[DanBC]

> I can tell you why it remains such persistent practice -

It's strongly recommended against in the UK now. We do less than 1 operation per 1000 population.

> A surgeon in the UK can do ten or more in a day, at £3k a pop.

That's not how English surgeons are paid, is it?

https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/tonsillitis/

> It's very rare that someone needs to have their tonsils taken out. This is usually only the case if you have severe tonsillitis that keeps coming back.

[arethuza]

My son had his tonsils taken our in a private UK hospital 6 years ago (my job at the time had private health care) and the total bill the insurer paid was rather less than £3.

So the idea that consultants were getting £3K for individual private operations in the 1980s seems unlikely - and as far as I know that's definitely not how they are paid for NHS work.