In England and Wales, the NHS contributes 20.6% to staff pensions, while the private sector typically contributes just 3%.
Ian Mansfield of Policy Exchange, a think tank, 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 per cent 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 has rejected the idea of tinkering with doctors’ pensions, arguing that it would result in the NHS losing even more staff.
BMA’s Dr. Vishal Sharma said: In fact, under such an arrangement, the staff will certainly suffer financially for the rest of their lives.
“It is not fair or reasonable to suggest that retirement pensions should be trampled on as an answer to the salary cuts that doctors have actually experienced.”
We asked the government for comment.
