Hospitals are having to cancel operations and cancer scans are going unread for weeks due to consultation doctors have begun a standoff over NHS pensions. The Department of Health said it aimed to solve the problem with more flexible pensions.
Consultants who earn more than £110,00 a year face limites on how much they can contribute to their pensions, the complex rule meant the charges can be unpredictable if they go over the allowance.
Waiting times for treatment is now getting worse as hospitals are struggling to find senior doctors who are prepared to work more than their planned shifts. Working over time means they could receive a pension tax of £80,000.
Dr Tony Goldstone, a consultant radiologist and clinical director at Hull University teaching hospitals NHS trust, said: “The pensions catastrophe is an existential threat to our NHS. We’re only just beginning to see the impact of these taxes. As more doctors get affected, it’s going to get a lot worse,”
“As a frontline clinician and clinical director, the stark reality of the pensions taxation is now becoming abundantly clear. Not only in my own trust but up and down the country there are reports of backlogs of unreported cancer scans – higher than they have been for years.
“Colleagues who used to help prop up services by working additional weekends, on top of their already onerous working rotas, can no longer afford to do this. I am hearing of operating theatres not being utilised because of the inability to staff them, and rota gaps not being filled as senior staff are unable to help out.”
The consultant’s decisions also mean that hospitals are finding it hard to find enough doctors to fully staff the A&E unit.
Dr Rob Harwood from the British Medical Association said: “No doctor wants to do anything but their best for their patients but if, in doing so, they face bills of tens of thousands of pounds, something has to change.”
A so-called 50/50 scheme would let senior doctors put less into their pension for up to 10 years to reduce the risk of their pot hitting the £1.1m maximum.
