Two-day working week limit on retired doctors to be lifted in plans to boost NHS workforce

A two-day working week limit for retired doctors returning to the NHS will be lifted under government plans to boost workforce capacity.

The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) has set out proposals to amend NHS pension rules to keep experienced doctors in the NHS, and cut red tape preventing others returning from retirement.

During the pandemic, some pension tax rules for returnees were suspended to allow staff to retain pension benefits if they returned to the workforce.

Some 20,000 former staff returned to support the NHS during the height of the pandemic.

The current suspensions have been extended to March 2023, but the Government has now launched a consultation on implementing permanent reforms to the NHS Pension Scheme in late spring.

One change proposed includes the removal of limits on the hours recently retired staff can work, giving them more control over their hours in the first full month back.

Under the “16-hour rule”, doctors can only work 16 hours per week - two days worth of work - for the first full calendar month.

It is hoped removing this barrier for retired staff considering returning to work could boost workforce capacity.

Returnees re-join pension scheme

Other planned measures include a new partial retirement option for retirement-age staff who want more work flexibility, while continuing to access part of their pension and contributing to it.

Retired staff who return to work in the NHS would also be allowed to re-join the pension scheme, making a return to the health service more attractive.

The eight-week consultation follows the Government’s Plan for Patients, set out in September, which aimed to retain experienced NHS clinicians and help retirees return.

Steve Barclay, the Health Secretary, said: “The generous NHS Pension Scheme is one of the best in the country, but it’s not working as it should for everyone.

“We need a system where our most experienced clinicians don’t feel they have to reduce their workload or take early retirement because of financial worries. I also want to make it easier for staff that want to return to work to support the NHS to be able to do so without penalties.”

The Government believes the changes will help open up extra appointments for patients so they can be treated more quickly.

It comes as 7.1 million people are now waiting to receive treatment on the NHS.

The British Medical Association said although the proposals included some of the immediate changes the union had been calling for, they were “too little, too late”.

Dr Vishal Sharma, BMA pensions committee chair, said: “Doctors will continue to incur sky-high and completely unexpected tax bills, simply by continuing to provide care for patients, care that they desperately need.

“At a time when staff are facing unprecedented pressure, this is devastating for morale and it’s unsurprising that people are planning to leave in their droves.”

He added: “We have consistently been clear to the Government – including to the Chancellor, who himself recently described the current pensions situation as a ‘national scandal’ - about what needs to change.

“This is a change to the Finance Act and the establishment of a tax unregistered scheme for senior NHS staff, similar to the one already implemented for judges.”

Dr Sharma said it would consider the consultation in detail and respond in full, but that at first sight “it looks to have fallen short of what is needed to convince doctors to continue offering their full potential to the NHS when they are needed most”.