The UK’s National Health Service (NHS) doctors have been banned from earning lucrative agency rates while moonlighting at other hospitals after it emerged five medics were paid more than £2m a year between them, reports The Daily Telegraph.
The health service watchdog, NHS Improvement also revealed that around 100 agency staff are earning more than £200,000 a year for covering staff shortages, while more than 500 doctors take home in excess of £150,000 a year.
Many of these are NHS employees taking advantage of a system which allows them to charge “rip-off” agency rates – in addition to their salary – when working shifts at a hospital that is not their main place of employment. The regulator is now banning the practice and has said that any doctor providing shifts at their non-regular NHS hospital must be paid at a normal level through PAYE.
The report says it comes ahead of a change in the law due to come into force this April which will ban doctors from avoiding income tax by being paid through personal service companies. The moves form part of a 18-month campaign to cut down on the huge sums made by locum agencies exploiting shortfalls in full-time hospital staff. It is hoped the drive will tackle spiralling overspends by the provider sector, which mainly comprises hospitals, which last year reached more than £2.45bn.
More than a fifth of the bill spent on medical locums is devoted to filling gaps in A&E staff rosters, where there are acute full-time staff shortages and increasing patient demand. Jim Mackey, CEO of NHS Improvement, said the changes would make it more attractive for doctors and nurses to become permanent NHS employees.
“These new rules will make sure most agency staff get paid and taxed in the same way as their NHS staff colleagues,” he said. “We expect these new measures to take another big chunk out of excessive agency costs. There are far too many agency staff making the most out of the lower tax rates paid via personal service companies.”
A spokesperson for the UK’s Department of Health said: “This government was the first to stop staffing agencies ripping-off the NHS and our efforts are having real impact – saving £1bn which can be better spent on patient care. However, we know there is more work to do. These measures will help to level the playing field for hardworking NHS staff and make sure the NHS gets the most out of every pound it spends.”
[link url="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/02/27/nhs-doctors-banned-charging-rip-off-locum-rates-extra-shifts/"]The Daily Telegraph report[/link]