Calculate your fees

We have made it easy to calculate what to charge for work outside your contract based on your individual circumstances.

Our fees calculator will show you how much it costs to provide your services so that you can decide what to charge, you don't lose money, and you can work on your own terms.

Who should use the calculator

We recommend using the fees calculator for work that is performed in your own time.

For GP principals, the calculator can be used for all work because you are not employees.

For hospital doctors, this is any work outside programmed activities.

Reasons to use the calculator

1. Many doctors are working at a loss
   
   It's difficult to know what to charge for your services. After overheads and taxes, many doctors retain only single-digit percentages of the total fee, with many working at a loss. Fee-paid work in general practice for example is often costed at a loss, and private consultation fees have fallen way behind the market.
   
   
   
2. What you charge is not what you receive
   
   Many commissioners of work, and even patients wrongly assume that what a doctor charges is what they receive as pay. Unfortunately, this is not the case. Overheads are paid for by the doctor and not the NHS.
   
   
   
3. Work on your own terms
   
   Only you can determine what you want to earn. It's important you realise that all fees are negotiable, and you are not obliged to accept any non-contractual work except for statutory certificates. Public authorities may lack resources but that does not mean you should personally cover that deficit. We cannot tell you what to charge for Competition Act reasons, but this tool will help you take your costs into consideration before deciding what is an appropriate rate for you to charge.
   
   
   
4. The seemingly smaller jobs can cost you more in real terms
   
   There is a minimum administrative cost to processing any request, letter or report and this is the reason that work that takes a shorter time to complete can appear to be disproportionately more expensive. This is the result of regulatory compliance, legal, and administrative fixed costs. It's important to factor in these costs so that you don't end up covering them personally. The Fees calculator will take these costs into account so that you don't have to.
   
   
   
5. Your non-contracted work is not covered by NHS indemnity
   
   Work outside your contract is not covered by NHS indemnity. The Fees calculator factors this in for you by asking for your private professional and clinical indemnity costs.
   
   

Things to consider

Extra costs specific to you

When deciding what to charge, you should also take into account costs including the lost opportunity costs of working outside contracted hours. For example, sacrificing time spent with family could mean needing to pay someone for childcare.

40-hour standard working week

Your time is the most important component when it comes to calculating fees but most doctors have no idea of what their salary reduces to per hour when taking into account taxes, holidays, and compulsory CPD activities. The calculator takes these factors into account and is based on a 40-hour working week by default as this is standard, but you can adjust it if that doesn't apply to you.

VAT

Always quote fees net of VAT. Some doctors (particularly dispensing doctors) will have to charge VAT and all other doctors must be able to demonstrate to HMRC that they can identify work potentially liable to VAT so that they will be aware of approaching the VAT registration threshold.

Get it in writing

As always it is very important to commit in writing your agreed fee before starting work.