NHS private secretarial/admin work

[panachronic]

I work full-time in the NHS and I've been asked by one of our consultants if I can help out with a project he and a group of his colleagues are working on. I would do the work in my own time, be paid an agreed monthly sum and it is something that would be potentially long-term. Does anyone know what the tax arrangements are for doing something like this? Would I be self-employed and have to do tax returns etc? Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Yes you would be self employed
You need to register with HMRC, there is useful info on the website and it’s pretty easy
You will need to invoice your client at an agreed time and fill in a tax return

Check your employment contract first and make sure you are not breaching it's terms by doing this.

Ask for clarity - is this NHS or private practice work?

If it's extra NHS work perhaps you can do it through the Trust's staff bank and be paid PAYE rather than having to worry about tax returns etc.

If it's private work then keep it all as separate as possible and maintain good records - invoices, payments etc and keep back money to pay your tax bill.

Thanks so much for responding. Firstly, it's private practice work so I can't go through the staff bank unfortunately.

Secondly, I've had a look at the HMRC website, is it the Self Assessment and National Insurance contributions registration form that I need to complete?

Will check my contract for any potential areas of conflict

Yes that’s the right form I think

A bit more advice OP. Your Trust should have a policy document like this one that clearly sets out the medical practitioners dos and dont's with regard to private practice work.

In the policy there will be a section regarding their use of NHS resources and staff (i.e you). The consultant should seek approval from the Trust to use you for private practice work.

In summary, you can do the private work but you must protect yourself by declaring it to the Trust and making sure that you are:

• doing the work outside your contracted NHS hours
• not using NHS resources (offices, IT equipment, paper etc)
• paying appropriate tax and NI contributions

https://www.dpt.nhs.uk/download/3d7Gdmv8Ub

Good luck with it.

Thanks so much again both and I will look for our equivalent Trusts' document tomorrow - none of what's in the doc has been mentioned in discussions btw. I'm not sure I have the energy to take it all on to be honest. At bit of background is that they've been chipping away at me for the last couple of months to get involved. I've refused twice alluding to the fact that I've a lot going on both at work and home and I'm now starting to feel it's bit insensitive to be asked again. Having said that, I feel a bit torn as I do want to help and an extra income would be welcome but our conversations are all about the expectations of the role and there're no answers to the questions that you have both kindly answered. This is all new to me, the private side of the NHS, is it always this laissez-faire?

Years ago it used to be more or less a given that senior Consultants would have a rather blurred line between their NHS and private work and a blind eye was turned to their secretary managing their full workload.

These days using NHS resources for private work is a very big no-no and if staff are caught (both the consultants and their support staff) it's a very serious matter that can lead to criminal charges including that of defrauding the NHS.

Don't be blindsided into risking your job and reputation, it's just not worth it if your potential private employer isn't fully aware of their responsibilities and the risks they are taking. The NHS counter fraud team are hot on this.