The Financial Times: DAUK survey on pensions shows that consultants do not trust the latest ‘promises’ that the government will pay back their tax bills on retirement.

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.

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The Guardian: DAUK criticises this government’s handling of the NHS pensions tax crisis

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

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Dr Rinesh Parmar for The Telegraph: the Government must now pay more than lip service to the pensions crisis

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.

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