20 July 2022
If you are covering the news that eligible NHS doctors will receive a 4.5% pay rise and how that might interact with NHS pensions, please see the following comment from Graham Crossley, NHS pensions expert at Quilter:
“Whilst some may view yesterday’s NHS pay review as a 4.5% increase in pay, it is, in effect, a significant real terms pay cut for healthcare workers. Worse still, many on historic multi-year pay agreements won’t even receive 4.5%, as government has ignored the pay review body’s suggestion to review those pay deals in light of extraordinary economic factors.
“However, this also could increase the pace of retirements in the NHS as if a doctor stays working, their pensionable pay increases by 4.5%. But, if they choose to retire now their pension will ultimately get uplifted by CPI and at its current rate that will mean they’ll end up with more pension. This ultimately creates a difficult decision for the most senior and experienced doctors in the NHS who are badly needed as we tackle the backlog.
“This could have a catastrophic effect on workforce retention in the NHS at the worst time. Recent FOI data that we analysed showed that retirements from the NHS are reaching record levels and this may pour fuel on the fire.
“A lack of a meaningful pay rise in conjunction with the cacophony of problems NHS pension scheme members face may simply mean they throw in the towel.”
