Shropshire surgeon welcomes Government pledge on NHS pension reform

Consultants have begun refusing to work beyond their planned hours after receiving unexpected tax bills, following new pension rules in 2016.

Mark Cheetham, who works at The Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust, says doctors are refusing to do overtime because they are being taxed more than they earn – causing waiting lists for routine surgery to rise.

He launched a petition calling for the Government to 'scrap the pension annual allowance taper', which has been signed by more than 17,400 people.

But the Government has now announced it will open a new public consultation proposing full flexibility over the amount senior clinicians put into their pension pots.

Mr Cheetham said: "It shows the Government are listening, but what's really been announced is a new consultation on the pension.

"The Chancellor of the Exchequer says he's going to review the operation of the tapered annual allowance. To me that's the critical thing, it's the tax change that I think is crucial.

"It's not clear what they are going to do. All that we have got on paper is they are considering something."

He said more needs to be done and the petition will continue.

It needs to gain 100,000 signatures before it is considered for debate in Parliament.

The Government's proposals surrounding the pension change are limited to doctors and nurses, so NHS managers would not qualify.

Commenting on the issue on Twitter, Mark Brandreth, chief executive of The Robert Jones and Agnes Hunt Orthopaedic Hospital, said: "I have never felt like more of a second class NHS citizen.

"An employee of 26 years treated disrespectfully by our political class.

"My tax is all paid PAYE and yet I have over 100k worth of a bill."

Mr Cheetham said it would be 'divisive and unfair' to exclude some staff groups from any changes to pension or taxation.

He said: "The petition I set up was never just about doctors, it's about everyone in the public sector who has been affected by this.

"I think it's divisive to exclude some people from this and include others."

The petition is available at petition.parliament.uk/petitions/268161

It states: "Recent changes in pension taxation have reduced the annual allowance which can be put into a pension to £40,000 a year.

"In 2016 'tapering' was introduced which can further reduce the annual allowance to £10,000.

"The combined effect of the tapered annual allowance and inflexible public sector pension schemes is having a catastrophic effect on retention and productivity in the public sector.

"In particular in the NHS, where consultants are not able to afford to do extra work for fear of a punitive tax bill well in excess of any income earned."