General practitioners working on a freelance basis will see their pension contributions rise in line with their senior rank under new rules introduced by the government.
Locum GPs – typically self-employed professionals, which temporarily take the place of another GP – have so far been allowed to discount breaks of up to six months when setting their rate of annual pay.
This led to lower annualised pay figures, which did not correspond with their monthly wages, and resulted in lower pension contributions.
However, the Department for Health and Social Care is introducing new rules on April 1, which state that work breaks will be ignored, which will lead to higher annualised pay figures, and therefore higher contributions.
Annualised pay is used to determine a member's contribution rate to the NHS pension scheme in order to ensure that someone who became a member in the middle of the pension year pays contributions at the same rate as someone who started at the beginning of the year.
The British Medical Association has branded the government's latest move discriminatory, saying GP locums were more likely to have breaks in their work if they were from groups who have legally protected characteristics.
In its response to the consultation into changing the pension scheme rules on March 4 the government recognised BMA's concerns.
However, it stated making amendments to allow such an exemption "would place locums in a significantly advantageous position compared to the rest of the scheme membership, who would have their earnings annualised if they had a break from pensionable employment, no matter the length of the break."
The government also stated it had found no evidence that locum GPs were more likely to be from groups with legally protected characteristics.
There were more than 44,000 GPs working in the UK at the end of December 2018, according to data from NHS Digital. However, official statistics don’t disclose the number of locum GPs.
Sir Steve Webb, former pensions minister and director of policy at Royal London, explained that a locum GP was probably being paid at a "relatively high wage" during the time they were working therefore should be classed as such in terms of their pension contribution.
He said: "The government has clearly taken the view that such workers should not benefit from the relatively low contribution rates that those who are employed full time at a low wage would enjoy, but should instead pay a contribution rate which reflects their relatively senior role."
But Andrea Sproates, head of Chase de Vere Medical, agreed with the BMA that the annualisation changes were "grossly unfair on locum GPs".
She said: "These GPs provide a valuable role in the running of the NHS service, and further changes which will increase their pension costs could result is some considering whether to remain as a member of the NHS Pensions Scheme or even whether to retire, a similar dilemma facing many experienced doctors in general.
"It feels like doctors are getting hit from all angles, and so we hope that the government sees sense and helps to protect and support locum GPs as well as all other doctors.
"What’s clear is that with the complicated tax and pension rules they face, doctors need to be taking independent financial advice."
It emerged in December that the number of members leaving the NHS Pension Scheme was five times higher than that recorded by other public pension funds.
But proposals to help solve the problem are already in the works.
The BMA and NHS England for instance are proposing the option of a partial pension for scheme members, in order to help reduce the number of opt-outs at the pension fund.
maria.espadinha@ft.com
