own devices.

It is about time we started to take responsibility for our own actions.

The NHS has become the 'nanny' in the phrase 'nanny state' and we are all suffering for it.

In 1971, I started nurse training and we were paid £4.50 a week, the current unemployment rate was £5.00 a week, a brave soul asked why we were paid so low and we were told that the NHS does not want people who cared about money, so if we were happy to work for less than benefits we were the right sort of person for the job.

I wonder how this fits in with the highly qualified nurse pracitioners of today, I cannot comment on doctors pay as Ive no experience but I doubt they would get the sort of dedication toady that they got in 1971

I don't think £200 an hour plus for an agency doctor is justified, trisher.

I was reading about a lady who left nursing in the 1950's because the pay and conditions were so bad - you'd think things might have improved in the last 60 years but obviously not.

Am I alone in thinking actually this isn't that much. The article says "almost £2000". If the shift is a long one-and it could be 10,12 hours or longer, if it is an evening or night shift, and it is only temporary I don't think the doctor is overpaid. How many patients might they treat in that time? How many lives might they save? It is widely reported that in busy A&E depts there isn't even time to take a coffee or meal break. I wonder about the statement in the article about staff not wanting to take on permanent employment. The reason I think most doctors are taking temporary employment is the uncertain state of the NHS because of the top down reorganisation and the unwillingnesss of management to create permanent posts.

I am not being A Political but our town surgery had 8 doctors, 5 male and 3 female doctors who were absolutely brilliant but when the Labour GP contracts came into force within a year 4 went onto part-time working and one retired early.

I know one of them very well who chose to work part-time and she admitted that the hours and the wage made it easier for her to be home with the children. She has returned to full time working now but admits it's to pay for her children's private education, holidays and the fact she has 3 girls and will need money for their weddings . She is an excellent doctor but admits to feeling angst with her patients because there are so many who are rude, obnoxious, don't turn up for their appointments and demand medication or hospital appointments when none are viable.

Whay are so many of the drop in centres closing down? They were a very good alternative to going to A&E if you wanted advice but your surgery was closed. As for GP's pay; they're all very happy to work long hours at other places for huge wages and then roll into work tired the next day when they no longer have to be the on call duty doctor for their surgery.

And people still do abuse it, don't they? I have heard people in my last GP's surgery f-ing and blinding because they couldn't see someone immediately; in the end they put metal grilles in front of the reception desk.

( Except that sometimes, as in the case of A&E over the four day holiday, certainly down here) there is nowhere to turn.

I have so much time for the NHS and all its staff, as I have said before on GN. But when will the finances be sorted out, so that the hire fits the labourer, so to speak.

We have often discussed, on GN, how much extra we would be willing to pay in tax to resuscitate the NHS. Better than paying agency staff, eh?

I could write a book about the ridiculous reasons some people gave to request home visits. I'm afraid just too many people did abuse the NHS and its servants- and perhaps these people were part of its demise, sadly.

The reason locums and agency nurses are so popular with management is that although they get paid more than staff on contract, the employer doesn't have to pay national insurance, pension, sick pay, maternity pay, salary increments and so on. So they are much cheaper. The same applies to 'retired' staff who are then bought back.

Did I write that post? (I could have). Of course a car was not an option, but albsolutely necessary for doing all the home visits, day, night or week-end (sometimes for the weirdest and most shocking of reasons!!!)

GPs do have it easy now, although they are plagued by bureaucracy. I barely saw my OH during the early childhood of my first 2 children as he was working in the hospital all the hours there were - and when he did get home he just fell into bed - and not for a night of passion! Then he became a GP and the workload was no less - and the pay was poor. We had to buy a share of the practice, of the drugs and of the equipment and we were up to our eyes in debt, as we had a mortgage for the house (tiny bungalow) and a loan for the one car we owned.

So, it makes me squirm to hear about these salaries that are paid to locums. I am all for improving GP working hours and conditions, but not for lining the pockets of those who dip in and out and get overpaid.

And one problem of reducing doctors' hours is that they simply do not get sufficient experience to be good at their jobs.

For a short time I was bludgeoned into managing some GP services in Essex. South Essex is an unattractive area to GPs for several reasons including schools, transport and housing. Some of the practices have a high number of 'challenging' patients which is also an issue so yes I signed some eye watering checks for locum GPs who resisted all my efforts to get them to sign a permanent contract.

Anyone who was following the story of vampire's friend can see what happens when you get locums in hospitals.
Not many doctors like what is happening to the NHS, and because GPs seem to be the whipping boys, very few trainees want to become GPs now.

www.hospitaldr.co.uk/blogs/our-news/new-private-members-bill-aims-to-reverse-tory-health-reforms

This is a private members bill which has gone through first and second sitting in the commons, and is now in committee. Although not perfect, it is better than we have now. Hope it gets through.

Locums! who know nothing about you etc, dh was in a lot of pain and had to call a doctor out one Sunday, the doc came and although he listened to dh chest etc. the doc said he was prob in pain due to a fall he had had 4 weeks earlier (we really didn't think this was the case) we had to describe to him how ill dh was, at the same time trying not to frighten dh as to how ill himself was(the locum had no notes no idea whatso ever about dh health)! the locum still more less said it is prob with the fall that he had pain etc he arranged for our own GP to attend on the Monday the day after, dh died that Monday night.!

Our dirty, damp and filthy, small flat - half the top of a run-down Victorian conversion on Putney Hill- cost us £15 a week + bills- we had to move out and live in a pre-fab on site in the on-call room- about 5ft x 10, a 2'6 bed, small desk, 1 chair and a sink. At least I could go and watch TV in the mess and have people to talk to, and we were able to clear our debts before moving to the Midlands. Our first house in 1972 cost us £6000 (2.5 bed semi).

Nearly all the GPs round here are part time and frequently people take a year off to go travelling. This means we patients never know who we will see and never form any kind of relationship with a doctor as we used to do. If they were paid the kind of wage which required them to work a full week of, say, 40 hours, we would get a better service.

No! A new build in the Midlands. And it was in 1967

I guess your house was not in London Galen.

After I left GP it took two years before I stopped jumping when a phone rang,no matter where I was!

This is the story of my life too! My OH as a young GP worked every other night and every other weekend in a rural practice with a scattered population. When he was working the weekend he was on duty from Thursday morning till Monday evening - as well as being on call he did 7 surgeries in that time.

I am glad you pointed out that you too were on duty - I would be stuck in the house with the children the whole of that time as I could not leave the phone - no mobile phones then!

Patients got an excellent service, but it was at the expense of the GPs and their families.

My OH used to groan (or swear!) when the phone rang; and I later found out that when she was little my DD thought that the word "phone" was a rude word!