BMA calls for changes to “absurd” pension tax rules as senior doctors reduce hours

The government has been urged to remove the financial barriers to doctors taking on additional work after a BMA survey showed that many consultants and GPs have cut their hours in the past year because of pension tax rules.

The BMA’s poll of more than 5000 senior doctors found that many have reduced their work commitments to such a degree that if replicated across the wider workforce it would equate to the loss of around 5400 full time consultants. The BMA highlighted that this is almost 10% of capacity that could be offered to the NHS in England to tackle waiting lists this year. For GP partners, it estimates that the reduction in hours represents a potential loss of around …