Rise of the GPs who retire in their 50s: Thousands hit £1.25million pension cap, then leave
- Pension changes have made it unprofitable for GPs to carry on working
- 5,117 have left since 2012-13 and the average retirement age is now just 59
- Accountants say the issue is a ‘ticking time bomb’ for GP provision
- More younger doctors are moving to Australia, New Zealand and Canada
Soaring
numbers of GPs are retiring in their fifties because pension changes
have made it unprofitable for them to carry on working, experts warn.
A total of 5,117 have left since 2012-13 and their average retirement age is now just 59, and falling.
Accountants
say there has been an ‘acceleration’ in the numbers retiring in their
mid-fifties in the past 12 months and the issue is a ‘ticking time bomb’
for GP provision.
They
put it down to the Government imposing a £1.25million cap on the amount
all employees can put into their pensions over their careers.
Soaring numbers of GPs are retiring in
their fifties because pension changes have made it unprofitable for
them to carry on working, experts warn
Although
this seems high, many family doctors on six- figure salaries hit the
limit by the time they reach their early to mid-fifties.
This
means there is little incentive to carry on practising, especially if
they are already demoralised by targets and rising patient demand.
Figures
from the NHS Business Services Authority, which oversees pensions, show
that in 2014-15, 1,697 GPs retired. This represents 5.2 per cent of the
entire workforce of 32,628 full-time GPs in England.
The average retirement age was 59.16 but has decreased year on year from 59.46 in 2012-13 and 59.29 in 2013-14.
A
separate Government-commissioned survey of 1,172 family doctors by the
University of Manchester revealed this week that 60.9 per cent expected
to quit ‘direct patient care’ in the next five years. The exodus is
leaving surgeries desperately understaffed, with one in ten GP posts
currently empty.
As
a result, patients are finding it increasingly difficult to get an
appointment and at many practices waiting times are longer than three
weeks. Tim Godfrey, of Bishop Fleming, an accountant specialising in
providing retirement advice to GPs, warned the exodus was ‘pervasive’
across the country.
He
said that in the past 12 to 18 months, the number of GPs taking
retirement in their mid-50s had accelerated and was likely to increase.
He
added: ‘There’s this ticking time bomb of doctors in their early
fifties who were planning to go on a few more years who are now saying,
“Do you know what – 55 comes along, I’m going to be off… This is an
opportunity for us to move on”.’
He
said the NHS was losing their years of experience while surgeries were
being left in the hands of young doctors, fresh out of training. ‘It’s
almost a perfect storm,’ he added.
Accountants put it down to the
Government imposing a £1.25million cap on the amount all employees can
put into their pensions over their careers. Pictured is Britain's
Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne
Mr
Godfrey blamed the trend on a new lifetime pension limit of
£1.25million imposed by Chancellor George Osborne in April’s Budget.
This
will be lowered even further next year to £1million as the Government
tries to reduce the amount it pays to pension savers in tax relief.
The rules apply to all employees but only GPs and other high-earning professionals with good pensions are affected.
On
top of the retirement surge, more younger doctors are moving to
Australia, New Zealand and Canada, where they enjoy a better work-life
balance while earning more.
The
combined exodus is leaving surgeries understaffed. A snapshot survey of
549 of the 8,500 practices in England by the Royal College of GPs found
10.2 per cent of full-time roles are empty.
NHS England said there were 5,000 more GPs than ten years ago and the career remained ‘hugely rewarding.
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