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New figures obtained by the newspaper the Sunday Herald shows that Scotland’s top doctors are earning salaries of almost a quarter of a million pounds a year.
The figures, obtained under freedom of information, show that in Lanarkshire, the five highest-earning consultants were paid between £200,000 and £225,000. In Glasgow, the biggest salary was £217,996, and in the Borders it was £200,000.
Shona Robison, SNP health spokeswoman, said: “For the money being paid to consultants, it is absolutely necessary for the public to know what improvements have been made to patient care. This [contract] was sold on the basis of great improvements to productivity and seeing more patients, and there is no evidence of that whatsoever”.
Margaret Davidson, chief executive of the Scotland Patients’ Association, raised concerns that cash was being diverted from other areas to fund the “extremely high” salaries. “Can they [health boards] afford these salaries?” she said. “If they can’t, it will be coming from patient services and patients will be affected”.
However, Tory health spokeswoman Nanette Milne acknowledged the contract was costing more than expected, but added: “I think for many years medical and consultant staffs were, relatively speaking, underpaid when you compare them to the equivalent in industry”.
Doctors’ leaders pointed out that the average consultant started on £70,000, and did not earn such large sums. Dr Peter Bennie, deputy chairman of the British Medical Association’s Scottish consultants committee, said that the higher salaries were due to bonuses, rather than the new contract. He added: “Salaries in the region of £200,000 are limited to a very small number of doctors at the top end of the salary scale who, in addition, have received the highest level of award for outstanding work.”
He also said that the new contract would take time to bed in and early criticisms were “not particularly helpful”.
“The increased expenditure on consultants’ salaries is recognition of our working hours and commitment to NHS Scotland. But even now, most consultants are still doing unpaid work”.
An Executive spokesman would not comment on specific salaries, but said the contract was being used to help improve services, such as waiting times. He added: “The contract is a once-in-a- generation fundamental shift in the way the work of the consultant is governed”.
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