Leading medical bodies write letter to ministers urging them to tackle doctors’ pension crisis
- Representing hospital doctors and GPs, the organisations say action is overdue
- Many are turning down overtime, including important clinic and theatre sessions
- The tax dilemma principally affects doctors earning more than £110,000
An open letter from 11 leading medical bodies is piling pressure on ministers to address the doctors’ pensions crisis.
Representing tens of thousands of hospital doctors and GPs, the organisations say action is long overdue.
The letter, signed by the British Medical Association and Royal College of Surgeons, among others, comes as the Treasury continues to consider the tax dilemma, which principally affects doctors earning more than £110,000.
An open letter from 11 leading medical bodies is piling pressure on ministers to address the doctors’ pensions crisis
Many are turning down overtime, including important clinic and theatre sessions at evenings and weekends, because they face a high tax bill.
Last month the Daily Mail revealed that patients are facing devastating waits for cancer treatment and hip surgery as doctors slash their hours.
The letter is addressed to Chancellor Rishi Sunak and urges him to use next month’s Budget to solve the ‘intolerable dilemma’ for the medical profession.
The letter is addressed to Chancellor Rishi Sunak (pictured) and urges him to use next month’s Budget to solve the ‘intolerable dilemma’ for the medical profession
The 11 signatories, also including the Royal College of GPs and Royal College of Physicians, write: ‘We are encouraged that the Government has committed to announcing a resolution to this issue in the Budget, but it must be the right one; one which will safeguard the NHS workforce for the long term.
‘We are past the point when significant action should have been taken. The NHS is amid a workforce crisis, with rising waiting times for cancer and routine surgery. A&E performance is at its worst since records began and 11 million patients are experiencing unacceptable waiting times for GP appointments.’
The doctors’ trade union, the BMA, says the rules are unfair because doctors cannot control the growth of their pensions, and some earning less than £110,000 are affected because of pensions growth.
A Mail investigation found that one in five hospitals admits waiting times are getting longer due to the dispute.