Legal News
BMA Threatens Industrial Action over Doctors’ Pensions (23 January 2012)
Date: 23/01/2012
The British Medical Association (BMA) has threatened industrial action over plans to force doctors to retire later in life and increase the amount that they contribute to their pensions. However, it has been revealed that doctors’ pensions are amongst the UK’s most generous. The average male GP retiring at the age of 60 can expect to receive a pension of £46,600 per annum, compared to the average public sector pension of £7,541 per annum, with two thirds of all private sector workers failing to have paid into a pension.
Doctors’ pensions are set to rise significantly in the coming years due to considerable increases in average salaries. A 24-year-old doctor currently in employment will receive a £70,000 a year pension upon retiring at 68. The average income of GPs stands at almost £106,000. However, some GPs earn incomes as great as £770,000 per year. The pensions that they receive are based upon their average earnings during their career, as opposed to on their final salaries.
Matthew Elliott, who works for the TaxPayers’ Alliance, claimed that while GPs work hard, the taxpayer would find it a challenge to afford the cost of the multi-million pound pensions that many GPs are retiring on. A spokesperson for the BMA stated that the majority of doctors do not receive pensions of this value, adding that over the coming half-decade, the NHS pension scheme would provide the Treasury with a positive cash flow of over £10 billion.
Duncan Lewis’ employment law solicitors can help clients to dispute a wide range of employment law issues, including pension disputes.