Under regulations that took effect from 1 October, GPs and practice employees with more than £150,000 in NHS earnings in the 2019/20 financial year are required to declare this income by 12 November.
New guidance from NHS England published on 5 October confirms that this information will be made publicly available before the end of the year.
The details published will include the GP or staff member's name and job title, their earnings in £5,000 'earnings bands', the name of the organisation from which they received the greatest proportion of their NHS earnings and the number of other organisations they received NHS income from.
Locum GPs
The guidance also reveals that GP practices are now contractually required to ensure any contracts they have with locum GPs include a clause specifying that the GP must declare their NHS earnings if they exceed the earnings limit each year.
This requirement covers any 'sub contracts for clinical services', including existing or future arrangements with locum GPs, the guidance says. However, it does not apply to any agreement practices enter with locum agencies or other 'third parties.'
Earlier this week the BMA hit out at GPs being 'singled out' for the new pay transparency rules, warning it risked a fresh wave of abuse against the profession.
BMA GP committee chair Dr Richard Vautrey said that pay transparency was agreed as part of the five-year contract deal 'on the clear understanding that GPs were not being singled out but that the government would also require other professions such as pharmacists and dentists to publish NHS earnings above a certain figure too'.
It was also expected that similar rules would apply to consultants and senior NHS managers.
The BMA said that the government has now 'breached the 2019/20 agreement' by singling out GPs and failing to impose pay transparency rules on any other staff group.
Pay transparency
The reporting process is now an annual requirement, with the income threshold rising by £3,000 a year and the deadline for submitting information moving to 30 April - with a declaration required by that deadline for the financial year that ended around 13 months earlier.
For the 2020/21 financial year, for example, GPs and practice staff earning over £153,000 have until 30 April 2022 to report; and for 2021/22, those earning over £156,000 have until 30 April 2023 to report.
After this year, details of those earning more than these limits will be made publicly available each summer, NHS England said.
NHS earnings includes income partners, staff or locum GPs earn from practices, along with any other income they receive from NHS salaried roles. It has been defined as what would be treated as NHS income under the NHS Pension Scheme
GPs will be required to self-declare ths information through the NHS Digital Strategic Data Collection Service, the guidance says.
