The doctors' regulator spends more than a quarter of a million pounds a year on private medical insurance (PMI), it has been revealed.
According to a report on GP news service Pulse, the General Medical Council (GMC) spends almost £280,000 a year on providing PMI to almost 500 of its staff.
The regulator, which receives the vast majority of its funding from doctors' fees, has offered its employees private medical insurance since 1997 and now provides it to 480 of its 640 staff.
A spokesperson for the GMC told Pulse the spending equated to just 0.7% of its full staffing costs and that spending on PMI was regularly reviewed.
"Like many organisations, we offer a range of benefits to attract and retain staff," she said.
"Staff who make a claim pay an excess of £250 to keep costs at an acceptable level," she added.
However the news has been greeted with scorn by GPs who have criticised the regulator for not supporting NHS services.
