Fix pensions to retain doctors
Fixing the pensions tax fiasco, which has cost specialists many thousands of pounds, is crucial to retain consultants, a doctors’ leader has warned.
Dr Vishal Sharma
BMA consultants committee chairman Dr Vishal Sharma urged the Government to not simply focus on recruiting staff but, more importantly, to concentrate on retaining existing highly skilled clinicians who have kept the NHS afloat during its most challenging period.
He said: ‘This means prioritising their health, well-being and fair pay and working conditions, while fixing longstanding pension taxation problems that limit the amount of work doctors can do and leave many considering early retirement.’
NHS waiting list figures for England show a record 5.45m patients waiting to start treatment at the end of June but the BMA estimates that England has 50,000 too few doctors to meet demand.