Yes, they do pretty well, but you wouldn’t want the guy or girl slicing into your parts to be working, American style, on £s per stitch. Yes, it’s a vocation, but knowing there’s a pretty decent pension at the end helps you put up with the hours, the NHS and James Robertson Justice (kids etc) shouting at you. Whatever I say, NHS consultants won’t get much more sympathy from Joe Taxpayer than top civil servants, both of whom the big payers of the pensions lifetime allowance tax. And no sympathy, either, it seems, from Joe Government.