In England and Wales, the NHS contributes 20.6% to staff pensions, while the private sector typically contributes just 3%.
Ian Mansfield of the policy exchange think tank has called on the government to rethink the current model.
“Governments should consider funding more generous wage increases by realigning overall compensation to private sector standards,” he said. “This will help hard-working civil servants through the cost of living crisis without increasing the burden on taxpayers.”
Generosity in the NHS pension system means that young doctors will receive inflation-linked income equal to 75 percent of their salary when they retire, an analysis in The Telegraph revealed this week.
A junior doctor with an average third year salary of £40,257 will retire after 40 years and will receive an NHS pension of £29,790 annually.
But the BMA rejected the idea of messing around with doctors’ pensions, arguing it would result in the NHS losing even more staff.
BMA’s Dr. Vishal Sharma said: In fact, under such an arrangement, staff would certainly suffer financially for the rest of their lives.
“It is neither fair nor reasonable to suggest that retirement pensions should be trampled as an answer to the salary cuts that doctors have actually experienced.”
We have asked the government for comment.
