Private Patients (Hansard, 11 July 1994)

§ Mr. French
To ask the Secretary of State for Health what proportion of NHS doctors and consultants also accept private patients.

§ Dr. Mawhinney
The private work of national health service doctors and consultants is a matter for the individuals concerned. Consultants contracted to the NHS are required to devote substantially the whole of their professional time to NHS duties so that NHS patients are not adversely affected by private work.

§ Mr. French
To ask the Secretary of State for Health what is(a) the average and (b) the maximum level of remuneration of NHS consultants from (i) their NHS work and (ii) private patients.

§ Dr. Mawhinney
The average and maximum level of remuneration of national health service consultants for their NHS work is shown.

average £53,450 (September 1993)

maximum £99,770 (April 1994)

NHS consultants may have their pay negotiated locally if they work for a NHS trust. Information on the level of remuneration for private practice work is not available. Whole-time consultants may not earn more than 10 per cent. of their gross NHS earnings from private work.

§ Mr. French
To ask the Secretary of State for Health what is the average percentage and time allocated to(a) NHS responsibilties and (b) private patients by those NHS consultants who do private work; and what percentage of their remuneration is derived from these respective sources.

§ Dr. Mawhinney
This information is not available centrally.