As the government suggests retired doctors could be enlisted to help treat Coronavirus Dr Jenny Vaughan DAUK’s Law and Policy Lead questions these plans. Speaking to GP Online DAUK raise concerns about how retired doctors would be more vulnerable to COVID-19, and how the NHS pensions tax which forced many to retire is still not fixed.
As the number of cancelled operations is revealed DAUK speaks to the Derby Telegraph about the impact of a lack of critical care capacity compounded by the NHS pensions tax on patients.
Doctors have been clear that the only solution is scrapping the taper and annual allowance for the NHS pension. These panicked short-term proposals will not fix the problem, and by the Health Secretary’s own words may even amount to tax avoidance. Our poll shows that consultants do not trust this government’s hurried promises that they will one-day be repaid their tax bills on retirement, and that an overwhelming majority of respondents said this proposal would not encourage them to resume extra work over the winter.
This latest announcement – at best a stopgap – smacks of an electioneering gambit to deflect criticism of the Conservative party, who are solely responsible for this crisis. Given this government’s history on pensions reform, and its leader’s perceived casual relationship with the truth, we cannot recommend to members and colleagues that they deplete their pension pots on a hurried promise they’ll be topped up one day in the future. Doctors should continue to take steps to reduce their commitments where necessary to avoid punitive tax bills
The Doctors Association are disappointed by this latest announcement about the NHS pensions crisis. This is not a new issue, and the government could have solved it many months ago by reversing the damaging changes made to the pension annual allowance and taper.
The NHS is in a state of crisis. Whilst much attention has focussed on Brexit, doctors have watched on with increasing concern as the NHS, Britain’s greatest treasure, has been sidelined. It is unacceptable that it has taken a general election to put the NHS back on the agenda. Our manifesto prioritises the NHS, the patients it serves and its dedicated workforce.
Dr Rinesh Parmar responds to claims the NHS is being held to ransom by locums in a letter published by The Telegraph. Citing the NHS pension tax crisis he said there has been ample time to remedy the situation and address the concerns of NHS staff and patients. He further added the Government must now pay more than lip service to the pensions crisis, and work constructively towards retaining its highly trained and dedicated NHS workforce. Read the full letter here.
