On the go: Doctors at risk of being caught by the tapered annual allowance will reportedly be offered cash instead of an employer contribution under new plans to reverse the trend for doctors retiring early.
Around 10 NHS trusts have made the step away from standard procedure in the health service, the Financial Times reported on Sunday.
The annual allowance limit, which reduces as a saver's earnings increase, can mean those with little flexibility in their pension arrangements see marginal tax rates of over 100 per cent.
Many doctors opt out of the NHS scheme, losing employer contributions worth 20.6 per cent of pay, or retire early. Problems have been exacerbated by poor administration practices.
More than half of all GP retirements were taken early between 2016 and 2018, it was revealed in a parliamentary debate earlier this month.
In all, pension complications are estimated to have caused 3,500 medical staff to retire early at a time when the NHS faces serious problems around under-staffing.
NHS trusts rolling out the new flexibilities include York and Harrogate, according to the FT, and it is being used as a recruitment tool to attract senior doctors.
Pensions taper is bad medicine for the NHS and should be ditched
Financial Times pensions correspondent Josephine Cumbo says the tapered annual allowance has missed its intended target and is damaging key public services, in her monthly column for Pensions Expert.
