By Eleanor Hayward For Mailonline
Published: 23:47 BST, 14 May 2019 | Updated: 23:48 BST, 14 May 2019
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Doctors have been advised to cut their hours so they get a bigger pension – triggering fears of a new NHS staffing crisis with ‘unimaginable consequences’.
The British Medical Association has issued guidance for NHS consultants explaining how reducing their hours could lead to an increased pension under new tax rules.
Critics said the way the tax system incentivises doctors to work less was ‘complete lunacy’ and will increase staff shortages and waiting times.
Trade union is advising consultants cut their hours to get a larger pension (stock)
Senior doctors are being hit by a rule that has cut the tax-free pension allowance of those earning more than £110,000 a year from £40,000 to £10,000.
If a doctor earns more than £110,000 any pension contribution they make above the £10,000 cap triggers a tax charge of 55 per cent. This means NHS staff who accidentally breach the cap can be hit with bills of tens of thousands of pounds.
Doctors say that because they often work overtime it is more difficult for them to keep track of how close they are to breaking the £110,000 threshold. They also cannot put their overtime income towards their pension – so by working extra hours they can bust their pension tax allowance, without making any savings for retirement.
Official figures showed in February that 41 per cent of GPs – around 10,000 doctors – are 50 or over and are expected to quit within the next five to ten years.
And 2.5 million patients are at risk of their local GP surgery closing because so many are relying on doctors who are close to retirement, it was last week revealed.
At the same time, fewer young doctors are choosing to specialise as GPs and are opting for other career paths as surgeons or specialists.
Many GPs are retiring in their 50s, moving abroad or leaving to work in the private sector, increasing the pressure on those who still work in the sector.
Appointment waiting times are getting longer and more people are going to A&E for minor illnesses because they can't see a doctor.
Despite an NHS a plan to recruit 5,000 extra GPs by 2021, numbers of family doctors are falling.
And 762 GP practices across the UK could close within the next five years, according to the Royal College of Nursing.
Rachel Power, chief executive of the
