Doctors are to be balloted on what action to take over pensions

Doctors are to be balloted on whether to take industrial action over proposed changes to the NHS pension scheme, although strike action has been ruled out.

At an emergency meeting on Saturday 25 February the BMA Council voted to ballot its members for the first time in 40 years after talks with the government on NHS pensions collapsed.

The BMA says that the NHS pension scheme is in good financial shape and currently provides £2bn (€2.4bn; $3.2bn) to the Treasury every year. In addition, radical changes to the scheme less than four years ago have already seen the pension age rise to 65 and contributions for doctors rise steeply.

England’s health secretary, Andrew Lansley, said that there was no justification for industrial …