Proposals to raise the NHS retirement age from 60 to 65 and change the method for calculating pensions received a big thumbs-down from health unions this week. However, the proposals also include a section on widening the scheme to bring in employees who work for private contractors providing NHS services, a development that could prove relevant for some healthcare IT staff. “The demand for staff providing NHS services (whether employed by the NHS or the private sector) is set to increase. Giving all staff access to the same pension scheme would provide a more level playing field for contractors and would certainly be welcomed by staff,” says the proposal document, noting a strong consensus between NHS and private sector employers and staff representatives that access to the scheme should be broadened. The proposals for the NHS Pension Scheme were tabled by the NHS Employers and staff side representatives this week and health service unions immediately announced plans for a day of protest action in February. Their main concerns focus on the extension of the retirement age and the adoption of a new formula for calculating pensions Amicus, which claims 80,000 NHS members including some IT staff, said: “Our members will fight to defend voluntary retirement at 60 and the NHS final salary pension scheme. Amicus will oppose the proposal to replace the NHS final salary scheme with a career average one which will disadvantage the vast majority of our members.” The pension scheme has been a valued recruitment tool for NHS IT managers, providing a clear competitive advantage over many private sector employers who have closed their final salary schemes to new members and raised retirement ages above 60 in recent years. An Amicus spokesperson told E-Health Insider: “People already earn less than their private sector counterparts but various factors, including pensions, balance things out. If this [pension] is removed we don’t think people will want to stay or join.” The review (http://www.nhsemployers.org/docs/nhs_pensions_20pp.pdf) includes a raft of other proposals including: The review document says that changes are necessary to reflect the demographic changes, primarily the growing number of older people and the shrinking population in younger age groups. Changing work patterns also mean that few NHS staff will have the uninterrupted 40 year career for which the current pension scheme was designed. Assurance is given that pensions and lump sum benefits accrued by staff up to 2013 will be protected and paid at 60. Case studies given in the proposal show how the different methods of calculating pensions could produce benefits for some NHS staff. Responses are invited and the consultation will be open until 11 April 2005.
