Drs' payrise should be funded by cutting 23.7% govt pension contribution

[eyeses]

The Telegraph today suggests that the Government could fund a significant payrise to Resident Doctors by reducing our surprisingly high payments into their pensions.

"Yet what is often forgotten is that these doctors enjoy bumper pensions worth close to 75pc of their salaries in retirement – and which are guaranteed to rise with inflation each year.
Doctors enjoy index-linked, taxpayer-funded “defined benefit” schemes, many of which pay a proportion of the recipient’s final salary from the day they retire.
Under the NHS scheme, staff contribute between 5.2pc and 12.5pc of their salaries while the state contributes a vast 23.7pc each year.
By comparison, private sector workers, who are almost all enrolled in “defined contribution” pensions where the value of the final pot depends on investment performance, receive a contribution of just 3pc from their employer.
The NHS is paying out nearly £1bn a month in staff pensions, with almost 2,000 staff receiving pensions of more than £100,000 annually – a figure that has more than doubled in a year."

AIBU - No, junior Drs deserve that we fund a big pay rise and huge pension
IANBU - We pay far too much into Dr's pensions and they want the money now

What Resident Doctors don't want you to know about their pay

By what measure do you claim that people in the public sector are underpaid? If you compare to private wages in the private sector that just isn’t true.

Not sorry but i think they deserve a better pay offer.

They got 5% this year, barely the inflation and next year its 2.5%, in real terms, over the last 20 or so years, they ve seen a pay cut.

They aren't asking for a massive pay rise this year but a road map to pay restoration, its very short sighted too, they will simply leave and the NHS will get even worse..... my nr neighbours DD, a resident doc, is now in NZ, the knock on is now her family, c/w a highly skilled maths teacher, have also emigrated.

A resident Doc gets 38k in their first year, increasing to 44k in the 2nd year, for the level of responsibility, thats shite.

As for "holding us to ransom" well, if they don't matter and are entitled fools, they wouldn't be able too.

The Govt are holding a gun over all of our heads, Starmer etc wont be going to an NHS if he became ill, so the ransom argument cuts both ways.

Prove it
I’ve had private health cover for 30 years
Podiatry dentistry mental health services anything else they can think of to get away with all extras
And the more you claim the more you pay

My work give me private healthcare as part of my benefits package. Salary, bonus, pitiful pension, life insurance and healthcare. Every financial services / banking / professional services company I’ve heard of does this. You can ‘buy’ healthcare for your spouse and kids for about £50 extra a month. This is totally standard practice. The company may charge you more next year if the insurance company charges them more, but this amount will be set company wide, so use it or not, you’ll be charged exactly the same as any other colleague.

My husband (civil servant) is underpaid compared to the private market by around £5k so yes it is true. The pension is part of the full benefits package in order to offset the difference. He’d rather have the £5k and is trying to leave, turnover on his sector is huge as tbh they aren’t that far above minimum wage.

I'm sure it depends on the job but I'd have to take an enormous pay cut to go to public sector.

How would doctors treat patients without the private sector behind them? These amazing people with all their training would have no treatment options without the drugs and machines and instruments, even robots, available to them.

They are a fantastic resource, but ..... They would be nothing without the private sector.

Very true

Conversely the private sector relies on the nhs to keep the majority of their workforce and customers well.

Both have a place in society

They’re getting shorter. 🤷‍♀️

That’s not an favourable alternative though - save your own money instead of the usual gov contribution.

You're assuming that public sector workers are in the pension. I'm a midwife and started my first job age 22. I couldn't afford to join the pension until I was 35. My husband is a teacher, he qualified in 2019 age 34. He's just turned 40 and as yet we can't afford for him to join the pension either because the cost of living is so high.

Slowly, but still a long way to go. I like you BT and I’m sure IRL we would get along well and I can see your point of view.

Over half of large companies provide private medical cover as standard. This money could be going to the UK healthcare system if we had the funding model they have in European countries. Instead it goes to private companies as the UK healthcare system cannot be relied upon by private companies to keep its workers healthy.

You do realise a lot of private sector staff haven’t had a pay rise at all for years.

Don’t blow their minds! Many public sector workers don’t realise 0% pay rise year after year is a possibility!

Every employee pays for the NHS through PAYE, they are not getting it for free!

Exactly, they are deluded!

People who don’t understand how pensions work shouldn’t spout nonsense articles about them just to drum up hatred for the government. If this could be done the tories would have already done it when they had the chance. It’s a form of fake news it’s so wrong. I’m not a fan of the current labour government who are totally mismanaging the NHS but this is not a valid option for any government.

Well, thats not true, nor is it relevant.

They cannot cut current liabilities but they can change the pension for new joiners.

There wouldn’t be any.

They do, because the Tories froze public sector pay in their first term in office, then relaxed it to 1% in their 2nd term.

Deluded.

It’s relevant. Lots of workers are paid less in real terms than 2008 but the doctors are demanding we all pay more in tax to restore their pay. Why should we?

Because we all need healthcare and we need to build up the NHS workforce to meet demand - an aging population.

ATM this Govt is determined to see numbers leaving the NHS to carry on.

I thought there were 12 applicants for each dr job just now, so clearly the NHS has options.