Doctors have threatened to go on strike for the first time in over 30 years after refusing a new pension deal.
The British Medical Association (BMA) represents 130,000 doctors and medical students and says that 60% of its members would support industrial action. If any strikes went ahead they would wreak havoc in hospitals and clinics all over the UK. 
The BMA rejected the cuts to pension pots despite the fact that many hospitals in the UK are seriously over-budget, to a point where the safety of patients cannot be guaranteed.
A government source said: “It seems a bit rich for doctors to be complaining about cuts and patient care when they leave the NHS as millionaires.”
During the last ten years the consultants have seen their pay increase by an average of 54%, less qualified doctors have received an average increase of 30%. Doctors’ pay has recently been frozen, but a GP earns an average of £110,000 a year.
Doctors also won the right to opt out of weekend and night on-call duty.
Currently doctors have final-pensions pensions that see an average NHS doctor retiring at 60 receiving a pension of £48,000 a year for life, along with a tax-free sum of £143,000 when they retire. The same pension scheme in the private sector would be worth more than £1.7 million.
A Department of Health spokesperson said the current situation was “unsustainable”.
“Doctors and consultants who are among the highest earners in the NHS have benefited hugely from the current final salary scheme arrangements compared to other staff groups,”
“The reforms to public service pensions will ensure that NHS pensions remain amongst the very best. The Government has made clear that this is our final position on the main elements of scheme design — it is a fair and affordable deal for both staff and the taxpayer.”
The new proposal will see doctors working past 60 to earn the equivalent pension however, those who have less than 10 years to go before retirement will be unaffected by the changes.
The BMA states that the proposal also means that doctors will have to give up some of their pension in exchange for a lump sum payment when they retire. It went on to say that its members were feeling ‘betrayed’ by the new pension proposals, which could lead to the first wave of industrial action since 1975.
A country-wide survey of BMA members showed that 80% of doctors rejected the new pension proposals and two thirds backed industrial action.
Whilst only 20% questioned said that they would actually go out on strike, the majority backed other actions such as working-to-rule.
A spokesperson for the BMA added: “The strength and scale of feeling among doctors are abundantly clear. They feel let down and betrayed, and for many this is the final straw.”
Both the Royal College of Nursing and the Royal College of Midwives have joined with the BMA and the Royal College of General Practitioners to oppose the new Government plans to reform the NHS.
