9 Key Quotes from the 2019 Primary Care Staff Salary Survey

By Simon Harker
In
Posted Wednesday April 17, 2019

9 Key Quotes from the 2019 Staff Salary Survey

Primary care managers from across the UK have shared details of how they pay their team, and highlighted the challenges they face. Watch out for the full results of the 2019 Staff Salary Survey coming soon!

On the role of GP partners…

“The Partnership model for GPs is not working. There is a lot of greed among GP partners and most are not good employers… They micro-manage, even though they have no real training as managers yet, interfering too much with the management of the Practice.”

“It’s getting more and more difficult to meet partner expectations vs income vs paying staff a decent wage…”

On the difficulty of the work…

“Paying £8.50 per hour for receptionists to take abuse, effectively signpost, and use a complex clinical system is not acceptable… the profits are just not "out there" to make a significant difference. It’s frustrating to lose good people purely due to money.”

“The job is getting more complex and it is increasingly difficult to find staff who can cope with the demands of the job… We expect a lot of them and then offer them very little to do it as we don't have the budget to enable that.”

On the National Living Wage…

“The NLW is putting huge strain on general practice. Not only is the 4.9% increase due following on from similar levels last year, but then those in other roles in the surgery demand a 4.9% increase themselves...”

“At a time of high change, conservative GPs become insular. No investment in any element of the business follows as preservation of the drawings becomes the highest priority. Minimum wage is pushing up the lowest paid, but there is a reluctance to address differentials”

On the issue of recruiting…

“Due to funding being cut and extra pressures put onto primary care it means we need more staff... which means we have no option but to pay less. This in turn means recruitment is a struggle and retention is even worse!”

“Generally low in comparison to other similarly skilled work – it’s difficult to recruit staff when they can have less stress and more benefits / pay working in retail!”

On competition from supermarkets…

“It is becoming increasingly difficult to hold on to reception staff who can earn more working in Aldi...”

Keep an eye out for the full results of the 2019 FPM Staff Salary Survey, coming soon. If you're interested in learning how to make more out of less with your finances, why not look into Thornfields' training course Maximising Income, Minimising Cost.