As the government starts a fresh consultation today, crucial pension improvements for retired and partly retired NHS employees may be extended to make it simpler for them to return to the workforce or continue helping the health system over the winter.
These actions will aid in bolstering and supporting the personnel in anticipation of a potentially difficult winter, during which we anticipate an increase in the number of individuals requesting checks. Thus, we are making measures that will put the health system in the best possible position to combat the demands and eliminate the Covid backlogs.
Certain retire and return regulations of the pension system have been suspended as of March 2020 to let retired employees to return to work or extend their working hours without having their pension benefits revoked.
The measures are presently scheduled to expire on 31 October 2022, and the consultation will solicit public and stakeholder feedback on whether or not to extend them until 31 March 2023.
This would enable trained and experienced personnel who have volunteered to assist the system to continue working for the NHS throughout the potentially hard approaching winter season, reducing system pressures and aiding in the elimination of Covid backlogs.
The Secretary of Health and Social Care, Steve Barclay, stated:
The country is hugely thankful to all the retired staff who returned to support the NHS and the public during the pandemic.
This winter will be challenging too and we are putting in place the necessary preparations to support the NHS while it continues to deliver first-rate care to patients.
As part of this we are now consulting on extending temporary changes to the NHS pension scheme, which have so far allowed highly-skilled retired staff to return to the workforce without having their pension benefits affected.
After a lifetime of service caring for the nation’s health, the NHS pension scheme provides considerable retirement benefits to its diligent employees.
The government is dedicated to expanding and supporting the NHS workforce, with over 4,100 more physicians and 9,600 more nurses compared to last year, and is on course to meet its campaign promise of having 50,000 more nurses by 2024, with 29,000 more nurses already. In addition, the government has commissioned NHS England to produce a long-term workforce strategy to recruit and support employees as they provide patients with high-quality, safe treatment.
To prepare for upcoming pressures, the government is working closely and quickly with the NHS to increase capacity, bolster NHS 111 and 999 support with at least 4,800 staff working in 111 call rooms and 2,500 in 999 call rooms, combat delayed discharge, and use new innovations such as virtual wards by creating the equivalent of at least 7,000 more beds.
NHS England and the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care have recently outlined strategies to manage winter challenges. In addition, he has launched a taskforce to increase the recruitment of international staff into critical roles across the system, along with recruiting and retaining more doctors and nurses, so that staff can continue their work of busting the Covid backlogs, having virtually eliminated waits of over two years as part of the Elective Recovery Plan – supported by record investment.