Ministers have announced plans to overhaul a pension “tax trap” blamed for deterring senior doctors and nurses from taking on additional shifts for fear of being hit with significant tax bills.
Medics had refused to do overtime shifts because they were being landed with bills after changes to the amount that can be accumulated tax free.
The BBC says the row has been “linked to a rise in waiting times for routine surgery caused by medics refusing to work beyond their planned hours”.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
One hospital trust told Sky News its waiting list for operations increased by 50% in a matter of weeks, “entirely due to staff like anaesthetists who had been working every other weekend saying it was costing them money to come to work”.
The Guardian adds that: “some hospital doctors warned that the NHS was already facing ‘a full-blown winter meltdown’ as a result of the crisis”.
Boris Johnson had promised to address the issue after it was revealed that about three quarters of GPs and consultants had cut or planned to cut their hours. Under what is described by ministers as an “immediate solution,” doctors will be able to reduce the level of the pension contributions they make to ensure that they are not hit with large tax bills.
“NHS doctors do extraordinary, life-saving work every day, and they should not have to worry about the tax impacts if they choose to go the extra mile by taking on additional work to help patients,” said Health Secretary Matt Hancock.
Chancellor Sajid Javid has also announced a broader review that will explore whether to increase the £150,000 salary threshold at which all workers have to limit the amount paid into their pensions before they are taxed.
Chaand Nagpaul, chairman of the council of the British Medical Association, said: “After a year’s tireless lobbying by the BMA on the damaging and perverse effect that this legislation is having on our NHS, its doctors and patients, it is good to see the government finally sitting up and taking notice and proposing action.”
However, The Times says “many” doctors say the overhaul does not go far enough.
Labour's shadow health secretary Jonathan Ashworth says the staffing crisis in the NHS is the result of cuts and ministerial incompetence, which have caused growing waiting lists and cancelled operations.
-
US, China extend trade war truce for 90 daysSpeed Read The triple-digit tariff threat is postponed for another three months
-
Trump takes over DC police, deploys National GuardSpeed Read The president blames the takeover on rising crime, though official figures contradict this concern
-
Aug. 12 editorial cartoonsCartoons Tuesday’s political cartoons include ICE youth, the self-serving EPA, Vladimir Putin demanding Alaska back, and Donald Trump with Jeffrey Epstein
-
How the care industry came to rely on migrant workersThe Explainer Government crackdown on recruiting workers abroad risks deepening care sector crisis, industry leaders warn
-
Could medics' misgivings spell the end of the assisted dying bill?Today's Big Question The Royal College of Psychiatrists has identified 'serious concerns' with the landmark bill – and MPs are taking notice
-
Washwood Heath: Birmingham's pioneering neighbourhood health serviceIn the Spotlight NHS England chair says there is a 'really good argument this is the model for the future'
-
The UK's first legal drug consumption roomThe Explainer 'Potentially transformative moment in UK drugs policy' as The Thistle opens in Glasgow
-
How can the UK solve the adult social care crisis?Today's Big Question New commission announced to turn our buckling care sector around: yet more delay or finally a way forward?
-
Should blood donors be paid?The Explainer Financial rewards would help fill NHS shortfall but bring risk of contamination and exploitation, WHO warns
-
UK gynaecological care crisis: why thousands of women are left in painThe Explainer Waiting times have tripled over the past decade thanks to lack of prioritisation or funding for women's health
-
A 'transformative' gene therapy for haemophilia BThe Explainer Costly treatment that could be 'truly life-changing' for patients with rare blood disorder gets funding boost
