NHS pensions crisis fuels cancer surgery delays as doctors slash their hours

Patients are facing devastating waits for cancer treatment and hip surgery because doctors are slashing their hours to avoid hefty pension bills.

A Mail investigation has revealed that one in five hospitals has admitted that waiting times are getting longer as a result of the dispute.

Three NHS trusts used recent board meetings to highlight how the crisis is delaying potentially life-saving surgery for cancer.

The British Medical Association confirmed that doctors were ‘scaling back their hours’ and warned that patients face ‘long and distressing waits’ as a result.

The crisis was triggered by changes to pension rules introduced by former chancellor George Osborne in 2016 which affect any earners on more than £110,000 a year.

Consultants, who earn on average £127,000 annually, have been among the hardest-hit, with some specialist doctors and surgeons being stung by bills running into tens of thousands of pounds.

Many have reduced their working hours by refusing to do important clinics or theatre sessions at evenings and weekends, which are intended to clear waiting lists.

To identify the impact on patients, the Daily Mail audited board meeting papers for 147 hospital trusts.

We found that documents for 29 trusts stated that the pensions stand-off was leading to longer waits for routine operations, including hip and knee surgery. 

Guy’s and St Thomas’ Trust in central London described the crisis as a ‘serious risk’ and said more patients were waiting a year or longer for some procedures.

Cambridge University Hospitals highlighted how a lack of consultants ‘willing to undertake’ overtime sessions meant they were struggling to clear the backlog of patients.

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Airedale Trust in West Yorkshire, East Lancashire Hospitals Trust and North Middlesex University Hospital in north London specified the dispute was causing longer delays for cancer treatment,

University Hospitals Plymouth and University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay noted a particular impact on orthopaedic procedures, which include hip and knee surgery.

Estimates from University Hospital Southampton show that up to 40 consultants had cut back on overtime sessions meant to help clear the backlog. Dr Vishal Sharma, of the doctors’ trade union the British Medical Association, said: ‘Doctors are scaling back their hours and will continue to do so if the pension crisis remains unaddressed.

‘This stark analysis lays bare the devastating effect this is having.

‘When the NHS is already under significant pressure, it is absurd that doctors are in a position where they are being forced to reduce the work they do for patients or decline extra hours to bring down waiting lists in order to prevent incurring severe financial penalties.’

In October, a Royal College of Surgeons survey showed that 69 per cent of consultant surgeons had reduced the amount of time they worked in the NHS as a result of the ‘pensions taper’.

Last week official figures revealed that the percentage of NHS patients undergoing routine procedures within the 18-week target is at its lowest since 2008.

Waits for cancer treatment are at their worst since records began in 2004 with one in four patients waiting longer than two months.

In November, NHS England tried to resolve the stand-off by promising to pay back the pension bills accrued by doctors doing overtime this financial year.

But individuals will not receive the money until they retire and the measure is only a short- term solution.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson promised to ‘fix’ the pensions dispute last July and the Department of Health is currently consulting on proposed new rules.

A Government spokesman said: ‘We are urgently reviewing the pensions annual allowance taper and NHS England has already taken action by introducing a special arrangement for 2019/20.’