According to the latest figures from NHS Digital, GP partner earnings rose by almost two per cent in the 2014/15 tax year, hitting an average of £101,500, while the income of salaried GPs dropped by almost the same percentage to £53,600.

However, although partners’ incomes have remained flat in cash terms, they have fallen sharply in real terms, having risen negligibly from the £100,170 earned on average in 2004/05.

The earnings for salaried GPs decreased because the practice earnings to expenses ratio hit 6.2 per cent over the period, up 0.7 per cent on the year before and up 8.2 per cent from 2005/06, the second full year of the General Medical Services (GMS) contract.

Salaried GPs saw their pay fall by £1,800 in 2014/15 from the year before; in fact the descent has been marked since 2006/07, when it reached £62,604, a whopping 14.3 per cent higher than in 2014/15. However, because the data included income details from both full-time and part-time GPs, the decrease could reflect a rise in part-time working.

Interestingly, the figures show that the income of GMS partners rose faster in cash terms over the period than that of Private Medical Service (PMS) partners. The average income for a GMS partner rose from 96,000 to £98,000, while that of PMS partners only rose from £106,800 to £108,000.

The statistics also illustrate a disparity in pay on a regional basis; partners’ average income across GMS and PMS contracts was £103,800 in England but only £90,700 in Wales. Unsurprisingly, partners in the South East enjoyed the highest income, earning £108,500 before tax in 2014/15. In the South West, however, the average was 22 per cent lower at £84,500.