I checked what doctors in the UK actually get paid.
The numbers looked impressive on paper.
Until I broke it down properly and then compared it to Nigeria, the conclusion might surprise you.
THE UK SALARY LADDER (April 2025, NHS official figures, all gross before tax)
A Foundation Year 1 doctor — that is the equivalent of a housemanship doctor in Nigeria earns £34,115 per year.
That is roughly ₦61 million naira per year at the current exchange rate, or about ₦5.1 million per month. Sounds good, right?
A Foundation Year 2 doctor earns £41,541 per year. Around ₦74.8 million naira annually, or about ₦6.2 million per month.
Specialty trainees — the equivalent of residents here earn between £44,170 and £67,610 depending on their stage and specialty.
That is between ₦79.5 million and ₦121.7 million naira per year.
Specialty doctors, which is a career grade above training, earn between £61,542 and £99,216 per year. That puts them at roughly ₦110.8 million to ₦178.6 million naira annually.
Salaried GPs — the primary care doctors, roughly equivalent to medical officers in Nigeria earn between £76,038 and £114,743 per year. That is ₦136.9 million to ₦206.5 million naira per year.
Consultants — the senior hospital specialists, earn between £109,725 and £145,478 per year. That is ₦197.5 million to ₦261.9 million naira per year.
Dentists on the NHS primary care pay spine earn between £52,532 and £112,360 per year.
That is ₦94.6 million to ₦202.2 million naira per year.
Worth noting: at the entry band of the dental pay scale, a dentist earns more than an FY1 and FY2 doctor. By the GP level, the GP earns more than the dentist.
NOW LET US TALK ABOUT WHAT THOSE NUMBERS ACTUALLY BECOME
Everything I just listed is gross pay. Before anything leaves your pocket.
Let me walk you through what happens to a salaried GP earning £76,038 per year.
This is the lowest point of the GP scale — the one just entering the grade.
Monthly gross: approximately £6,337.
First, income tax.
The UK personal allowance is £12,570 — that portion is tax-free. Everything between £12,570 and £50,270 is taxed at 20%. Everything above £50,270 is taxed at 40%.
So on a £76,038 salary, income tax alone takes approximately £1,487 every single month.
Then National Insurance.
That is an additional 8% on earnings between £12,570 and £50,270, and 2% above that.
On this salary, National Insurance removes approximately £294 every month.
Then NHS pension contributions. Doctors in the UK are enrolled in the NHS pension scheme.
At this income level, you are contributing roughly 13.5% of your gross salary into that pension every month.
That is another £855 gone before you see a single pound.
Monthly take-home after tax, National Insurance, and pension: approximately £3,700.
Now let us talk about living.
A decent two-bedroom flat outside London, because most NHS doctors are not working in London costs approximately £1,400 per month in rent.
Council tax adds another £181. Utilities: gas, electricity, water, broadband, comes to roughly £200 per month.
Groceries for a small family: approximately £440 per month. Transport: £150.
Phone and other subscriptions: £55.
Miscellaneous — clothing, personal care, social life: another £200.
That is approximately £2,626 gone in monthly expenses.
What is left after rent, bills, food, and transport?
Roughly £1,074 per month in true disposable income.
And that is before student loan repayments if you took on debt for medical school. And before considering that you may have children. And before considering that a family of four costs significantly more than the baseline I just used.
A GP earning £76,038 per year in the UK — which converts to about ₦137 million naira per year on paper, is left with something in the range of £1,000 disposable income per month after everything that real life demands.
In London, the disposable figure drops further.
Just watched a documentary about a Nigerian man in the US, and it honestly left me uneasy.
I’m not here to generalize, but some of the things I’ve been seeing and hearing in our diaspora community are concerning. We have a lot of great people, but we also can’t ignore certain patterns.
I hope we can start having more honest conversations and hold each other accountable.
https://t.co/q49vyqwBHG
Ok, morning all.
It’s gone from “he broke the ministerial code” to “he stole my idea”.
I have put my views across on a policy I’ve been working on for months (I have the receipts) in an Op Ed in the times. Give it a read, and let’s continue to discuss.
I won’t be intimidated to drop my views. Stay classy!
Oh and I’m at a wedding in San Francisco, but happy to talk more when I’m back (I promise that’s the Golden Gate Bridge hidden by the fog)
@ndues_boy@myles_premium_ I think it’s bad though. Because he has obviously looked at that mot and knows in his mind the car has problems. Besides those advisories just scream to me the car isn’t getting proper preventative maintenance
"Look at the absolute foolishness in the quotes."
All because of opening Outlier account.
The single biggest issue for someone based in the diaspora (U.S or U.K) is TAX. More specifically, reporting income tax. In other words, not disclosing monies in your name could be tantamount to fraud. But platforms like Outlier already issues tax forms which makes disclosures easy.
Any other issue is civil not illegal. No one is arresting you because Outlier said so, highest your account will be banned on Outlier if they detect any anomalies. Osim "clearance getting flagged."
Meanwhile, you're not giving anyone your personal details. You're opening the account by yourself and someone else operates by proxy, which in certain jurisdictions is a civil matter for the platform but only fraud if you don't disclose income.
But that wasn't even the focus of the initial post. The focus is that asking for something like this from someone in the diaspora is met with ghosting, other excuses or even accusations of fraud without knowing WHAT Outlier or other data labelling services do.
A simple, "tell me more about this" or "I'm not comfortable opening this account for you" is clear and straightforward.
Indians create outsourcing Agencies because of this and repatriate funds to their home countries through hundreds of similar agencies. Only the black man thinks up individual success as the pinnacle of his achievements and scream FRAUD or SECURITY CLEARANCE if he doesn't understand stuff.
Ask questions, nobody will kee you, onye mpiawa azu.
If you’re a student in the Uk and you help someone open an account, just know that you’re jeopardising your VISA.
Also, all the earnings on that account are directly associated with your national insurance number.
So when HRMC says you’re owing one crazy tax amount, I wonder who you’ll explain to that you’re not the one spending the money even though it’s being paid into your account.
@sweeteststew@veekeejoe Improved diagnosis. Tons of people would probably would have died in Nigeria too and the deaths would have just been unexplained
We have to admit that two things can be true at the same time.
We can talk about our institutionalised suffering whilst reminding women that you shouldn’t touch a relationship that won’t benefit you or help alleviate your sufferings.
DO NOT MARRY A POOR MAN, is valid advice.