The How GPs are paid series

In 2019 I wrote How GPs are paid. It became the most-read page on this site, and in 2026 I rebuilt it as a series — nine pieces, every figure linked to a source, all built on one line: profit = income minus expenses. Parts are publishing daily; 8 of 9 are live so far.

1. How GPs are paid: the 2026 update
   Where every pound comes from, where it goes, and the money that looks like ours but isn't.
2. The surgery building: asset, anchor or millstone?
   Rent reimbursement, why ownership was once policy, last partner standing, and buying in.
3. The plumbing: profit, partnerships, VAT and limited companies
   Drawings, capital accounts, why leaving money in the practice hurts, and who is a partner in what.
4. Who carries the risk?
   Hospitals get deficits written off; GP partners are personally liable.
5. The list is the business
   Ghost patients, students, tourists, new estates and care homes — the number under everything.
6. The workload the formula can't see
   Demand, the part-time myth, the ageing population and a formula from 2004.
7. What happens to your referral
   Triage that works, referral management that doesn't, and the boundary nobody defined.
8. Why does my GP charge me?
   What's free, what never was, and why GPs are the one doctors banned from private practice with their own patients.
9. Practice finance FAQ: how to think about profit in a surgery — coming soon
   To finish: the questions everyone asks about practice money, answered plainly.

If the series is useful, the workshop version is better — details on the Howbeck page.