We Need Your Help!

Dear Colleagues

I have recently been elected chair of the Trent Consultants Committee and I need your views. The most pressing current issues are pensions and imposed changes to local terms and conditions. This letter is primarily regarding the unilaterally enforced changes to the NHS pension scheme by the government. A scheme which, you will probably know, was re-negotiated only 4 years ago. This ‘sustainable’ scheme was described by the Public Accounts Committee as being ‘good value for money’ as recently as May last year.

The total cost of UK public sector pensions is currently only 1.5% of GDP. Even if there are no changes to the public sector schemes, Hutton’s report concludes that this will increase to 1.9% before falling back to 1.4%. To put this into context, it is the same as government spending on religion and leisure. The savings we agreed to NHS pensions in 2008 will save the treasury £67 billion by 2060.

After the last industrial action, local surveys showed that as many as 80% of consultants had changed their work day to fit in with industrial action. In most cases it represented changes from routine cases to urgent. The industrial action was however regarded as overly complicated and difficult to measure / take, particularly for junior doctors. In one local survey, seventy percent of doctors said that they would be willing to take on call only type industrial action if the governments pension offer was not improved.

Industrial action was suspended in the summer for further talks with the government but these have failed to improve on the original offer.

Wherever you are on the current scheme you will be affected by changes in contributions. Doctors will pay 10 (yes ten) times more for the same pension as a judge. Doctors will pay contributions of 14.9% for a 54ths accrual scheme, MPs for example pay 7.7% for the same type of scheme or 13.75% for a much more generous 40ths scheme. The imposed loss of the final salary scheme would of course hugely decrease the impact of clinical excellence awards on pension income.

Doctors will also be forced to work until 68/69 to receive a full pension. This applies even to doctors with only 15 years until the current retirement date. Each year a doctor leaves before 68/69 will cost 5% of their pension. A doctor aged 45 will be approximately £300,000 worse off in terms of their pension if they retire at 60 as is their current right. Of course police and firemen will be able to retire at 60 without cost, why not doctors working in the stressful front line of UK medicine?

The industrial action last autumn in support of public sector pensions has already brought some improvement in the pensions offer for those within 15 years of retirement and index linking has been improved from just CPI to CPI + 1.5%. Industrial action has already worked and may well work further if determined action is taken.

The UK wide Consultants Committee felt strongly that the changes in the NHS Pensions bill which is currently before parliament is unacceptable and has called upon BMA council to provide a strike ballot for secondary care doctors in England and Wales (BMA Scotland has request council to organise its own ballot). We feel strongly that there should be fairness across the public sector schemes and that the governments actions are an opportunist grab from a group of staff who have already modernised their scheme.

It might be that you feel that all of this is quite fair or outrageous. If the latter you may be asking what can I do? Here are a few practical things you can do now.

Whatever your views we would like to hear them in a short survey at http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/pensionswhatnext
I’d like more people to join the debate. Our next meeting is an open one, you are welcome to join us at the next Consultants Committee meeting (date and location below). We can only accommodate a certain number of people so please email LCarr@bma.org.uk if you wish to attend.
For those who want to keep in touch locally there is a blog set up at http://trentspecialists.blogspot.co.uk/ it is possible to subscribe to posts so that you will be emailed when anything new is added
You can even follow the committee on twitter @trentconsultant (yes I know). Visit https://twitter.com/trentconsultant. The BMA can be followed at  @TheBMA or https://twitter.com/TheBMA
Write to your MP using this BMA tool http://bma.org.uk/working-for-change/negotiating-for-the-profession/pensions-unfairness/lobby-mp
Email me directly with your thoughts (keep it clean, remember I’m a real person) mhenley@urol.info
Look out for the ballot later in the year


Our aim on the committee is to represent the views of doctors in the Trent region. Please don’t hesitate to get in touch, I look forward to hearing from you, particularly if you wish to get involved.

Please forward this to all of your colleagues.

Kind regards

Mike Henley
Chair Trent Consultants Committee

Next Meeting Trent Consultants Committee
29th November 2012. Alfreton Golf Club, Wingfield Road, Alfreton, DE55 7LH.  A buffet of sandwiches and drinks will be served from 6.30 pm.