Pension Changes Enrage NI Doctors

Doctors are up in arms today over proposed changes to their pensions that they claim could see them pay an extra £200,000 more over the course of their careers - but for a much worse deal on retirement.

The doctors have today demanded that the Northern Ireland Assembly state its intention on public pensions and whether proposed changes to the NHS scheme in England and Wales will apply to health service workers.

The call comes as the British Medical Association (BMA) published detailed information showing the impact of public sector pensions changes, which could mean that doctors could

Modelling by independent actuaries, published by the BMA today, it looks at the additional contributions doctors would need to pay over the course of their careers.

A junior doctor, for example, currently aged 25 pursuing a typical career as a GP and retiring at the future state pension age of 68 could have to make additional contributions of over £230,000 between now and retirement.

The research examines the potential impact of plans, currently out for consultation in England and Wales, which would see a doctor currently contributing 8.5% of salary paying 10.9% by 2012 and 14.5% by 2014.

The research also models the impact on doctors of the changes put forward by Lord Hutton in his review of public sector pensions, such as a further increase in the normal retirement age and a move from a final salary to a career average scheme.

These are expected to be subject to a further consultation exercise in the autumn.

Dr Brian Dunn, Larne GP and member of the BMA's Pensions Committee, said: "The proposals to change the NHS pension scheme are significant and imminent and doctors across the UK need to be aware of the scale of the changes.

"Although not technically a reserved issue, previous changes to the pension scheme have applied equally across the UK.

"It is vital that the Northern Ireland Assembly clearly states its intention regarding the reform of public pensions and decides whether or not these changes will affect health service workers in Northern Ireland," he urged today.

"The reforms of the NHS pension scheme mean that doctors could be worse off by hundreds of thousands of pounds, despite working longer and contributing more to the pension scheme.

"Doctors in England and Wales already have an opportunity to contribute to a consultation on the increased contributions.

"We cannot ascertain if/when consultation will commence in Northern Ireland and must wait until the Executive has considered the proposals and since the Assembly is in recess, we have had to adopt a 'wait and see' approach which is disquieting for doctors at all stages in their careers," he added.

Dr Paul Darragh, Chairman of the BMA in Northern Ireland, said: "These are unjustifiable changes to a financially healthy pension scheme which has already been overhauled.

"This isn't about making the NHS pension sustainable in the long term, it already is.

"This is simply a tax on public sector workers. The NHS scheme is already affordable, yet the Government is asking doctors to pay hundreds of thousands of pounds more for a worse deal on retirement," he said.

The modelling also looks at the impact of the decision, already implemented, to increase pensions payments in line with the Consumer Price Index rather than the Retail Price Index.

A doctor retiring at the age of 65 could be worse of under CPI by £2,000 a year at the age of 70, and by a total of £124,500 by the age of 85.

"Doctors pursing a career as a consultant or GP will have to pay significantly higher contributions in return for a much reduced pension at retirement," the paper concluded.

(BMcC/GK)