Changes to NHS Pension Scheme calculation will hit patient care say midwives

Commenting on Treasury proposals to change part of the calculation used to value the expected costs of the NHS pension scheme, Jon Skewes, director of Policy, Employment Relations and Communications at the RCM said: “Ministers have made an inexplicable decision to amend the discount rate so that the NHS Pension Scheme will appear to have higher liabilities which will result in NHS employers having to pay higher contributions. This will put increased pressure on already stretched NHS finances so negatively affecting patient care and service delivery.

“In 2012 Midwives and Maternity Support Workers took the difficult decision to accept changes to the NHS Pension Scheme, which included moving to a career average scheme, increased pension contributions and a substantially higher retirement age (midwives will be expected to work to 68 in the future). The Government announced the changes to the NHS Pension Scheme to much fanfare guaranteeing that there would be no need to change the pension scheme for 25 years as their changes were sustainable for the future. Now, just one year later they have taken the perverse decision to change the way the scheme is calculated to result in the scheme appearing to be in debt.

“We ask Ministers to stop tinkering with the calculations and rethink their proposal. Attempts to undermine the pension scheme will result in more and more hard working NHS staff loosing confidence in their pension and will opt out of the scheme. At a time when the Government is strongly encouraging people to sensibly save for their future and pay into a pension it is ludicrous to create confusion and undermine confidence in pensions.”