Many thanks to Practice Index for helping me publish a striking report on the Gender Pay Gap for Practice Managers. For the detailed blog go to www.practiceindex.co.uk.
Key Points
“The Royal College of Nurses is currently running a ‘Close the Pay Gap’ Campaign”
The aim of the Pay Survey was to see whether a gender pay gap was apparent amongst general Practice employers.
The Findings
There was an excellent response from our Practice Index members to our timely 2018 survey on Practice Manager Pay with 528 responses, of which 81 replies (15.3%) came from Male Managers.
The Gender Pay Gap
Gender Pay Prominence
One gender is more prominent in the Pay stakes than the other in:
England – Male
Scotland – Male
Northern Ireland – Male
Wales- Female
Greater London – Male
For detailed results, take a look at the Blog on www.practiceindex.co.uk
Length of Service and Increments
50% of Practice Managers who responded have been in post for less than 5 years. Might it be that Incremental Pay scales have not awarded sufficient increments so far to effect their salary. In the NHS it can take over 6 to 9 years to reach the top of the pay scale. Only 30% of respondents have been in post for 10 or more years.
Paying a Bonus
Interestingly 25% have in the past paid a bonus to their Practice Managers, which averages almost £1,500. The question arises as to whether the payment of a bonus is used instead of increments (or a cost of living pay rise). Previous pay surveys have highlighted the lack of adherence to NHS pay grades and salaries. Few practices pay NHS Agenda for Change Pay Bands.
Workload and Commitment
The standard working week for full time staff in the NHS is 37.5 Hours, but the average contracted hours for Practice Managers is 35. Many practices still contract for a 37 hour week. One seriously questions why the average is only 35 hours when again on average Practice Managers say that they actually worked 6/7 hours extra a week. But is that paid time? A new poll on Practice Index is looking at this.
Recruitment and Retention
Recruitment problems are often cited as a reason for needing improved pay levels. But the principal duties and responsibilities of Practice Managers are common throughout the UK no matter the location or size of Practice. Certainly there is a main core of duties and responsibilities that you would expect a Practice Manager to perform. However individual PM salaries might vary in practice of a similar size as for instance one PM is paid a flat rate salary, no overtime and no bonus and another might be paid increments, overtime and a bonus. Alternatively it might be a mixture of factors including either paying or not paying a cost of living increase. The full report on Practice Index looks at this in detail.
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