NHS pensions: government must change rules, or waiting times will keep rising, trusts warn

The government’s recently announced proposal to rectify doctors’ pension problems is inadequate, NHS Providers has said, and more must be done now or the care of patients will be affected.

In June the government announced a plan that would allow senior clinicians such as GPs and consultants to halve their pension contributions to avoid big tax bills.1 Currently, the NHS scheme does not offer any flexibility in the rate at which pensions build, with the highest earning consultants contributing 14.5% of their pensionable pay each month.

This has led to doctors taking early retirement or cutting clinical hours, as they are unable to control their contributions and thus end up exceeding …