Reading these comments from doctors who think we should be "grateful" sums this whole debate up. I am not grateful to someone who is paid what I consider to be an excessive amount for very little effort. I am grateful to someone who does a good job for me and is there at my beck and call, ie not todays NHS doctors. The sooner doctors get their little heads round the idea that they are glorified plumbers the better for all concerned. Glorified plumbers have their wages cut if they perform badly and give their employers cheek, so let's cut doctors salaries and raise their hours to show them who is boss. Incidentally the quip about glorified plumbers was a quote from a very honest surgeon (a Mr) in Glasgow, one of the youngest ever in his field when he started over twenty years ago. Maybe his humility and honesty is what has got him where he is today. Some of the whingeing overpaid and underemployed doctors here could do with taking a leaf out of his book.

John, Dundee, UK

So GPs should work harder and be paid less? Really? Back in 1997, more than 40% of GPs worked longer than 40 hours a week, with additional time spent "on call" often leading to working weeks well in excess of 80 hours. In 2001, a National Survey of GP Opinion found that 82% of GPs were experiencing severe workload strees, 48% were planning to retire early and 28% were seriously considering quitting general practice. GP pay had not kept up with similar professions. There was a national shortage of GPs. The profession was dying. As a result, a New Contract was introduced for GPs, promising better pay and, in particular, a reduction in working hours and relief from hours "on call". British GPs remain highly regarded. Despite the reduction in hours, the recent DoH GP Survey shows that 84% of patients are happy with their Practice's opening hours. The New Contract has worked and General Practice has been revitalised. The Nation should be celebrating!

Dr Ruth Livingstone, Stamford, Lincolnshire

This is a glorious piece of government spin. The GP contracts were negotiated by the DH and BMA. The government is now unhappy with the result it has achieved. It was also unhappy with the results of the patient experience survey last week, which showed most people were happy with the GP service.

If the government wants GPs to open longer it has the means within existing contracts to provide this (Local enhanced services, national enhanced services)

However this money for what is largely convenience, will come from treatment of more serious illnesses elsewhere (NHS is a fixed pot of money).

At some point the public will have to face up to the fact that they get what their government pays for, not necessarily what they want. And that the NHS is finite, with too many bureaucrats, and too little delivery of care. The issue of co-payments for GP and A+E attendances may arise again.

Peter Davies, Halifax, West Yorkshire

I'm not sure we should be complaining about our GPs who are only trying to do their jobs within the framework provided by the Govt - ie pay increases based on performance in meeting targets (such as getting a bonus for every smoker they hand a stop smoking brochure to). They are most certainly not to blame if the Govt can't structure a contract.

It will get even better in 2009 when the working time directive comes in fully and then after 4 12 hour shifts they will be forced to take the rest of the week off. Nobody will dislike this more than the GPs themselves who actually want to be able to do their jobs without interference.

I work with many GPs in both private and NHS practices and all of them just want to be able to get on with their jobs. If the Govt chooses to pay them extra for doing things they are doing anyway in the name of gathering statistics, then so be it - they are certainly not to blame.

Geoff, London,

I'm amazed that so many of the medical respondents seem to cling to the outdated notion that the public should love them, respect them and pay excessiveley inflated salaries within a secure public sector environment without complaint. Don't you realise that you burnt these boats long ago when you let Ledward, Neale, Ayling, Shipman (the list could go on) abuse the trust of patients right in the midst of the profession? Just read the Bristol Report for examples of doctors who thought that letting babies die was better than reporting colleagues. As for GPs, I've lost count of the stories from friends about the need for ridiculous numbers of visits to their GP before (with what turn out to be fairly straightforward ailments) a correct diagnosis is reached. This isn't the fault of GPs, medicine is just far too complex for now for effective general practice. Of course, this just reinforces the idea that 100k+ is far too much for a basic gatekeeping and pill pushing role.

George, Brighton, UK

I am a junior doctor working in a&e. I work 12 days in a row, including 12 hour shifts, often eating on the run with no proper break. I wonder how many other professions tolerate this? To be labelled as lazy and greedy is insulting. I have now completed 7 years of training and get paid less than many of my friends who work in the city. I cannot choose when I take my holidays as it is rostered in, unlike my friends who go on holidays whenever they want. I work every other weekend at the moment. Tomorrow I start a new job which I only found about last month. Because of the mix up with jobs due to government chaos I have to leave behind my family and friends. It is after reading headlines like this that I wonder what the point in continuing a career in medicine? The work is tiring, and basic pay is no higher than many specialist nurses. The final straw is not having the support of the public. Why is dr bashing so popular? I take days off work to see the dentist. Why is this different?

A frustrated junior doc, Winchester,

let's not forget that 100 000 becomes less than 60 000 after tax and NI... Now when you think that they could leave to the States or any other country (except for socialist countries) for that matter and earn about 4 or 5 times that amount and use state of the art technology and equipment, you have to wonder why any doctors actually stay in this country...

Graeme, Edinburgh,

Reason paid more, that underpaid and undervalued previously compared to other professionals. Nobody moans about partners in law firms earning well over £250,000 a year nor a footballer on £100,000 a month nor an MP earning goodness knows what and having huge expenses budget.
The gvt determined that providing OOH care by own GP to be worth a mere £6000 a year. What other profession would work such unsociable hours,including nights,w/ends, BHols to be remunerated so poorly? What other profession would be working all night and expected to be fully functional the next day? I can't think of one, but please correct me if wrong. GP's are also humans who deserve a home life outside of medicine and work extremeley hard when at work which for me is often a 10+hour day. Where am I going to find my time to work even longer hours without affecting my quality of life? Why is it the gvt and public begrudge paying an extremely highly trained professional with responsibity++ a decent salary?

Gill, Blackpool, UK

Dr Salt should try making an appointment at my sur gery. I injured my knee earlier this year. (A torn ligament) It turned out to be impossible to get any appointment with my own GP even at 2 days notice as she only works part time since the new contracts came in. I went to the local walk in centre who said they had no doctors on duty and could now only do Xrays and scans by prior GP appointment as the local PCT had had its budget cut to make up deficits elsewhere in London. I was referred back to my GP and then saw a locum who said I could not get an appointment with the local hospital , as the local NHS Trust was in a financial crisis, and the waiting list for orthopaedics was already over 6 months. so they weren['t making any appointments at present. I just have to go on limping and in pain. All this money spent on the NHS and I can't get to see my own GP or any hospital treatment in a reasonable time scale.

Hazel Paul , south west London,

As a full time GP reading your headline this morning that I now do a lot less work for far more money my first reaction is never let the facts get in the way of a good story.
At first reading it appears that the journalists have confused 2 sets of statistics. Of course Drs in primary care are working on average fewer hours because, as the government frequently claim, there are more GPs and the majority of these Drs are part time. Inevitably the average hours worked go down. One of the aims of the contract was to allow this to happen.
As a result of the current contract there was an increase in GP salaries, which from memory was also intended. By all means start a reasonable debate about how much Doctors should earn don't just grumble because it is more. Balance carefully the idea of Drs working more in the evening and at weekends when 85% report they are satisfied with current access as it is. What matters more speed of access v continuity/quality of care?

Simon Chatfield, hitchin, Hertfordshire

As a doctor, it's amazing to see the ungratefulness of the public who we work so hard for when they have little understanding of the pressures we face. Medicine is not, nor is it ever likely to be, a get rich quick profession, especially when compared with the other careers that might attract the high-achievers. We might get paid more than nurses, but that reflects the training, the hours and the responsibility that we have to bear, and will continue to bear despite the worrying decrease in trust and increase in animosity towards the profession as a whole.

Trust me, we are not the money grabbing monsters you think we are.

Chris, Norwich, Norfolk

Referring to comment by Caron: I laughed my socks off. GPs have one the cushiest jobs in the world. It is unbelievable! How we put up with it I will never know. Oh guess what I'll write another prescription for a statin 'cos this guy's cholesterol is 0.2 over the limit. The GPs never approach patients in an holistic manner. Their preference is to poison the patients. Total lack of understanding of health issues - and then they get paid for what they do? Unbelievable.

David, St. Albans, UK

People are pathetic its okay for footballers to be paid extortionate money, solicitors, accountants, dentists etc etc. This contract was awarded to GPs by the government!!! The reason pay has increased is because an incompetent government puts targets ahead of patient care, however instead of funding for all targets being met it funded for 70%. I'll remember that the next time I'm in A&E. I can only see 7 / 10 people because the government can't afford more. The Health Service is trodden on, when people don't understand or respect the ridiculous amounts of unpaid overtime that huge numbers of proffesionals have not billed for because the job needs to be done!!
Fair play to the GPs for getting the pay they rightly diserve.

Fair play to the goverment for implimenting a system then does not have enough people to run it.

I think it's time for private healthcare so all the cheapskates who think there taxes cover their right to free healthcare understand the true costs!!!

Dr P, London,

The NHS is in a shambles. They cut the amount of hours for trainee doctors and gave them more pay? Why? Who knows, all their predecessors had to work stupidly long hours as do their counterparts in other countries. I have a friend who's a surgeon and he goes to work at 8am and returns at 10pm, he curses the NHS constantly, it's set up, bureaucracy, lack of trainee doctor hours "How come they get it so easy?", lack of business sense.

He believes it should all go private so that peoples employers pay mandatory health insurance as it would allow them to get up to date equipment. He does stress that A&E should be kept free and paid for by NI which would also allow them to spend more money on training and equipment and GP's could also be be kept funded by NI.

There is too much political meddling in the NHS and it is underfunded and not allowed to flourish, it will be run into the ground in 20 years or standards will be so low that everyone pays NI but goes private anyway...

Graeme, Edinburgh,

The public who are 'increasingly concerned about opening hours' recently completed a survey in which 86% said they were satisfied with the hours their GP offers. Only 4% wished evening opening and 7% wanted Saturday surgeries.

Moving to opening in evenings and weekends will mean reducing daytime services, disadvantaging the children, elderly and long-term sick who make up the vast majority of the workload (and who prefer to be able to see a doctor in daylight hours.) In addition, patients who see their GP at these times will be unable to access blood tests, x-rays and other diagnostic tests, all of which are only available in working hours.

Most GPs still work over 50 hours per week. The increasingly heavy burden of administration means that more and more of this is not direct patient care. I know of few GPs who would not willingly swap this part of the job for the more rewarding patient care for which they were trained.

Geepjul, Chatham, UK

Your article is truly appauling. To make sweeping statements and judge thoses who have dedicated their lives to serve the public is shameful.
To those hospital Dr's who are bleating about not getting paid the same...tough. Choose a different speciality or ask your ineffectual union to do something about it.
The DoH offered the contract and the GP's accepted..why not. Better pay for better quality of life. Do the public want the shirt off their back too?
The NHS is doomed and we will have private health care in a few years. Only then will the moaners realise just what they had.
Oh incase any of you think I don't know what I'm talking about, I am a Dr. Was training to be a surgeon but currently moving to GP. Sometimes I ask myself why?

PD, Paisley,

My Head of Department gets more than £100k plus bonus and Health insurance. The man is an incompetent fake who adds less value than the cleaning staff - in fact I would prefer to see the cleaners in our company get more in the way of pay as their work is more important to our well being. The Head has little in the way of qualifications and is a psycopath who has managed to get rid of the competition whilst ensuring others work under a climate of fear and intimidation.

I would discount £100k as an average unless you are including pension costs and the like. GPs have been poorly paid in the past and have to work in some extremely frightening conditions where they need to enter households with police protection or suffer violence or threats e.g. recent attack on trainee GP in Prudhoe.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/4639314.stm

Stuart, UK,

Try calling a Plumber in the middle of the night and tell him he will be paid £30/hour fix the problem. The answer you will get is obvious. You can however see the oncall GP for the same price to treat you or members of your family ( and with a lot more courtsey and compassion.)
I work for the local GP Out of Hours Providers and I can confidently say we are delivering an excellent OOH service.

Sajjad, Guildford ,

To be fair the GP pay system was negotiated by the government and they put in place a carrot and stick situation. The carrot was pay by meeting targets with extra pay for reaching above the baseline target and the option to opt out of out of hours for a 6% pay reduction. The stick was meeting the public health points system, QOF (Quality Outcomes Framework), a government driven scheme to show that they are tying to push public health and give them yet another list of statistics with which to prop up their policy failures and defend themselves against media, public and opposition. The government didn't count on everyone meeting the targets and thereby boosting their salaries, something now being blamed on the doctors. Nurses are taking up the slack to meet these targets as they are mainly measurements so the government can say for example "98% of all Type 2 Diabetics have had their blood pressure measured this year". Who's really to blame? Ms. Hewitt and her fired cronies.

Mark, Glasgow,

Any connection between my paltry pay increase as a Radiographer (1.9% because of staging) and the GPs pay bonanaza? And, under Agenda for Change, my basic working hours will increase by 2.5 hours with no extra pay to cover these extra hours. I cannot imagine the BMA standing for that.

Richard Dean, Amondsbury, South Glos.

Well here we go again another moment of GP bashing, it never fails to amaze me how much some people "DO NOT UNDERSTAND EXACTLY WHAT A GP DOES" it was the Governments choice to take away out of hours, one of their better decisions for GP's, as GP's were working extremely long shifts, now they tend to work an average 10hr day, instead of 18. It is down to the Government for the mess up in out of hours.
If the government and ill informed other associations continue along this line, most of our GP's will be off sick with stress. I feel at least one of these know-it-alls should swap with a GP for a day.
GP's are the most dedicated people I know and a majority give without thinking (can you say that Katherine Murphy). Maybe we should consider actually supporting our very hard working GP's and not continually bashing them.

The NHS is envied by most of the world, let's protect it not destroy it.

Caron Standerwick, Bath, UK

As far as the out of hours scandal is concerned it was simply that GP's made the goverment admit to how much we were being paid to get up all hours to sort out trivia. Having come up with a sum we said ok do it yourself then if you are so clever. They did and this is the situation we are now in. personally I have no problem getting up at 3.00am to see a snotty nose but do you really want the same person in charge of a prebooked surgery the follwing day seeing 30 patients. As to wages it on a par with other professionals, 41% of it is going back to the treasurey in tax to be wasted and it particularly looks bad because it was a big increase to make up for past years. Access is the political king at present but it will be at the expense of quality mark my words.

Paul Shenton, Oxshott, UK

The new contracts may not have been done properly, in true government fashion, but they did address the problem that very few doctors previously wanted to be GPs. To keep harping on about the increase is not the real point.

ian cooper, lincoln, uk

Doctor, the truth hurts !!!!

Over the past three years there has been a conspicuous increase in the level of difficulty in receiving patient care from the NHS. There was a time,not so long ago, when people became doctors as it was considered a vocation. These were the acolytes of Hippocrates. Since the introduction of new contacts they have been replaced by the accretion of hypocrites.

Rick, Greater London, England

I agree. GPs are getting paid too much on the NHS. The government should issue a compulsory reduction in pay if the GPs are not willing to work weekends and evenings. If unhappy, GPs should leave the NHS and work privately. Although we will probably have very few GPs left in the NHS (much like the Dentist situation) at least we will have made our point and more importantly, the government can then blame the doctors for NHS falling apart.

A Fields, london,

Consultants and surgeons used to stay with operations well after their normal working hours. If an urgent operation meant staying an extra hour that is what happened.
These days the PRIVATE patient comes first. Urgent operations are cancelled if they can't be finished well within the normal working day. "Can't start that one; I have to be at my OTHER surgery by 5pm". "Must look after the HOLIDAY money you know".
Time to tell these people: You either work for NHS or are Private. You cannot be both. Sure we would lose some people but we would gain young blood with up to date ideas as a bonus.

G. Morgan, falkirk, Scotland

Dr Salt says doctors never talk of money or time. There's little need to talk about money when they're paid so much for working part-time. GPs are no longer respected. See two different GPs and you will more than likely get two different opinions and two different sets of medication. The majority are quacks whose "expertise" is no better than online information. It's true they expect nurses to do more than ever while they're the fat cats who got the cream!

Matt, Preston,

Why is there no mention here of the anonymous £11m survey of 2 million patients which was recently undertaken by the government and published last week.

Patients were asked a loaded question as to whether they were sastisfied with the availability of their GP. They had to choose from one positive and six negative answers.

Despite this, 84% of patients said they were satisfied with the availability of their GPs. This is a better result that any survey of any public or private service that I know of.

Michael Gorman, Taunton, Somerset

The current Government designed the contract and have turned the medical profession into a tick box mentality, scoring points on the Quality and Outcomes Framework (QOF). Points mean prizes and the DOH estimated GP's would score an average of 850 points in the first year of the new contract. Reality is that they scored an average of a 1000 points, leaving the DOH to find a huge sum of money to pay for QOF. The government can not blaim GP's for embracing the new contract and making it work! GP's should be recognised for the hard work that they do and 92% of pateints are satisfied with the service they get in primary care. Gordon Brown would kill for a satisfaction rating that good!

N Mackay, Melksham, UK

Well as a computer science undergrad, i can tell you that you probably wouldn't want to replace your GP with some kind of expert system.. especially with the nhs's history of computer systems :)

4 tiimes the average wage though, c'mon, soldiers, firemen (and women), police officers and all the rest risk their lives for a quarter of that

Joe Bloggs, Colchester, England

It is not that hard to be a doctor academically. It is hard to get a place to train because of the restrictions on entry and a virtual requirement that they are public school educated.

We need as many doctors and dentists as we have electricians and it should be no harder to qualify. Until the training regulations are changed and the logical root from being nurse to being a doctor unblocked they can charge what they like. It is called a closed shop.

They also need to abolish minimum consultation and procedure fees and introduce more competition into it all.

We are importing millions of East European waiters and mechanics lets have their doctors and dentists as well. They'd do the job for half the price we're paying now.

Ivor Cutler, Lancaster, UK

you're 20 years behind the US, just wait and see. Doctors had their hey day some 30 years ago in the US, when the rush demand of forgien immigrant MD's was high. Many doctors from al over the world moved to the US hoping to make money and have a better life in the US, which they did and the pay was extermemly good, almost too good. Once the HMO's caught on they made sure to put an end to that, hence the state of health care in the US. People need an incentive to kill themselves to train to be a doctor, it's not an easy job. Money is usually the best compensation for studying your whole life when everyone else is partying in college and while they are still young, everyone but the premed majors.

sima, new york, NY, USA

Politicians make mistakes, play with our healthcare system and then use scapegoats to cover up their mistakes. If we harass our doctors then thay will either leave the NHS or pursue alternative careers.
Entry into medical school require A grades at A-level; if these students see a medical career as being poorly paid and woory about being harassed by government they will pursue other less stressful and more lucrative careers. Is that what we want?? Second rate doctors?? We have enough second rate politicans as it is.

Ali Majid, Manchester, UK

Who introduced this "new contract" three years ago? It certainly wasn't the GPs! This is a spurious attempt to blame GPs for what was a monstrous error of workforce planning by THIS GOVERNMENT! It is called Spin - another word for lies. Who introduced agencies to provide out of hours cover? THIS GOVERNMENT. Many of them are causing serious concerns. So yes, I would agree that surgeries should definitely provide out of hours cover; that would be common sense. Unfortunately this is not always in plentiful supply at the Department of Health. They broke it - let them fix it.

B Green, Liverpool, England

You can’t blame Doctors for taking advantage of the governments inept public health system. Very good money with reduced working hours. The problem is that there are more established communities working for the benefit of Doctors, to the demise of the Nursing profession. Unless there is an emergency, its unbelievable that we cannot get to see a GP outside office hours! Making an appointment to see a GP in two or three days time, (and then having to wait a further hour or more) is just NOT good enough. When are we going to see some value for money? We need Surgeries to be open longer hours and weekends. Come on Doctors, take the medicine and wake up to the public needs

Paul, Bournemouth,

There needs to be some incentive to the effort and focus it takes to become a doctor. GCSEs, A-levels, six years of grueling medical exams and then the postgraduate training that follows ; if anyone thinks the end product should be GPs who work more and get payed less, think again. There are far better things for high achievers to aspire to than becoming goverment slaves.

Sanjeeve, london, uk

This is a government distraction. On Wednesday 1.8.07 there will be gaps in oncall rotas in almost all hopsitals in the UK. This means acutely ill patients will be being admitted into hospitals and no one will know which doctor is responsible for looking after them. It could be chaos. It will be a dangerous day on which to be a patient. This is a result of the MTAS fiasco.

A well placed story bashing GPs is a perfect distraction charm from a failing organisation that cannot even get its staffing policies in order.

Peter Davies, Halifax, West Yorkshire

So GPs always deliver Dr Salt? Which is why I could not get my aunt's GP to visit her at home when she was dying. What I needed was advice and help with caring for a dying relative. Yet knowing that she was 96 and could not be moved without being greatly discomforted and distressed, knowing that she dearly wanted to die at home and that her friends and relatives where doing what they could to ensure that she did just that, the GP told me again and again that my aunt's wishes were of no consequence and that I should call an ambulance. Do you really call that a total commitment to the patient?

Bridget, London,

The government imposed this contract on doctors, believing that doctors were underworked and overpaid for what they did; they thought were going to be paying less money for more work. It is hardly the fault of the medical profession if the government's assumptions were wrong!

Gill, Southampton, UK

AJ - stop feeling sorry for yourself mate.

You knew the deal when you entered the profession...and if you didn't, that's down to your lack of market research. Many who elected to become G.P.s in the last eight to twelve years or so did so precisely because it was clear which way salaries were going. And as far as lawyers are concerned (being one) just bear in mind that we often work hours in excess of those pressed upon medics with the mill stone of more onerous professional indemnity sanctions around our necks for the pleasure of ever decreasing rewards.

You'll find there are more lawyers in rural private practice and local government roles closer to the margins of impecuniosity than doctors. But again, a matter of informed choice.

Drew, LONDON, England

Chris, you are completely mistaken when you talk of job security in medicine. There is no job security, and unlike most of the not so fortunate to work in London, most of the doctors get not more than 6 months or 1 year contracts, during the training period, which is pretty long drawn.
I think the media is primarily responsible in generating this hype that doctors do less work and get paid more, which does no justice to the hundreds and thousands of doctors endlessly toiling and struggling in the corridors of NHS. Journalists should be more responsible before resorting to mudslinging .As for losing jobs to India and China, if this attitude prevails towards doctors, lots of them will leave jobs or take other professions, Then it will be the patients who will go to India and China, to be treated, rather than jobs. The fiasco of the MTAS is well known, thousands of doctors do not have jobs, talking of job security is laughable
Well said AJ of Kent, I completely share your sentiment

ss, Brighton, UK,

Hang on, don't forget that the Labour Government signed this contract as well as the GPs, and were presumably quite happy with it at the time of signing. They can hardly complain now since they were instrumental in its introduction. GPs for many years did hours of unpaid overtime every day; the Government, judging GPs by their own standards, didn't believe that any group of people could be so altruistic hence agreed to a contract that they thought would make GPs work harder. They were shocked to find out that GPs had been telling them the truth all along.

Clearly since the Government can't criticise a contract they signed, they are having to resort to other tactics to portray GPs a greedy idle people; presumably a sort of softening up artillery prior to reneging on this contract.

Roddy Campbell, Christchurch,

I suspect that the salaries now being paid to GP's are unsustainable in the long run and are sounding the death knell for the NHS. The NHS allows very many second rate doctors and dentists to earn far more than they are worth and far more than they would be able to earn if they had to earn their fees privately - you only have to go to the continent to see how much better and more reasonable doctor and dentist services are.
ND, colchester

neil doig, colchester, England

I have a daughter who left University in May 2006. She works in a Hospital in Leeds and after 2 years she will be a fully qualified doctor.
She is however expected to carry out all the responsibilities of a fully qualified doctor at this time. Someties in charge of as many as 40 patients and having to work 12 hour or more per shift, with no breaks or rest periods. Does she get paid for all the hours she works? No like so many of her doctor colleagues working in Hospitals within the health service they are just expected to do it. The money isn't that good either. Please dont get me wrong, she loves her job.
Why do we always hear about the cushy numbers that some doctors appear to have when across the whole spectrum the Health Service is a mess. For instance my daughter may not have a job after her initial 2 years, they say there are now more doctors than places. Yet the Universities are still churning out more students with hardly a chance of becoming a doctor.

Geoff Gough, Hereford, UK

A few years ago, everyone agreed that doctors were working too much for too little pay.

Headlines now are "Doctors earning more for doing less..." err...yes. That was the idea wasn't it?

Please consider that every doctor who is a GP today went to medical school for 6 years (unpaid..and racking up 6 years worth of student debt) and will have then worked a minimum of about 5 years in junior doctor hospital jobs, often on an 84 hour week or more much of which is unpaid. (I know..I'm doing it myself at the moment)

The only GPs getting the quoted earnings are the Practice partners, who have probably been GPs for at least 5 years to get where they are, rather than new salaried GPs.

In other words 6 + 5 + 5 = a mimimum of 16 years in a career to get to the "£100,000 a year" status. Does it really seem that unreasonable that people who have reached the pinnacle of one of the most demanding professional careers after 16 years should be high earners?

A. Doctor, London,

This clearly shows how disgruntled our hospital colleagues are. Get your contract Right.

Brian Kelsey, Redditch, UK

The reduction in GP working hours and increase in pay is exactly what should be seen throughout the medical profession and it fails to reflect the decades of under pay and over work. This labour government have attempted to cripple the ability of doctors by vastly (and often inappropriately) increasing the number of places at medical school and simultaneously slashing the post graduate training opportunities. If the NHS wishes to retain the best then they need to start paying a wage that is comparable to the city else myself and many of my colleagues will the departing to more rewarding saleries.

Dr Chris, London,

I come from a family of doctors; worryingly the renegotiated contracted has allowed GP salaries to rocket, but the quality of service plummet. This week my surgery changed their number to a premium rate one. Doctors are protected by their overbearing receptionists. My wife suffers from high blood pressure and the diificulty she has to get her repeat prescriptions is unbelievable.

The solution is to demand doctors change their practices to suit their 'customers'; not the other way round.

JPG, Northampton, UK

GPs contract is still an excellent deal and value for money for patients and for the government, given the fact that GPs get approx £50 per patient per annum while the cheapest insurance for a hamster costs £55 per annum!

This is just another piece of propaganda to turn people's attention away from the fiasco caused by the junior doctor selection system MTAS and the choas that will occur in all hospitals on the 1st of August, only 2 days away!

Sam, Brighton, UK

For many years,junior doctors subsidised the health service,working 120 hour weeks for 5 or more years,often Friday morning to Monday night without a break,at 33% of their basic wage for the overtime.This was dangerous and in light of the European Working Hour's directive was unsustainable.

Having been through 8 post grad years of exploitation and having spent another 15 years under the previous contract being responsible for my patients 24/7,every day of the year,I now find with the new contract that I can at long last have a relatively normal family life and work-life balance with a reasonable rate of remuneration for my hours.

I do not think we are now being overpaid for doing less hours ,but rather have got to where we should have ben many years ago.

GP Glasgow

erich lamb, glasgow, lanarkshire

Want more appointments? stop coming in to surgery for coughs and colds, use the repeat prescription service don't just waste a slot for your own convenience, don't miss appointments, self certificate instead of coming for sick notes that you don't need. Thats 30% more slots for a start. Most surgeries are open 8 til 6. most people work 9-5. the majority of patients are children and the retired so why should we as GPs extend our hours to fit in with 10% of working people who attend. The government made a mess of the GP contract and now are blaming us for the cost. I am a salaried GP not a partner and don't earn anywhere near £100K. I wish people would have a go at solicitors and accountants for a change who earn far more than doctors and work office hours. Altruism doesn't pay the bills.

Dr MF, Bradford, west yorks

Have we sacked or demoted the inept civil servants and New Labour politicians who approved the 'more pay for less work' doctors' contracts?

At my local surgery, I wait two or three weeks for an appointment to see a partner or wait for one and a half hours at walk-in to see a locum. I wondered why there has been such a sudden interest in my state of health with blood tests and tablets being pushed at me from all directions but it transpires, that GP's are paid extra for what they should have been doing years ago.

Now they have lots of extra dosh with salaries easily hitting £150,000 per annum and the time to spare. I was told by a financial consultant that over the past 2 years there has been a huge increase in the numbers of doctors attending investment seminars.

Brown and co have pushed the NHS to the financial brink with healthy doctors' salaries and filthy wards. Is it all part of a plan to ruin the NHS so as to justify privatisation?

John, Bristol,

To read and listen to some comments from doctors you could be forgiven for thinking that they are a hard done by group of professionals. A quick check of consultant pay reveals that; the starting salary is £71,822 rising in annual increments to £96,831. In addition, like all NHS staff, they will receive one of the best pension schemes in the UK - after 40 years service a consultant can expect to retire on a pension of £48,416. Personally I'd happily trade my 'company perks' for a guaranteed pension of this magnitude.

Furthermore it is only recently that graduation from medical school has not been a virtual guarantee of making it to the top i.e. consultant status - yet, we hear constant moans that ' assuming you are lukcy enough to fact track it to consultant' . How many law graduates become barristers, how many qualified accountants become finance directors? Welcome to the real world - not every graduate makes it to the top.

AW, Kingston, Surrey

My GP:
no weekends.
no "on call" after hours.
three and a half - four days a week doing surgeries.
No house calls.
Nurses to do the bulk of the "acute" walk-in surgeries.
Nuses making prescribing decisions that are beyond their own training and experience.
Massive barriers between Dr. and patient ( automated telephone systems, aggressive receptionists, self important nurse-pratitioners)
11 weeks holidays a year.
£150-175k per year.

Thank you Department of Health and the British Medial Association. You idiots.

Karen Bovey, Manchester, UK

This article certainly seems to have woken up plenty of doctors to defend their position, but there is little evidence that many of the respondents have much of a clue about the real earning situation out there. I'm a lawyer, have eight years of higher and professional education (ie about the same as a doctor) and a number of years of experience. I work in the public sector, work sociable hours and earn around £40k pa. This is typical of other public sector lawyers (local and central govt, CPS etc) and similar professionals. In theory I could earn far more in the private sector, especially in the city, if I wanted to work long hours. No doubt the doctors who have responded could have chosen private practice and earned mega-salaries. But they didn't. The position is simple, GPs now earn more than twice the public sector average for professionals in a 9-5 environment. They need to work longer hours or accept lower pay if they are to avoid being seen as ripping off the NHS.

George, Brighton, UK

To : George of Brighton
and his quest for "patient power" in his grasping demand to be seen at any hour by a Doctor.,for free.
Perhaps the GPs should just close their surgeries for three months. Not a strike , but a large sign on their doors --
"CASH ONLY or Sod Off "
These ingrates would finally get the message of the endless hours of dedicated training , unseen in any other occupation, that Docs put in , and continue to put in throughout their lives.
My own beloved Doctor Katie of Kirkby, Liverpool, who delivered me & all 4 of my siblings at home, and much,much, more , died early from overwork and a massive heart attack, slaving for the NHS , and yes ,me.
I have nothing but the utmost & deepest respect for the hard-working and dedicated English Doctors.

wilfred knight, orange county, usa /california.

So they are doing the same as the rest of England. This just proves they aren't idiots and we should be grateful for that.

Since we're busy beating up GPs, lets spare some time for the various underperforming water suppliers and National Rail among other things.

Justin, London,

The simple truth is that 3 years ago the government had no interest in you getting to see your doctor more easily. They could have offered us a new contract stating they wanted longer opening hours for more pay, but they didn't. They offered us more pay for a paper heavy, statistic heavy, accountability heavy way of working. We accepted. Most GPs now work longer hours, not less, but it is all paperwork, That is how the new contract works. We don't spend the hours ticking the boxes, we don't get paid. I'm sure you won't believe me. I'm sure you believe the government's figures, where the 65% payrise you were told we got became the 40% payrise became the less than 25% payrise, and it still has some way to go to get to the right figure. Don't believe me? Google it. See the numbers change. How long before the 15% less work becomes the 10% becomes the oops it's actually 15% more work? GPs were given a contract to deliver a service to the government's agenda. Their contract, Their blame.

Dr Nick Jones, Poole, Dorset,

As a recently 'removed' GP Practice Manager in North Norfolk my 6 GPs were earning obscene amounts of money and doing less hours. Nurses were being required to take on added responsibilities for little financial gain. My speaking out led directly to my dismissal but I did win the subsequent Industrial Tribunal. All in the profession at the time could tell politicians exactly what would happen but they did not want to listen especially in the face of a major force that is the doctors' union.

c m tippett, Fethiye , Turkey

I think the article is unjust and unfair. No wonder many Gps are either taking early retirement or emigrating.

Ebrahim Dabestani, Tamworth, UK

Malcolm McLean (last post) has said what we all know to be true. It is the poorer workers who are paying for the wages of those above. What is that doing to social cohesion and crime?

Tim, Glasgow, Scotland

the contracts for all doctors were NEGOTIATED by the DH. This situation ( doctors doing less hours when compared to a few years ago) arises because the Government followed their own preconceived ideas and prejudices rather than listen to what they were being told. Dont blame the dotors for taking the deal that was offered them by the DH . Blame the politicians for being useless andd blinkered by their own prejudices.

p cooper, Newcastle, UK

Of course pay has risen relative to hours worked. GPs used to do many tasks that were not part of their original contract for no reward. This is not sustainable. If you decide that it would be a good idea to pay them for that work, then pay will rise but there will be no increase in productivity as the work was already being done but not paid for. The hours have decreased because Out of Hours work has been separated off as it was killing recruitment and Drs took a pay cut for that, equivalent to what they had been paid to provide the service. People forget that General Practice nearly ceased to exist in 2004.

The Government didn't believe that Consultants were working the hours they were and insisted on paying them for the work they do. Again if you decide to pay people for the unpaid work that they actually do, then the wage bill goes up with no rise in productivity.

Does anyone here think Doctors shouldn't be paid for their work?

Good Medical Care is not cheap or even free.

JW, Nottingham,

I am GP in my late 30s. I have watched as the NHS, particularly primary care, has been flung from pillar to post by New Labour. The government has simultaneously asked GPs to provide comprehensive, intensively audited care to patients with chronic diseases, while simultaneously offering appointments to "those who are ill or believe themselves to be ill" within 48 hours. GPs have delivered the former far better than the government thought they could do, and this forms part of the significant GP pay increase, which returns GP pay to just under 4 times the national average, as it was in the 1960s, following a steady decline since that time. The latter has led to an army of hypochondriacs, fully able to express their rights, but unwilling to take the responsibility for their own health, or the delays and appointment chaos their actions cause to others.
It seems that a "free for all" NHS has become a free-for-all.

Dr D Murphy, Lerwick, UK

Dont forger that prior to the New Pay deal doctors had virtually no pay rises for years. The new pay contract was intended to correct this. Whilst GP's are earning more those on high earnings are working much longer hours. The ones who work less hours are earning less. For the second year in a row GP's have had a Zero pay rise so with increased costs GP's on average are earning less now than 2 years ago. Also GP pay includes 14% superannuation which is their employers contribution which has to be paid back over to the pensions agency. After deduction for this the general increase in GP pay has probably been less than inflation over the last 10 years. The Times should be ashamed with themselves for publishing such spin without researching it.

S Singer, London,

Not only are they getting massive pay increases for less work they have a nice taxpayer-funded pension to look forward to at the end of it.

It would be interesting to see what sort of living they would make if they had to compete for patients in a private market as other professionals do.

And those GP's who operate dispensing pharmacies are making a fortune on top pf their bloated pay packets, buying drugs at next to nothing from drug companies who give them free holidays and other goodies, then selling them to the NHS at many times the purchase price.

The work that most GP's do nowadays could be done just as well by nurses, and in diagnostic terms a computer could often do better. Many GP's are little more than grossly overpaid counsellors to miserable people who have nothing physically wrong with them but just want someone to moan to.

But who can blame them for taking advantage of the grossly spendthrift and incompetent government with which we are cursed?

Denise , Preston,

I quit as a full-time GP in 2005 after 20yrs of working in deprived inner cities.
Nowadays I do locum work and Out Of Hours work.
When I was a full-time GP I was simply too tired to comtemplate doing Out Of Hours on top of the 52hrs/week I did in the practice and relied on a GP cooperative to cover my patients. I had to pay in excess of £6k a year for other GPs to do this.
GPs who have opted out of Out Of Hours still hand back £6k/year for the "priveledge". I don't see the GPs in the practices I locum at lazing around with all the "free-time". >As a locum additional opening hours may offer me more work because I'm pretty sure there are very few GPs out there who feel they could offer more hours than they already do. Bear in mind that practices will have to employ reception staff, nurses, pay for heat and light etc. and the staffare going to cost more at Weekends and out of hours. Providing extra hours is not a "no cost option".

abyss, derby,

Ten years ago there weren't enough doctors choosing to work as GPs so the government induced doctors into primary care with a carrot. Part of thic carrot also included only paying the GPs if they achieved certain targets. The govenrment are now whinging that the targets set have all been achieved and they are having to pay out.
Why can't the govenrment congratulate the GPs for their achievements?
Similarly, with the new Consultant contract. It has cost far more than the govenment initially estimated because they totally underestimated the amount of work that Doctors were doing unpaid beforehand.
As for the "a quarter of patients still cannot book an appointment more than two days in advance". I assumed this would be 100% of patients because my understanding was that GP surgeries were penalised if a patient waited more than 48hours for an appointment - as per the government guidelines.

Michael Moncreiff, Sheffield,

What makes me think Dr Miffed is a G.P? How about the many years of training it takes to become a midwife/ health visitor? These ptofessionals are hugely skilled and yet can earn less than the national average.
Sorry, stop bleating GPs, make the most of it , salaries will probably drop for you in real terms in the future.

Elaine, Reading, Berks

Crumbs - so far only doctors have commented for whatever reason. here are a couple from a customer:
1) I am unhappy that it is impossible to get an appointment without having to take time off work. I would only take time off if I decided that I was seriously ill. Of course, by then it might be too late. Late surgeries and Saturday morning surgeries (maybe instead of some others) would be of course be the answer. These both used to be available. Not any more. In other walks of life, "Opening Hours" are based on customer availability. Maybe Tesco could open up 24 hour surgeries?
2) The only way to see a GP the same day is to say "Yes" to the question, "Is it an Emergency?". What's all that about? It seems that anything can count as an Emergency. Of course, in the event of a real Emergency we still have Accident and Emergency and 999 - thank goodness. They are still great! Thanks.

AndyW, Fleet, HANTS

Was it considered before the results of this "damning" study were released that previously GPs were doing too many hours for too little pay, and therefore are now earning a fair wage for the work they do and the responsibility which weighs heavily on them in this blame culture?
GPs undertake years of study to get to where they are, the wages of other professionals of the same standard do not have their wages questioned and threatened in the same way, despite the fact that their jobs generally do not involve lives. GPs are under huge pressure with the amount of patients the government has determined they can manage, it is not by their choice that there are not enough of them to go around. We need more GPs, not less pay for the existing ones!!

AC, Cannington, uk

Another view might be that they were working too hard before the gift horse of more money, which possibly helped many to overlook other impending changes for the worse.

In accepting the extra pay they may be attracting blame for deterioration of some services (sometimes called improvements beforehand) which might rightfully belong to the political change-experts.

dr venables preller, Warminster, UK

Tim Rogers of London, it's not just Doctors who are "working dreadful, long and spirit sapping hours?" Granted, they should be paid well, but if a third of them are now working part time, this is perhaps an indication that they are being paid a little too well.

Many (most?) of us working in the private sector are working 'dreadful, long and spirit sapping hours' more often than not, for considerably less than £100k. The fact that it is impossible for many people to actually see a GP without taking time off work is frankly ridiculous given the remuneration on offer for GP's.

If we're to continue this relentless march to a 24 hour society, then public services need to take this into account.

Greg, Sheffield, UK

So no more pay rises please until these leeches wages come back into line. Or, reduce the wage in line with their level of misdiagnosis. They wouldn't be earning much then.

Judy , Liverpool, england

If you drive away GPs from the health service you will end up having to pay to see them privately; and it won't be cheap. If you think dentists charge a lot just you wait!
Also do not forget that the reason GPs get paid more than they did is because the government agreed a new contract, much of which is based on target related pay; GPs have delivered on these targets and are thus being rewarded. Politicians would also do well to remember just how unpopular they are compared to the medical profession. Most people trust doctors; very few trust politicians.

Simon Fellerman, Leeds, UK

Don't knock the new GP contract negotiated by the BMA with
the Government - it's a nice little earner for suppliers of
very expensive sports cars, driven by these state employees,
many of whom work part time, while locums man their surgeries.

Bill, Manchester, UK

GPs may be working less for more pay, but previously they worked far too long for far too little pay - hence the crisis that prompted the changes in terms and conditons in the first place. Now that the crisis has been averted, the findings of this review should have been obvious - and they are no cause for concern. Doctors are amongst the brightest, most essential and (still) hard working people in the whole nation. Why on earth should they not be paid well? And why on earth should they have to continue working dreadful, long and spirit sapping hours?

Tim Rogers, London,

Dr. Salt's slanderous statement that the legal profession does not give good value for money shows what an ignoramus he is! With 30 years at the English Bar behind me, I can tell you that I have seen doctors like him before; the best example was the fellow (police surgeon) who, under cross-examination, was proven not to be telling the whole truth and his love for silver while still in the witness-box was seen and heard when he spoke out: "My fee is 25 guineas, where do I get it from?" Enough said!

A. Barrister

Karm Arger, Sheerness/Kent, U.K.

GPs may earn a much higher salary than they did before, although I'm not sure that even this is true relatively speaking, as they always used to live in nice houses and send their chidlren to independent schools if they wanted to. But in one generation they have had to sacrifice their hghly regarded position in their communities, and this must be terribly galling for doctors now in their 50s who began their careers as highly respected and valued professionals with difficult but very rewarding jobs. The government has taken all this away from them, and the BMA must accept a large share of the blame for allowing this to happen. If you take away people's job satisfaction then of course you have to compensate for this with more money.

Jessy, Birmingham,

To aj of Kent - why does your claim of 'no company perks' blatantly ignore one of the best pension schemes in the country?

AW, Kingston, Surrey

To AJ, Kent, Instead of comparing yourself to the minority of the population who work in the city of London, try comparing yourself to the majority of your patients. These are people who are trying to make ends meet with rising taxes, rising house prices, rising interest rates and rising utility bills.

As for perks, unlike most people who see their jobs going to low wage countries like India and China, your job is pretty much guaranteed for life.

Chris, Essex,, UK

the headline is quite annoying. There are 'Doctors' who work in hospitals too and we earn considerably less money for doing more work.

I've just finished a really stressful 12 hour night shift as a doctor in training while my GP colleague(we both graduated in 2003)does 4 days a week 9 till 5 No nights or weekends and earns double my pay.

Is this fair??

Now for those folks complaining about doctors pay being very high, what about the silly money being paid to fottballers and the like?

Dr Abraham Jacob, Cambridge, United Kingdom.

In response to George from Brighton, the reason why GP's don't work later hours is that the government has given them the option of opting out as agreed in their contracts. Who can blame them, nobody enjoys working unsociable hours!!

In addition, they get paid according to results and the fact that they earn so much reflects how well they are achieving goverment targets. If you're unhappy how much they earn, speak to the government. Shoddy planning & manpower management from the Depatment of Health is the real problem,

Dr Danny Lim, London, UK

I am not sure I agree about the fear of pushing GP's into the private sector. Firstly, they are already working as independent practitioners (compared with NHS consultants). Secondly, GP's are largely administrators of nurses and beurocracy rather than doctors and they have the skills to match this requirement. Medically focussed GP's are really very rare. In many other countries, patients are simply allowed to bypass them with no ill effects and the remaining GP's are paid appropriately, peanuts. They have quite simply become an anachronism of the beurocratic NHS and are quite happy tp take the loot.

Mike, Denham, UK

Who can be surprised to find that doctors are as subject to the rules of economics as the rest of us?

Andy, Guildford, UK

Any pay increase doctors have received recently was to remunerate them for work they were essentially doing for free in the past. The sorts of hours these doctors put in, and those they endured during their training (often well over double the EWTD) would not be tolerated by any other profession. Without pay that reflects the dedication and hard work it requires to become a doctor and pay in-line with other professions you will not attract the high achievers that medicine has fed off in years gone-by.
Sound-byte headlines like the one at the top of this article feed the media machine and public imagination with dangerous false information.

dr miffed, warwicks,

That's a general pattern. Professionals are getting more, semi-professionals less, completely unskilled workers much less.

Malcolm McLean, Bradford, UK

Here's the ideal opportunity for patient power. Contact your GP, ask why they don't open late, at weekends, take responsibility for out of hours care anymore etc. Make your GP feel uncomfortable at skimming so much from the NHS budget whilst providing a level of service which bears no relation to the work undertaken or to modern service expectations. It's your taxes being wasted. Drs are highly skilled professionals, but so are many other workers in the public sector who earn a fraction of the pay secured by GPs. The BMA is amongst the last unreformed trades unions left, stand up and put the medical profession in its place!

George, Brighton, UK

If one criticises general practitioners, who are the life-blood of the NHS, in this way, you are on a very dangerous path indeed. They give very good value-for-money compared to many other (eg legal) professions and you risk alienating them in the same way that dentists have denigrated ..... they will be pushed into the private sector.
Don't knock GPs, we need them, all of us.
They do a fantastic job, never talking of money or time, and we should support them.
I speak as a hospital consultant who knows, first-hand, their utterly complete commitment to the hippocratic oath.
General practioners are the bedrock upon which we should all feel safe when we are ill................... and, believe me, they truly live up to this commitment.
They never make shallow promises to their patients. They always deliver.
Support them, not erode their good and humanitarian work.
On the flood-plains of health,
they are our only chance of surviving.

Dr Patrick J. Salt, Walsall,

It does not take an expensive report to tell the general public what they already know, that GPs are paid more and more for doing less and less and are only available on certain days of the week and it has become increasingly difficult to get appointments. Dr Patrick J Salt needs to take a long, hard look at his statement about "value for money" and not play the game of comparing one profession against another because we often end up, at some stage with the ludicrous comparison with footballers, and, yes, considering that the 'average' wage in Britain is £25,000 and that 60% of the working population are paid less than 60% of that average wage then GP's, who are there to dispense pills and potions and do not have a specialization, are extremely well paid. Given that the medical profession in Britain, as a whole, is the second highest paid group of doctors in the world, apparently only the US has higher wages, then the British public are not getting value for money.

Hippocrates, Suffolk, England

Gordon Brown's political philosophy is that of a dyed in the wool hardline socialist, based on a huge public sector that provided poor quality services at huge cost, so this is par for the course.

Doug, Glasgow,

In the 1960's GP's, engineers and academics were all paid more or less on a par with an army captain, the Wilson administration responded to the "brain drain" by giving physicians and dentists a 20% pay rise bringing them in line with a major, the Major administration awarded them a further 10% in order to secure reforms, they were then paid as lieutenant colonels. The most recent awards have them paid as brigadiers. It is a no-brainer for anyone qualified to decide to enter medical training.
However, at 30 a GP is employed as a technician, i.e. they do pattern recognition, basically snap, a process amenable to computerisation, whilst engineers and scientists are actually using their thinking kit to think.
It is hardly surprising that GP's have a high rate of depressive illness, alcoholism and suicide and the country has a deficit in engineers and scientists.
What is surprising is that much of medical diagnosis has not been computerised; computers do pattern recognition.

John Camus, Colchester, England/UK

Judging by Dr. Salt's comments, Walsall must be a wonderful place to live. If only we were all so lucky.

Does he have to use speed dial to his surgery to try and get an appointment between 08:30 and 09:00 Mon - Fri, and only if it is an emergency? If anyone answers the phone that is.

Forget preventative healthcare, every doctor I have been registered with will only respond to manifest illnesses and even then refer patients to A&E if they are 'too busy'.

When you do finally see a GP they reach for their prescription pad and write a script for antibiotics after a brief discussion, no examination. I no longer bother going to GP's, if your life is in danger, the good doctors in our hospitals will do their best.

In my experience, GP's are a waste of space, time and money and our system needs to change so that we stop throwing our hard earned cash away on mediocre primary healthcare.

J. Robinson, Norwich, Norfolk

The new arrangements for GP's pay were ill planned and ill thought out - this is an example of complete incompetence by the government - Patricia Hewitt and the NHS. The NHS chief executive left some time ago I suggest the Patricia Hewitt and her senior incompetent mandarins should be made to do likewise.

Another example of change being implemented too quickly by the gov't without understanding the impact.

Oh by the way how is the NHS computerisation project going?
Is this going to overrun on time and cost? Here's another example of another project coming down the conveyor belt that's going to cost us tax payers a fortune!!!!

Henrymen, Manchester,

We have a health service that in many areas is actually deteriorating, I have suffered serious side of effects recently as a result of having my medication (which was fine) changed for some thing cheap and what I would say is nasty, all in the name of saving a few pounds per month. GPs have been given huge pay rises on top of already great salaries, while patents are given the cheapest drugs the NHS can get its hands on! Something has gone seriously wrong with our health service. The government used to be afraid of doctors because every year that dedicated group of individuals would say "if we don't get a good pay rise this year ,we will go abroad!
We now have a surplus of doctors so if they want to leave, let them!! Maybe they could get I job in France, where doctors get paid considerably less than their UK colleagues! Much more money should be ring fenced for patient care as apposed to pay rises, pensions and bonuses!

Graham Wharton, St. Albans, UK

Sarah : here in Orange County, good Doctors are available 24/7 at private " Walk-Ins"
You , the patient ,just show up at any time and is seen within 30 minutes by a well-trained, considerate, English speaking ,Doctor.
Your presence is appreciated and you just pay with Master card or Visa. Everyone-patient-Doctor& Nurse is happy.
When you car breaks down on the motorway & you need a fix, you whip out your plastic & pay the tow-truck. Isn't your broken -down body worthy of similar service ?
Why do Brits have such a dread of parting with money to pay for their health? Why are they so cheap? Why do they obsess over what Doctrors get paid, & how much time they have off ? Why this colonial mindset that Doctors are just serfs at the public's beck & call? Its disgusting . Why the disparaging disdain shown to these highly educated and dedicated professionals?
Something's rotten in the socialist NHS and its time to privatize as Canada is now slowly doing

willfred knight, orange county, usa / california

Shame on the The Times for publishing such a biased one-sided article, peppered with sweeping comments like ' the public is becoming increasingly concerned...'. Where is the evidence for this statement?
Lets not forget that the reason GPs income has increased and the reason GPs no longer do out-of-hours services, is because of directives straight from the government. Stand up politicians and own up to your failed policies

payne, London, UK

Having been a GP for more than 35 years (retired now) i have been very unhappy about many of the trends including the drastic cut in access to GPs, the much shortened hours they work and the huge rise in pay as if they are exploiting the health care services. My concern is not the NHS (which I think is fundamentally flawed) but the special place the medical profession has had in people's regard, trust and even affection. I think the BMA and GMC have failed in their overseeing of the professions relationship with people as patients not NHS consumer units.

Dr J Findlater , Carnforth,

This article is not representative of all doctors, and though the article does specify it pertains to GPs , this is not evident from the headline---certainly, hospital doctors (especially those working in A&E) have had to bear the brunt of this drop in GP's hours, as hospital attendances and referrals have soared. Hospital doctors, of whom I am one, feel we've been hung out to dry while GPs have been virtually handed a blank cheque in terms of a substantial pay hike coupled with a marked drop in out of hours GP services. The system is now so unfairly skewed that a young GP in his/her early 30s earns as much as a senior hospital consultant close to retirement !!

allan smith, birmingham, UK

Not surprising that yet more state employees are being rewarded for doing less. One wonders how much longer this sort of profligate squandering of the ever increasing tax grab can go on. We must be heading for being the most highly taxed country in the world with some of the worst public services in the world to show for it.

James, Tiverton , Devon

I hate to admit it but ithe concerns raised are valid. As a hospital doctor, I feel it is unfair that we work longer and more unsociable hours than GPs and get paid considerably less. You can't blame the GPs though because the government used the pay increases as a carrot on a stick to lure more doctors to primary care.

It is another indicator of the root cause of many of the problems in the NHS today: criminally negligent and short-sighted workforce planning

Mark, Sheffield, UK

I have absolutely no problems with the quality of my local GP practice.

Other than not being able to book an advance appointment, why is that? I recently had a non urgent problem and telephoned my surgery for an appointment to be told that all appointments were fully allocated unless urgent. As my problem was not urgent I asked for the next available date and time, to be told that they do not make advanced appointments and that I would have to telephone each day. How silly?

Philip Bell, Ynys Mon, Wales

I think this just shows how badly treated doctors were previously. I'm a doctor with about 10 years post grad experience. I'm the poorest of my peers who went into law banking and even those in advertising and sales.
Doctor salaries are still pathetic. To earn 70 grand a year from the age of 35, assuming you are lucky enoght to fast tract it to a Consultant is laughable. The chances of becoming a consultant are slim and you have to put up with stress levels bankers and traders don't even know about. Even then you have to work in the NHS, get no company perks like in other professions,slave away even at night and weekends when your in your 50's and 60's and then get harassed if you take a day off sick .

aj, kent, UK