Negotiating Salary

Your Salary

Your Salary depends on the BMA pay scales. REMEMBER THERE IS A 40% BANDING ADDED ON FOR ON CALLS. These saleschange from time to time.

1. Calculating your starting salary

Your starting salary depends on your experience after medical college. After you complete your house surgeoncy / internship, the first year would still be counted as foundation year 2. So your salary scale would start at minimum scale 2 years after you pass your final MBBS examination.

Any training you get in an academic hospital/ medical college or teaching hospital will count towards pay progression. This is especially the case if you have been on a registered MD/ DipNB program. Recognition of service in a private hospital will be at the discretion of the trust. It would be useful to prepare the following. 

a) An Experience Certificate from your head of institution detailing the following

  1. What work you did (e.g. clerking medical patients, making management plans, ward rounds)
  2. What role where you at ? (e.g. Senior Resident Medical Officer)
  3. How many years of incremental salary you  had (e.g. He worked as a “3rd year resident”)
  4. Any notable performance (e.g. published papers, taught trainees)

b) A covering letter detailing your experience and a short summary of the value you bring to the organisation

So as an example If you have completed DipNB, you should be at minimum  year 3 (point 4) on the scale). You can negotiate a higher salary depending on your ability to prove the rest of your experience was in a world class institution

Banding

This is a pay supplement given in recognition for your work outside normal working hours. This is usually between 40 – 50% varying on the intensity of your on calls.

Tax and national insurance

This is an amount you pay month to month and it is deducted at source. The only exception will be if you form a company where the pay is paid before salary deduction. This cannot be used to get your salary from base hospital, However if you are doing extra shifts in different hospitals (Check if your visa allows you to do this.), then you can get it paid before Tax… However you will have o to pay tax if you withdraw the money. So it may not be useful in the first few years

Your Tax, National insurance etc can be calculated at the salary calculator. 

Tax deductible expenses

1. There are some expenses that you incur to do your job. This includes membership fees, GMC registration fees books, stethoscope and medical equipment, some courses that you attend. etc. So you will have to write to the HMRC in April every year to claim back the money you paid as tax for these expenses. So you can expect £200 – £300 from the HMRC every year. 

2. You will also be entitled to some tax refund when you start due to you starting on a temporary tax code. Don’t forget to claim this back from HMRC.