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; 7 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? — coming soon
   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.