• The Royal College of Surgeons has published a YouGov survey they commissioned in October.
• It found that 68% of consultant surgeons are considering early retirement because of the pensions tax situation and 69% of consultant surgeons have reduced the amount of time they have spent working in the NHS as a direct result of changes to pension taxation rules.
• 64% of consultant surgeons have been advised to work fewer hours in the NHS following recent changes in pension taxation rules to avoid ‘crippling and unpredictable’ tax bills.
• The Royal College of Physicians has also revealed that 45% of doctors have decided to retire at a younger age than previously planned, with 86% of them citing pension concerns as one of their reasons for this decision.
  
  

Responding to the Royal College of Surgeons’ and the Royal College of Physicians’ findings on the impact of NHS pension changes, the director of policy and strategy at NHS Providers, Miriam Deakin said:

“The findings from the two royal colleges show very clearly the impact pension changes are having on the decision of clinicians to carry out additional shifts or whether to stop work altogether.

“Consultants are reducing their working hours and are considering early retirement as a direct result of changes to pension rules. This is extremely concerning going into an already challenging winter.

We welcomed the government’s most recent pensions proposals, but as today’s figures clearly demonstrate, and as we have been saying for some time, we urgently need a clear, national and retrospective solution for all staff which enables them to work the extra hours needed to help meet demand.

Miriam Deakin    Co-Director of Development and Engagement

“We welcomed the government’s most recent pensions proposals, but as today’s figures clearly demonstrate, and as we have been saying for some time, we urgently need a clear, national and retrospective solution for all staff which enables them to work the extra hours needed to help meet demand.

“Without this, and despite some trusts implementing local schemes, we anticipate that waiting lists will grow and this may negatively impact patient care and put increasing pressure on an already overstretched workforce this winter.”